Jacob Margolis
covers science, with a focus on environmental stories and disasters, as well as investigations and accountability.
Published March 4, 2024 5:00 AM
When one swale fills up, pipes pull the water to another on this property. If the system is overwhelmed it sends the water out to the storm drains.
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Shawn Maestretti
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Studio Petrichor
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Topline:
You can help send stormwater into our underground aquifers by incorporating water catchment features, such as swales (bougie trenches) and permeable pavement, at home. Anything that slows down water and lets it sink deep into the earth helps.
Do it yourself: Dig a hole and line it with rocks to limit erosion. Divert water from downspouts to help fill it. Plant native plants to make it look pretty.
Will it make a difference?: If we implemented water catchment features across all commercial and private properties in L.A., we could theoretically sequester more than 88,000 acre feet a year.
A big caveat: If you're located in a landslide prone area, you will likely want to avoid trying to keep water on your property as it can lead to dangerous conditions.
Recently, we dove deep on how every time rain falls in Southern California, gigantic pieces of infrastructure come to life in an effort to sequester as much of the stormwater as possible.
Inflatable dams are used to divert water to spreading grounds.
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Orange County Water District
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Water agencies implement dry wells, dams and spreading grounds the size of neighborhoods to give each drop a chance to percolate deep into the soil and refill our overdrawn reservoirs.
The problem is we've all but run out of room for spreading grounds, and while the water agencies are implementing other options, you can make a difference at the household level as well.
All you need is a shovel, some rocks and a tiny patch of land.
How you can capture stormwater on your property
The goal is simple: you want to slow down water and give it a chance to sink into the earth.
A hole drilled in the curb routes rushing stormwater through a pipe into a swale lined with rocks in front of this Pasadena home.
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Shawn Maestretti
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Studio Petrichor
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Landscape design firm Studio Petrichor in Altadena often features swales (bougie trenches) in their plans, incorporating rocks to prevent erosion and native plants that are able to take the inundation. They fill them by rerouting water from the street and downspouts.
The same rainwater feature from the other side.
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Shawn Maestretti
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Studio Petrichor
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Here's are some recommendations from the design firm :
Rather than having water flood the area between these two buildings, this rain garden allows it to sink into the soil.
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Shawn Maestretti
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Studio Petrichor
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Consult a professional and make sure that you aren't in a liquefaction or landslide zone as you don't want to compromise the integrity of the soil your home is sitting on. As we've learned in recent months, water can work itself between layers of soil and keep them from sticking together, leading to catastrophic failure.
Pay attention to how water is moving across your property and whether you can reroute and intercept it, potentially from downspouts. If it's moving toward your foundation, it'll be difficult to capture unless you install drainage to move it elsewhere.
Once you identify a spot, dig a smooth depression. Reinforce the sides with rocks and mulch the bottom. You can also plant plants that can take being flooded.
Studio Petrichor also prioritizes installing hügelkultur berms — or piles of logs beneath mulch/soil — which help to hold on to water and add organic matter to the earth as they break down over time.
Make sure that if your rain garden overfills, you've figured out a way to safely route the water into the street where it can make its way to a storm drain. The firm sometimes installs multiple connected swales on their client's properties, which begins to fill as the one before it spills over.
If you're in the city of L.A., you should know that it's now required that many design plans have some sort of stormwater remediation. So, you could also follow their guidelines, which you can download here.
How big of a difference can our yards make?
It's tough to quantify how much any one yard will contribute to an aquifer, but according to analysis done for LADWP's Stormwater Capture Master Plan released in 2015, if widely implemented, water catchment features could have an impact.
"Parcel by parcel there is an additive effect and we've shown qualitatively that additive effect is really significant," said Edith de Guzman, water equity and adaptation policy cooperative extension specialist at UCLA.
The master plan was prepared with Tree People, which de Guzman was with at the time.
It depends on how you slice it, but according to de Guzman, if you add together all the small distributed projects possible (swales, rain gardens, permeable pavement) on everything from commercial properties to those with single family homes, we could theoretically add an additional 110,000 acres of land to our water percolation portfolio.
That could mean anywhere from 88,000 to 165,000 more acre feet could be sent down into our aquifers, which could potentially supply between 350,000 and 660,000 households for a year.
This is all theoretical and comes with a ton of caveats — Is the area too polluted? Is the soil conducive to infiltration and can it be dug safely? — but it gives us a rough idea of what's possible.
“It depends on location. In many portions of the San Fernando Valley, not only are the soils appropriate for doing infiltration, but so is the proximity to the underlying groundwater aquifer. In other parts where there's clay soils or there aren't necessarily connections to the aquifer," de Guzman said. "It doesn't make as much sense.”
