My Robert Duvall Story

On Monday, my favorite contemporary actor, Robert Duvall, passed away. I wasn’t surprised; I knew he was getting on in years, but I was saddened nonetheless.

About 25 years ago, my family and I took the train into Manhattan to see The Nutcracker. After arriving at Grand Central, we grabbed a cab to Lincoln Center for the afternoon performance.

We had a few hours to spare before the ballet began and planned to eat lunch at Café Fiorello, just across the street from Lincoln Center. I had eaten there before and had always been very satisfied. Little did we know that day that the food would take a back seat to the live entertainment.

When we entered the restaurant, it was quiet; maybe two or three tables were occupied, which wasn’t surprising since it was still late morning. As we walked in, I noticed two men sitting together in a booth. One of them looked familiar.

We were seated at a nearby table, with me facing the booth. After studying the man for a minute or two, it hit me: it was Robert Duvall. I hadn’t recognized him immediately because he looked older than he usually did on screen; he was well into his seventies at the time.

Like me, my sister is a big movie fan, but she was sitting with her back to him. I said casually, “There’s a guy sitting behind you who looks like Robert Duvall,” knowing full well it actually was Duvall.

“Yeah, sure,” she shot back, assuming I was joking.

“Turn around and look,” I said. She did and once she realized it really was him, she completely lost it. I briefly considered asking the waiter for a seat belt to keep her in her chair.

Being a good sibling, I offered to switch seats so she could have a better view. She gladly accepted, spent the rest of the meal staring at Duvall and to this day, has no idea what she ate at Café Fiorello that day.

Wearing Boston Proper

Vitor Kley femulating Adele on Brazilian television.
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