There's no debate that you were (and shall remain) one of the cinematic titans, whether filtered through Tom Hagen in The Godfather saga, Lt. Colonel Bill Kilgore in Apocalypse Now, Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird, Mac Sledge in Tender Mercies, General Robert E. Lee in Gods and Generals, the titular Great Santini, the titular Ike (President and general), the titular Stalin (dictatorial monster supreme), the titular (and suppressed) THX 1138, or your acclaimed, guest appearances on The Twilight Zone (in "Miniature"), The Outer Limits (in "The Chameleon" and "The Inheritors") and The Fugitive (in "Never Wave Goodbye" and "Brass Ring").
And there's a mountain more among the theatrical/epic-miniseries front: The Conversation, Falling Down, John Q, True Grit (1969), Open Range, Broken Trail, Lawman, Lonesome Dove, Joe Kidd, The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid, Rambling Rose, Sling Blade, Bullitt, The Detective, Countdown (1968), Deep Impact, The 6th Day, The Handmaid's Tale (1990), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), Phenomenon, The Pale Blue Eye, Seven Days in Utopia, Breakout, The Betsy, Days of Thunder, Gone in 60 Seconds, 12 Mighty Orphans, Thank You for Smoking, The Revolutionary, Badge 373, The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper, The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (as Dr. John Watson), The Judge, The Outfit, The Natural, The Rain People, Lady Ice, The Eagle Has Landed, Jack Reacher (2012), The Chase, Hustle, Nightmare in the Sun, A Night in Old Mexico, We Own the Night, Get Low, Four Christmases, M*A*S*H, The Greatest, The Killer Elite (1975), Wrestling Ernest Hemingway, Hemingway and Gellhorn, The Terry Fox Story, The Gingerbread Man, Tomorrow, Lucky You, A Shot at Glory, True Confessions, The Paper, Newsies, The Judge, Hotel Colonial, Something to Talk About, The Apostle, A Civil Action, A Shot at Glory, Kicking and Screaming, Secondhand Lions, The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963), Colors, Convicts, The Stars Fell on Henrietta, The Scarlet Letter (1994), A Show of Force, The Man Who Captured Eichmann, Captain Newman M.D., Guys and Dolls, Widows, Casting By, In Dubious Battle, A Family Thing (as producer), Assassination Tango (as director) and Wild Horses (as writer and director).
On the small screen (along with the aforementioned Twilight Zone, Outer Limits and Fugitive), you appeared on Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Time Tunnel, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Kraft Suspense Theatre, T.H.E. Cat, Route 66, The Defenders, Shannon, Naked City, Cain's Hundred, The Mod Squad, The Wild Wild West, Cimarron Trail, The Virginian, Shane, Stony Brooke, The Untouchables, The F.B.I., The Felony Squad, Arrest and Trial, Hawk, Combat!, Saturday Night Live and American Experience (as the narrator for "The Carter Family: Will the Circle Be Unbroken").
Indeed, no one would argue that you were a phenomenal performer, Mr. Duvall, but you were also a man of staunch principle, who stood by his beliefs, no matter what the myopic mob demanded. That makes you a hero even beyond your cinematic efforts: something that few (whether in the creative field or beyond it) could ever exhibit or expound.