A front yard garden that uses rocks and logs placed beneath the soil as structure. The logs and trench both help to sequester rainwater, making it available into the hotter months.
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Shawn Maestretti
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Studio Petrichor
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Not good for every property
You may not want to install water catchment features if you have dense clay soil that doesn't drain, or if you're in a landslide or liquefaction zone, and standing water could raise the risk of a catastrophic event.
While each property needs to be independently assessed, you can take a quick glance at this map from the master plan:
This map from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power shows the areas of L.A. that are ideal for sequestering water.
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Stormwater Capture Master Plan
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Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
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According to LADWP, the soil found in categories A and B should allow the best infiltration (made up of sand and silt as well as clay) and are located over important aquifers. If you're in category C, it doesn't mean that you shouldn't try and capture water, however, you may run into issues. Check out page 27 for a closer look.
If you want to store water on your property, cisterns are also an option.
In addition to water capture features like swales, Studio Petrichor installed this 2500 gallon cistern to help provide water through the hot months. That water is both used by plants and percolates deep into the soil.
The entrance to the green alley on April 15, 2023 in Sun Valley, Calif., which is made from sustainable materials and rows of colorful California native plants. Pablo Unzueta for LAist
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Pablo Unzueta
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LAist
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The San Fernando Valley neighborhood used to flood miserably. Now, after incorporating permeable pavement, curb cuts and vegetated bioswales, not only has flooding been attenuated, but the area's been beautified by all the greenery.
Sidewalks with vegetated bioswales that filter water were installed in the neighborhood. Though it made people's yards smaller, the overall benefit has been worth it to the community, Gonzalez said.
David Wagner
has covered news in Southern California for more than a decade.
Published February 16, 2026 3:42 PM
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents transfer an immigrant after an early morning raid in Duarte.
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Damian Dovarganes
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AP Photo
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Topline:
Following reports of local police assisting federal immigration agents with raids and detentions of citizen observers across Southern California, state lawmakers have introduced a bill seeking to outlaw such collaboration.
The details: State Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez (D-Pasadena) announced Monday that she has introduced SB 1105, dubbed the Protect California Rights Act. The bill would ban local law enforcement from helping federal agents with operations based on racial profiling, efforts to stop First Amendment speech or actions involving unauthorized military weapons.
Why proponents say it’s needed: At a news conference, Pérez said: “Californians deserve to feel safe. They deserve to trust that the officers sworn to protect them will not be used to intimidate them. And they deserve a state government that stands firmly on the side of civil rights and constitutional protections.”
How enforcement would work: The bill is co-sponsored by ACLU California Action. Executive Director David Trujillo said if the bill passes, Californians who’ve been subject to illegal activity by local law enforcement could take their case to court. “The courts will be able to then step in and order local law enforcement to comply with our laws here in California,” Trujillo said.
Community voices: The news conference featured speakers who have been detained by local police in incidents related to federal immigration actions. Jose Madera, director of the Pasadena Community Job Center, said he was arrested last month by Pasadena police while tracking the movements of an alleged ICE agent. “The perception of the community,” Madera said, “is that local police were protecting ICE agents and not protecting us, the residents, legal observers.”
White House position: The Trump Administration and top officials at the Department of Homeland Security have consistently pushed back on efforts to curtail their aggressive enforcement of immigration policies. White House border czar Tom Homan on Sunday, for example, rejected Democrats calls for ICE officers to stop wearing masks, saying that while he didn't "like the masks either" officers said they were needed to protect from doxxing.
Filmmaker Frederick Wiseman has died. The celebrated documentarian started making documentaries that captured the weirdness and wonder of everyday life in the mid 1960s and did not stop until2023.
About his career: The prolific, pioneering filmmaker made dozens of documentaries and chronicled the inner workings of institutions. His 1967 film, Titicut Follies, revealed appalling conditions at a prison facility.
Filmmaker Frederick Wiseman has died. The celebrated documentarian started making documentaries that captured the weirdness and wonder of everyday life in the mid 1960s and did not stop until2023.
Wiseman died Monday. His family issued a joint statement withZipporah Films. He was 96.
Making movies was always an adventure, Wiseman said in 2016, during a speech at the Academy Awards when he won an honorary Oscar.
"I usually know nothing about the subject before I start," he said at the black-tie ceremony. "And I know there are those that feel I know nothing about it when it's finished!"
Wiseman was extremely prolific. He made roughly 50 documentaries, many of which chronicled the inner workings of institutions as diverse as the Idaho state legislature (State Legislature, 2007), the New York Public Library (Ex Libris, 2017), and a high school in Philadelphia (High School, 1968).
