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2023 SESSION

23100871D
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 467
Offered January 11, 2023
Prefiled December 23, 2022
Commending Robert Selden Duvall.
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Patrons-- Wiley, Adams, D.M., Austin, Avoli, Byron, Carr, Clark, Fowler, Freitas, Gooditis, Hope, Jenkins, Kory, Maldonado, Rasoul, Sickles, Simon, Ware, Watts, Webert and Wyatt; Senators: Cosgrove, Ruff and Vogel
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WHEREAS, Robert Selden Duvall, one of the greatest American actors of the past century and a longtime resident of the Commonwealth, has made a lasting impact on the art of filmmaking over a career spanning more than seven decades; and

WHEREAS, after graduating from Principia College in 1953, Robert Duvall honorably served his country as a member of the United States Army during the Korean War before studying acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York with renowned teacher Sanford Meisner; and

WHEREAS, beginning his acting career in Off-Broadway and Broadway plays in the 1950s, Robert Duvall transitioned to television and film shortly thereafter, debuting as Boo Radley in the 1962 production of To Kill a Mockingbird; and

 WHEREAS, Robert Duvall has since starred in some of the most acclaimed and popular films and television shows of all time, including The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, THX 1138, Joe Kidd, The Godfather, The Godfather: Part II, M*A*S*H, True Grit, Tender Mercies, Falling Down, The Natural, Lonesome Dove, and Stalin, one of his personal favorite performances; and

WHEREAS, Robert Duvall has been nominated for six Academy Awards, winning for his performance in Tender Mercies, as well as six Golden Globe Awards, winning four; he also received a National Medal of Arts from the National Endowment for the Arts in 2005; and

WHEREAS, Robert Duvall’s father, Rear Admiral Lower Half William Howard Duvall, USN, Ret, hailed from Lorton, and Robert Duvall has called the Commonwealth home for more than two decades, first in Loudoun County and today in Fauquier County, where he and his wife, Luciana Pedraza, manage a horse farm from the 18th century named Byrnley Farm; and

WHEREAS, Robert Duvall has advocated ardently in the past in support of protecting the Wilderness Battlefield, a unit of the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Battlefield Park, helping to ensure that visitors may appreciate the historical significance and natural beauty of this area for generations to come; and

WHEREAS, in recognition of his efforts to support farmland, scenic, and historic land preservation in the Commonwealth, Robert Duvall was presented the Richmonds Medal by Scenic Virginia and the Thames Landscape Strategy in 2018, becoming the first recipient from the United States to receive this distinguished honor; and

WHEREAS, Robert Duvall inspires his legions of fans not only through his stellar work as an actor, director, producer, and screenwriter and the sheer magnitude of his career filmography, but through the wholehearted and intentional way in which he lives his life, earning him the esteem and respect of all Virginians; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend Robert Selden Duvall, acclaimed actor and longtime resident of the Commonwealth, for his extraordinary impact on the art of filmmaking; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Robert Selden Duvall as an expression of the General Assembly’s admiration for his work and for his contributions to the preservation of the Commonwealth’s unparalleled beauty.