Robert Duvall, the Oscar-winning actor of matchless versatility and dedication whose classic roles included the intrepid consigliere of the first two Godfather movies and the over-the-hill country music singer in Tender Mercies, has died at age 95.

Duvall died “peacefully” at his home Sunday (Feb. 15) in Middleburg, Virginia, according to an announcement from his publicist and from a statement posted on his Facebook page by his wife, Luciana Duvall.

“To the world, he was an Academy Award-winning actor, a director, a storyteller. To me, he was simply everything,” Luciana Duvall wrote. “His passion for his craft was matched only by his deep love for characters, a great meal, and holding court. For each of his many roles, Bob gave everything to his characters and to the truth of the human spirit they represented.”

The bald, wiry Duvall didn’t have leading man looks, but few “character actors” enjoyed such a long, rewarding and unpredictable career, in leading and supporting roles, from an itinerant preacher to Josef Stalin. Beginning with his 1962 film debut as Boo Radley, the reclusive neighbor in To Kill a Mockingbird, Duvall created a gallery of unforgettable portrayals. They earned him seven Academy Award nominations and the best actor prize for Tender Mercies, which came out in 1983. He also won four Golden Globes, including one for playing the philosophical cattle-drive boss in the 1989 miniseries Lonesome Dove, a role he often cited as his favorite.

In 2005, Duvall was awarded a National Medal of Arts.

He had been acting for some 20 years when The Godfather, released in 1972, established him as one of the most in-demand performers of Hollywood. He had made a previous film, The Rain People, with Francis Coppola, and the director chose him to play Tom Hagen in the mafia epic that featured Al Pacino and Marlon Brando among others. Duvall was a master of subtlety as an Irishman among Italians, rarely at the center of a scene, but often listening and advising in the background, an irreplaceable thread through the saga of the Corleone crime family.

“Stars and Italians alike depend on his efficiency, his tidying up around their grand gestures, his being the perfect shortstop on a team of personality sluggers,” wrote the critic David Thomson. “Was there ever a role better designed for its actor than that of Tom Hagen in both parts of ‘The Godfather?’”

In another Coppola film, Apocalypse Now, Duvall was wildly out front, the embodiment of deranged masculinity as Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore, who with equal vigor enjoyed surfing and bombing raids on the Viet Cong. Duvall required few takes for one of the most famous passages in movie history, barked out on the battlefield by a bare-chested, cavalry-hatted Kilgore: “I love the smell of napalm in the morning. You know, one time we had a hill bombed, for 12 hours. When it was all over, I walked up. We didn’t find one of ‘em, not one stinkin’ dink body.

“The smell, you know that gasoline smell, the whole hill. Smelled like — victory.”

Coppola once commented about Duvall: “Actors click into character at different times — the first week, third week. Bobby’s hot after one or two takes.”

He was Oscar-nominated as supporting actor for The Godfather and Apocalypse Now, but a dispute over money led him to turn down the third Godfather epic, a loss deeply felt by critics, fans and Godfather colleagues. Duvall would complain publicly about being offered less than his co-stars.

Fellow actors marveled at Duvall’s studious research and planning, and his coiled energy. Michael Caine, who co-starred with him in the 2003 Secondhand Lions, once told The Associated Press: “Before a big scene, Bobby just sits there, absolutely quiet; you know when not to talk to him.” Anyone who disturbed him would suffer the well-known Duvall temper, famously on display during the filming of the John Wayne Western True Grit, when Duvall seethed at director Henry Hathaway’s advice to “tense up” before a scene.

Duvall was awarded an Oscar in 1984 for his leading role as the troubled singer and songwriter Mac Sledge in Tender Mercies, a prize he accepted while clad in a cowboy tuxedo with Western tie. In 1998, he was nominated for best actor in The Apostle, a drama about a wayward Southern evangelist which he wrote, directed, starred in, produced and largely financed. With customary thoroughness, he visited dozens of country churches and spent 12 years writing the script and trying to get it made.