"I wish I could be more like him," said Oscar-winning documentarian Errol Morris in an interview with NPR about Wiseman before the elder filmmaker died.
Morris said Wiseman's super-charged yet subtle way of interpreting everyday life had more in common with the Theater of the Absurd than documentary filmmaking. (Indeed, Wiseman also had a career as a theater director in the U.S. and Europe, helming plays by the likes of Samuel Beckett and Luigi Pirandello.)
"He has a way of finding in reality some of the most surreal, absurd moments that I've ever seen anywhere," Morris said.
By way of example, Morris points to a scene in Wiseman's 1993 documentary Zoo, in which an all-women surgical team at Miami zoo castrates a wolf.
"And it seems like the entire scene is populated by women except for the janitor standing by the exit door, looking nervously on with his hands folded over his crotch," Morris said. "To me, this is really almost as good as it gets."
Morris added Wiseman was a mentor to him and a close friend. After Morris lost both his father and brother to heart disease, and was worried about his own fate, the filmmaker said Wiseman organized medical help for him. "I can even credit Fred with saving my life," Morris said.
Frederick Wiseman was born in Boston in 1930. After serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean War and living in Paris during the 1950s, he taught law at Boston University.
Frederick Wiseman poses with his Golden Lion Lifetime Achievement Award at the Venice Film Festival in August 2014.
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Pascal Le Segretain
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Getty Images
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It was taking his students on field trips to Bridgewater State Hospital, a Massachusetts prison facility for the criminally insane, that compelled the then law professor to direct his first, and most famous, film. Made in 1967, Titicut Follies gets its title from a stage show put on by the inmates at the institution.
After its seemingly benign opening, the movie captures the appalling conditions under which the inmates are kept, with unblinking scenes of bullying, force feeding, strip searches and squalor.
Titicut Follies was so shocking, the state of Massachusetts managed to get it banned from public screenings for more than two decades.
"In order for anyone to see that film, for years you had to sign a declaration saying that you were a professional in one of the following fields, like criminology, law or film studies," said film scholar Barry Keith Grant, author ofVoyages of Discovery: The Cinema of Frederick Wiseman.
Still, Grant said the movie sealed Wiseman's future.
"It gave him a lot of notoriety and it helped establish his career," Grant said.
Over the years, Wiseman became known for his meticulous, hands-on process. He directed, produced and edited his movies. In a 2014 interview with NPR, the filmmaker described making National Gallery, his documentary about the famed London art museum.
"I was there for three months, every day for twelve weeks, probably twelve, fourteen hours a day," Wiseman said of the shoot, adding he amassed 170 hours of footage. "So the ratio between film shot and film used is about 60 to one."
Wiseman's films were also known for their prodigious length, running for as long as six hours. "I don't tailor the length to meet any commercial needs," Wiseman said. "I assume if people are interested, they'll watch it, whether it's 75 minutes or three hours."
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Conditions in Southern California Monday, Feb. 15, as heavy storms hit the state.
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Courtesy CIRA
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Topline:
A series of severe weather advisories ranging from extreme marine conditions to severe thunderstorms and the possibility of hail and weather spouts have peppered Southern California on Monday.
Where things stand: The wet start to the week is expected to continue, with concerns high about possible mudslides and debris flows in areas hard hit by recent fires.
Keep reading... for details on current conditions and the forecast.
This story will be updated. Check back for details.
A series of severe weather advisories — ranging from extreme marine conditions to severe thunderstorms and the possibility of hail and water spouts — have peppered Southern California on Monday. The wet start to the week is expected to continue, with concerns about possible mudslides and debris flows in areas hard hit by recent fires.
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass issued an evacuation warning for the Palisades, Sunset and Hurst burn scar areas ahead of the rain Monday. That warning went into effect at 9 p.m. on Sunday and will be in place until 9 a.m. on Tuesday.
Most of L.A. County is under a flood watch as a powerful rainstorm hits the region, that's in effect until midnight Monday. Areas that include much of Central and Southern L.A. County are additionally under a flash flood warning until 2 p.m. Monday. That's due to an observed rainfall rate that's between 0.5 to 0.75 inches in 15 minutes.
Some mountain communities are also under a winter storm warning through Thursday where up to a foot or two of snow is possible for elevations above 6,000 feet.
Forecasters are also warning that it's going to be windy along mountain passes where gusts could reach up to 70 mph Monday afternoon.
Rainfall totals
Weather forecast this week for Southern California.
