Cinema Fighting Cancer fulfills the second element of DEFMAN 's mission, to help improve the quality of life by providing relief to individuals fighting cancer, through the "Go Deep" The Cancer Relief Fund. A few examples of this direct financial relief are help with mortgage payments and medical bills. Funds are generated through individual donations and events such as DE/F2, SM/F2, Project: Deep Lava and the Goth Ball.
Oscar®-winning actor ROBERT DUVALL is a versatile artist who, in addition to over forty years of impressive acting credits, has also taken on the multiple roles of writer, producer, director and star in three films: "Angelo My Love," "The Apostle," and, most recently, "Assassination Tango," filmed in Argentina. "The Apostle" won Duvall an Academy Award® nomination and three Independent Spirit Awards, for Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Director.
Duvall can also claim composer credits for the film "Tender Mercies," having written and performed his own songs as washed-up country singer Mac Sledge. This 1983 performance earned Duvall his first Best Actor Academy Award®; he had been nominated for Oscars® three times prior, for Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather" and "Apocalypse Now," and Lewis John Carlino's "The Great Santini." He has also been nominated twice since, for Best Actor in "The Apostle," and for Best Supporting Actor in "A Civil Action."
Prior to making his film debut in 1962 as Boo Radley in "To Kill a Mockingbird," Duvall worked in the theatres of New York, having moved there in 1955 from Illinois.
After Mockingbird, Duvall divided his time between film and theatre, earning accolades in both mediums including an Obie in 1965 for his performance in "A View From the Bridge."
Duvall is also familiar to television viewers, having starred as Gus in the popular miniseries "Lonesome Dove," a role he credits as one of the finest in his career and for which he earned an Emmy nomination. He also turned in a Golden Globe winning title performance in the HBO Original film "Stalin." Duvall's most recent turn on the small screen has him playing General Robert E. Lee, of whom he is a descendant, in the HBO movie "Gods and Generals."
Duvall's extensive film credits include the seminal part of Major Frank Burns in "M.A.S.H.," as well as starring roles in "Network," "Colors," "Slingblade," "A Civil Action," "Gone in Sixty Seconds," and the recent "John Q.," to name but a fraction. He starred in "Secondhand Lions" alongside Michael Caine last year.
Duvall most recently produced the (documentary) "Portrait of Billy Joe" for the film's director / writer Luciana Pedraza. Duvall just finished production on the film "Kicking & Screaming" to be released in 2005.