Among other notable roles: the outlaw gang leader who gets ambushed by John Wayne in True Grit; Jesse James in The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid; the pious and beleaguered Frank Burns in M-A-S-H; the TV hatchet man in Network; Dr. Watson in The Seven-Per-Cent Solution; and the sadistic father in The Great Santini.

“When I was doing ‘Colors’ in 1988 with Sean Penn, someone asked me how I do it all these years, keep it fresh. Well, if you don’t overwork, have some hobbies, you can do it and stay hungry even if you’re not really hungry,” Duvall told The Associated Press in 1990.

In his mid-80s, he received a supporting Oscar nomination as the title character of the 2014 release The Judge, in which he is accused of causing a death in a hit-and-run accident. More recent films included Widows and 12 Mighty Orphans.

Robert Selden Duvall grew up in the Navy towns of Annapolis and the San Diego area, where he was born in 1931. He spent time in other cities as his father, who rose to be an admiral, was assigned to various duties.

The boy’s experience helped in his adult profession as he learned the nuances of regional speech and observed the psyche of military men, which he would portray in several films.

Duvall reportedly used his Navy officer father as the basis for his portrayal of the explosive militarist in The Great Santini, based on the Pat Conroy novel. He commented in 2003: “My dad was a gentleman but a seether, a stern, blustery guy, and away a lot of the time.” Bobby took after his mother, an amateur actress, in playing a guitar and performing. He was a wrestler like his father and enjoyed besting kids older than himself.

He lacked the concentration for schoolwork and nearly flunked out of Principia College in Elsah, Illinois. His despairing parents decided he needed something to keep him in college so he wouldn’t be drafted for the Korean War. “They recommended acting as an expedient thing to get through,” he recalled. “I’m glad they did.” He flourished in drama classes.

“Way back when I was in college,” Duvall told the AP in 1990, “there was a wonderful man named Frank Parker, who had been a dancer in World War I. We did a full-length mime play and I played a Harlequin clown. I really liked that.

“Then, I played an older guy in ‘All My Sons,’ and at one point I had this emotional moment, where this emotion was pouring out. Parker said at that moment he didn’t think acting can be carried any further than that. And this guy was a very critical guy. So I thought, at that moment at least, this is what I wanted to do.”

After two years in the Army, he used the G.I. Bill to finance his studies at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York, hanging out with such other young hopefuls as Robert Morse, Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman. After a one-night performance in A View From the Bridge, Duvall began getting offers for work in TV series, among them The Naked City and The Defenders.

Between his high-paying jobs in major productions, Duvall devoted himself to directing personal projects: a documentary about a prairie family, We’re Not the Jet Set; a film about gypsies, Angelo, My Love; and Assassination Tango, in which he also starred.

Duvall had been a tango dancer since seeing the musical Tango Argentina in the 1980s and visited in Argentina dozens of times to study the dance and the culture. The result was the 2003 release about a hit man with a passion for tango.

His co-star was Luciana Pedraza, 42 years his junior, whom he married in 2005. Duvall’s three previous marriages — to Barbara Benjamin, Gail Youngs and Sharon Brophy — ended in divorce.

Billy Steinberg, the Grammy-winning songwriter who co-wrote such pop classics as Madonna’s “Like A Virgin,” Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colors” and the Bangles’ “Eternal Flame” that were some of the biggest, most indelible hits of the 1980s and beyond, has died, his attorney confirmed to Billboard. Steinberg, who was 10 days away from his 75th birthday, died of cancer in Los Angeles.

In addition to those three songs, Steinberg — who specialized in big, emotional power ballads with impactful, vulnerable lyrics — had two other songs reach No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100: Whitney Houston’s “So Emotional” and Heart’s Alone,” all co-written with his longtime writing partner, Tom Kelly.

The lyricist, who landed chart hits for more than 30 years, also penned such tunes as the Pretenders’ “I’ll Stand by You,” the Bangles’ “In Your Room” and the Divinyls’ “I Touch Myself.” Taylor Dayne, Tina Turner, Pat Benatar, Bette Midler, Cheap Trick, Belinda Carlisle and many other artists also recorded his songs.