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Courtesy NWS
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Widespread rain began to fall on Southern California overnight, as of 11 a.m. Monday here are preliminary rainfall totals over the last 24 hours, reported by the National Weather Service:
Agoura: 1.66 inches
Bel Air: .78 inches
Canoga Park: 1.25 inches
Downtown L.A. .11 inches
Eaton Dam: .50 inches
Evacuations and closures
We will update as needed.
According to the National Weather Service, locations that will experience flash flooding include Monday afternoon: Long Beach, West Covina, Glendora, San Dimas, Pomona, Whittier, La Verne, Covina, Azusa, Baldwin Park, Diamond Bar, Hacienda Heights, Monrovia, Claremont, Santa Fe Springs, Norwalk, Cerritos, Artesia, Bellflower and Walnut.
Traffic conditions
Rancho Palos Verdes
As of Monday afternoon: Rancho Palos Verdes Drive South is closed in both directions from Wayfarers Chapel to Peppertree Drive due to flooding. Please use an alternate route if you must drive at this time. It is unknown when the road will reopen.
San Fernando Valley
As of Monday afternoon: The 5 Freeway north is closed in Sun Valley from Tuxford Street and Lankershim Boulevard because of flooding.
Orange County
As of Monday afternoon: All lanes Northbound and Southbound at PCH from Seapoint Street to Warner Avenue are closed until further notice.
Meteorologists for the National Weather Service have warned that a powerful storm system will move through the region Monday "bringing the potential for severe thunderstorms, burn-scar debris flows, flash flooding with rock and mud slides, damaging winds, heavy mountain snow, and high surf with coastal flooding."
They say Southern Californians should expect "cold and blustery conditions with periodic rain" through "at least the middle of the week."
The expected rainfall is significant enough that they're warning people near vulnerable areas, which include recent burn scars from last January's fires and other recent fires, to take precautions immediately and be ready to leave if evacuation orders are issued.
Severe weather could include:
Small tornadoes
60 mph or higher winds
Rainfall rates that hit 1 inch per hour or more
Understanding National Weather Service warnings
Here’s an excerpt from our guide to understanding flood warnings, if any are issued:
Flood advisories are how the NWS begins to raise the alarm. The goal is to give people enough time to take action.
Flood watches are your indicators to get prepared to move.
Aflood warning is issued when a hazardous weather event is imminent or already happening. When one is issued for your area, you need to get to higher ground immediately.
A flash flood warning is issued when a flash flood is coming or in progress. Flash floods are sudden and violent floods that can start within minutes.
If you're in L.A. County and need sand bags, you can find some at local fire houses.
Staying safe when the winds are high
Watch for traffic signals that may be out. Approach those intersections as four-way stops.
Make sure you have a battery-operated radio and flashlights. Check the batteries to make sure they are fresh. Use flashlights for lighting during a power outage; do not use candles because they may pose a fire hazard.
If you’re in a vehicle with a fallen power line on it, stay in the vehicle and remain calm until help arrives. It is OK to use your cellphone to call 911. If you must leave the vehicle, exit away from downed power lines and jump from the vehicle, landing with both feet together. You must not touch the vehicle and the ground at the same time. Then proceed away from the vehicle by shuffling and not picking up your feet until you are several yards away.
Water and electricity don’t mix. Water is an excellent conductor of electricity. Do not step in or enter any water that a downed power line may be touching.
Do not use any equipment indoors that is designed for outdoor heating or cooking. Such equipment can emit carbon monoxide and other toxic gases.
If you use a generator, place it outdoors and plug individual appliances directly into it, using a heavy-duty extension cord. Connecting generators directly to household circuits creates “backfeed,” which is dangerous to repair crews.
Leave the doors of your refrigerator and freezer closed to keep food as fresh as possible. Place blocks of ice inside to help keep food cold. Check food carefully for signs of spoilage.
Check on your neighbors to make sure everyone is safe.
Tips on staying warm
State law requires residential units to have heating systems that can keep indoor temperatures at a minimum of 70 degrees. That means every dwelling unit and guest room offered for rent or lease should offer heating equipment.
Use heat smartly to save money: Cranking heaters can be expensive. If money is tight, be judicious about how and when you use your utilities. For example, only use heaters at night or only set the thermostat to around 70 degrees.
Open and close those vents: If you have central A/C, look at where the vents are around your home. Are any open in places where you don’t stay long? Practice opening and closing those so warm air only goes where you need it (most vents should have a small toggle lever). Humidifiers can also help you warm things up — and it’s useful to add moisture into our dry air.
Adjust your wall heaters: If you have a wall heater, you can change the output by adjusting the knob (usually at the bottom). Since wall heaters can only warm the areas where they’re placed, it’s essential to close doors to rooms you won’t be in so hot air doesn’t get wasted.
