Robert Duvall
Hollywoodmournstheloss of one of its most respected and quietly formidable talents. Robert Duvall, whose career spanned more than seven decades and nearly 100 films, died peacefully on February 15, 2026, at his home in Middleburg, Va. He was 95, his wife Luciana Pedraza confirmed in a heartfelt statement that paid tribute to a life devoted to the art of performance.
Born in San Diego in 1931 into a Navy family, Duvall found his way to the stage and screen with a mix of disciplined study and natural curiosity. He trained under the celebrated acting coach Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse in NewYork,layingthegroundwork for a career that would resist easy categorization.
His first notable screen appearance came in 1962 as the silent, enigmatic Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird, an understated turn that hinted at the depth beneath his reserved screen presence. It was the 1970s that brought Duvall into the global cinematic spotlight. In Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, he brought quiet authority and a steady moral compass to the role of Tom Hagen, the consigliere whose loyalty anchored the Corleone saga.
That role earned him his first Academy Award nomination andremainsoneofthe defining performances of his career. In another Coppola classic, Apocalypse Now, his portrayal of the charismatic yet unhinged Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore delivered one of cinema’s most quoted lines, “I love the smell of napalm in themorning,”andshowcased his ability to balance charm with volatility.
Duvall’s most triumphant professional moment came in 1983 with Tender Mercies, a low-key but deeply affecting drama in which he played Mac Sledge, a washed-up country singer seeking redemption. His performance earned him the Academy Award for Best Actor, one of numerous accolades that included four Golden Globe Awards, two Primetime Emmys, a BAFTA, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. He was also a recipient of the National Medal of Arts, reflecting his broader contributions to American culture.
Across the decades that followed, Duvall remained an actor’s actor: a figure directors turned to whether they needed a rough-hewn cowboy, a contemplative preacher, a legal eagle or a stubborn patriarch. His work in the acclaimed miniseries Lonesome Dove as Augustus McCrae earned widespread acclaim and an Emmy, and his roles in films like A Civil Action, The Judge and The Apostle demonstrated a range few of his peers could match.
Offscreen, Duvall’s life was marked by a love of music, tango and the rhythms of everyday life. He lived with authenticity that informed his characters and connected with audiences across generations.
In his later years, he continued acting in select projects, even earning an Academy Award nomination in his eighties, proving that age could be an asset rather than a limitation in the right hands.
His passing has drawn reflections from colleagues and fans alike, honoring not just the breadth of his work but the integrity he brought to every role. In announcing his death, his wife wrote that “totheworld,hewasanAcademy Award-winning actor, a director, a storyteller. To me, he was simply everything.” Duvall is survived by his wife and a legacy that will endure in the characters he brought to life, figures of grit, grace, and quiet resolve who stood as touchstones in the story of American cinema.
Reverend Jesse Jackson
The Rev. Jesse Louis Jackson Sr., the towering civil rights leader, Baptist minister and two-time presidential candidatewhosevoice helped shape a generation of American politics, died peacefully on February 17, at the age of 84 surrounded by his family, his loved ones announced.
His death marks the closing of a chapter in the nation’s long struggle for racial, social and economic justice and sparked an outpouring of tributes from leaders, activists and ordinary citizens alike. Jackson was born on Oct. 8, 1941, in Greenville, S.C., into the rigid segregation of the Jim Crow South.
After attending school where he excelled as an athlete and student, he transferredtoNorthCarolina A&TStateUniversity,where he embraced both activism and the ministry, an early indication of a life that would blend moral fervor with political ambition. He came of age during the civil rights movement, joining marches and sit-ins across the South.
As a young organizer in Chicago, Jackson worked closely with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., helping to lead campaigns for voting rights, economic justice and corporate accountability. In the turbulent days after King’s assassination, Jackson emerged as one of the movement’s most prominent voices, determined to carry forward a mission of dignity and opportunity for all.
In the 1970s he founded Operation PUSH, People United to Save Humanity, on Chicago’s South Side and later helped merge it with the Rainbow Coalition to create the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, an organization committed to civil rights, economic empowerment and social justice. Under his leadership, the group pressed corporations to diversify their workforces and challenged the nation to live up to its professed ideals. Jackson’s leap into national politics electrified the Democratic Party.
In 1984, he became one of the first African Americans to mountaseriouscampaignfor the Democratic presidential nomination,buildinga“Rainbow Coalition” of Black voters, Latinos,progressivesand labor activists who coalesced arounddemandsforeconomic fairness and social inclusion. Four years later, he mounted an even stronger campaign in 1988, winning primaries and caucuses and setting a precedent for candidates of color before Barack Obama’s historic victory two decades later.
His influence extended beyond elections. Jackson was called upon as an unofficial diplomat on numerous occasions, working to secure the release of hostages and advocating on behalf of marginalized communities at homeandabroad.Hebecame known for slogans like “Keep Hope Alive,” and for a presence that blended preacher, politician and activist.
In his later years, Jackson faced health struggles, including an announcement in 2017 of a Parkinson’s diagnosis later clarified as progressive supranuclear palsy. Even as his physical abilities waned, he appeared at protests and major political events, urging continued engagement and persistence in the battle for civil rights. Hesteppeddownaspresident of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in 2023 but remained a symbolicfigureinmovements for justice and equality.
The news of his death this morning brought swift response from leaders across America. Reverends, politicians and activists remembered him not only as a trailblazer but as a mentor whose influence extended beyond his own achievements, someone who inspired others to “keep hope alive.”
Jackson is survived by his wife Jacqueline and their children. As the nation reflects on his life, tributes emphasize a legacy that reshaped American politics, broadened the possibilities of who could aspire to the highest office and kept alive the ideas of justice and equality that animated the civil rights movement for more than half a century. His passing is widely seen not as an end to the movement he embodied but as a call to future generations to continue the work he devoted his life to advancing.