“I remember my mom picking me up from elementary school and there was this urgency and magic in the air,” recalls Steinberg’s son, Ezra, who is a songwriter signed to Sony Music Publishing. “I asked what was going on, and she said, ‘Dad has a hit.’ It was [JoJo‘s 2006 song] ‘Too Little Too Late.’ It was the first time I was old enough to really experience one of his hits, and to see the whole process — loving the demo for months, asking him every day when it was coming out, and then finally hearing it on KIIS-FM on the way to and from school. I felt this deep sense of pride and elation. That was magical.”

A 2011 inductee into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Fresno, California, native grew up in Palm Springs, California. After attending Bard College in New York’s Hudson Valley, he pursued a career as an artist with his band Billy Thermal. While they may not have flourished, Steinberg’s career took off after the group’s guitarist played “How Do I Make You,” penned by Steinberg, for Linda Rondstadt, who recorded it for her Mad Love album in 1980. The song reached No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Steinberg and Kelly, in addition to recording as the duo I-10 for Epic Records, were one of the top songwriting teams of the ‘80s and ‘90s, often writing signature songs for artists, including “Like A Virgin,” which remained at No. 1 for six weeks, the most of any of Madonna’s hits. Billboard ranked the song as Madonna’s biggest hit of her career in 2024.

After Kelly retired as a songwriter, Steinberg continued to write, often with Rick Nowels, including penning Dion’s “Falling Into You.” More recently, in the 2010s, Steinberg’s songs were cut by Nicole Scherzinger, Miranda Cosgrove and Demi Lovato, who took “Give Your Heart A Break,” (co-written with Josh Alexander) to No. 16 on the Hot 100 in 2012.

Steinberg took home a Grammy at the 39th annual Grammy Awards for album of the year for Dion’s Falling Into You, for which he co-wrote the title track.

At the Grammy Museum’s 2023 “The Power of Song: A Songwriters Hall of Fame Exhibit,” Steinberg was represented by a demo for “True Colors” recorded on a TDK SA 60 cassette and a note from Lauper that read, “Billy — Thanks for sending me and writing such a beautiful song. (heart) Cyndi.”

He is survived by his beloved wife, Trina; his sons, Ezra and Max; his sisters, Barbara and Mary; and his stepchildren, Raul and Carolina.

Beyoncé is unveiling a brand new hairstyle.

On Friday (Feb. 13), the 44-year-old superstar shared a series of Instagram photos showcasing a chic new blonde bob. The gallery, dated Feb. 8 — the same day as Super Bowl LX — features Bey in a light green trench coat as she prepares for the big game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

In one shot, the “Texas Hold ‘Em” singer lounges in front of a large window with the stadium in the background. In another, she wears a light-colored top with green leggings while holding a small “touchdown” banner.

This isn’t the first time Beyoncé has rocked a bob. She previously wore a hairstyle above her shoulders in September 2024.

In another set of Instagram snaps from Sunday (Feb. 15), Bey showed off her straight short hair again, this time in a long brown leather coat while holding a vintage telephone receiver and a cigar. In one image, she’s seated at a table with a cheeseburger on a golden platter, flanked by miniature American and Puerto Rican flags — a playful nod to Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Halftime Show.

During the big game itself, Beyoncé was photographed walking the field alongside her husband, Jay-Z, and their daughters Blue Ivy and Rumi.

The Cowboy Carter artist shared yet another set of images on Instagram from the 2026 Super Bowl, this time wearing a long brown coat with a matching hat and blue jeans. One of the photos shows Bey holding what looks to be a fortune cookie message against her cheek that reads, “Your team’s Super Bowl dreams are looking bright.” She also shared a video of the moving bushes from Bad Bunny’s halftime show performance, along with snaps of herself with Jay-Z and enjoying snacks inside her luxury box at Levi’s Stadium.

She closed her post with a black-and-white photo from the stadium’s video screen that read, “The only thing more powerful than hate is love,” which appeared during the Puerto Rican superstar’s halftime show.