Turn on your ceiling fan (really): If you have a ceiling fan, try turning it on. This sounds counterintuitive, but there’s science behind it. Since hot air floats up, your fan can help move it around. For warming, your fan should spin clockwise to create an updraft. Not all fans will have this option.
This is a developing story. We fact check everything and rely only on information from credible sources (think fire, police, government officials and reporters on the ground). Sometimes, however, we make mistakes or initial reports turn out to be wrong. In all cases, we strive to bring you the most accurate information in real time and will update this story as new information becomes available.
Robert Duvall, who brought a wide range of characters to life, from tough Marines to wistful, tender-hearted cowboys over a long career, has died at 95.
His career: Duvall appeared in over 90 films over the course of his career, imbuing stock Hollywood types — cowboys, cops, soldiers — with a nuanced sense of vulnerability.
What we know about his death: Duvall died on Sunday. His wife Luciana posted on Facebook on Monday, "Yesterday we said goodbye to my beloved husband, cherished friend, and one of the greatest actors of our time. Bob passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by love and comfort."
Over his long career, Robert Duvall brought a wide range of characters to life, from tough Marines to wistful, tender-hearted cowboys.
Duvall died on Sunday. His wife Luciana posted on Facebook on Monday, "Yesterday we said goodbye to my beloved husband, cherished friend, and one of the greatest actors of our time. Bob passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by love and comfort."
He was 95 years old.
In his first major movie role, in 1962, Robert Duvall appeared in only a handful of scenes. He didn't have a single word of dialogue. Yet the actor managed to make an indelible, star-making impression. The film was To Kill a Mockingbird. The role was Boo Radley.
Boo is the small town's recluse; he spends the movie as little more than a mysterious shape, cloaked in shadows. But in the film's final moments, he steps out nervously, into the light.
Duvall's features soften, he smiles slightly — and the menacing presence of Boo Radley transforms before our eyes into a figure radiating kindness and concern. The pure, elegantly nuanced physicality of that moment launched his career.
"I was at a small college in the Midwest," he said. "It was the end of the Korean war. I did go in the army eventually but [only] to get through college, to find something that would give me a sense of worth, where I got my first 'A'. It was my parents I had to thank for that."
As a young actor, he ended up in New York City, where he palled around with Gene Hackman, James Caan and his roommate Dustin Hoffman. It was over many coffees and conversations with them at Cromwell's Drug Store on 50th and 6th Avenue that he struck upon his personal philosophy of acting. His approach was direct and unpretentious, as he explained to the TV series Oprah's Masterclass in 2015: "Basically just talk and listen, and keep it simple. And however it goes, it goes."
After Mockingbird, his parts grew bigger: Films like Bullitt, True Grit, and M*A*S*H, in which he originated the role of the uptight Major Frank Burns.
But it was his role in 1972's The Godfather, as Tom Hagen, the Corleone family lawyer, that changed everything. Amid the film's operatic swirl of emotion, Tom Hagen was an island of calmness and restraint, so it might seem odd that Duvall often said it was one of his favorite roles of his career.
But his strength as an actor was always how unforced he seemed, how true. Others around him emoted, showily and outwardly — he always directed his energy inward, to find a character's heart. This was true even when he played roles with a harder edge.
In two films that came out in 1979 — The Great Santini and Apocalypse Now, both of which earned him Oscar nominations — Duvall played military men. In Santini, he was a bluff, belligerent Marine who bullied his sensitive son in an attempt to harden him into a man.
In Francis Ford Coppola's epically trippy Vietnam War film Apocalypse Now, Duvall was all charismatic swagger as Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore, who calls down an airstrike and delivers one of the most quotable lines in film history: "I love the smell of napalm in the morning. ... It smells like ... victory."
As he told Terry Gross on Fresh Air in 1996, the words followed him for the rest of his life.
"Yeah, that was a wonderful line," he said. "People come up to me and quote it to me like it's this in thing between me and them. Like they're the only ones who ever thought of it, but it happens with everyone in the same way."
He finally won the Oscar for 1983's Tender Mercies. He played a recovering alcoholic country singer trying to start his life over. Duvall did his own singing in that film.
He directed 1997's The Apostle, which he also wrote, produced and starred in, as an evangelical preacher on the outs with God. It earned him his fifth Oscar nomination for acting.
Over the course of an acting career that spanned decades, Duvall appeared in over 90 films. He took traditional, old Hollywood archetypes of masculinity — soldiers, cops and cowboys — and imbued them with notes of melancholy, a vulnerability that made them come alive onscreen.
