How Robert Duvall Helped Save Billy Joe Shaver (RIP)

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Robert Duvall in “The Apostle” // Billy Joe Shaver (photo: Sandy Carson)


This story has been updated.

Captain Augustus “Gus” McCrae, Colonel Kilgore, Consigliere Tom Hagen, ol’ Mac Sledge, and so many more. These are the fictional characters that all feel larger than life to us thanks to the master stroke of acting that Robert Duvall brought to their depictions. It’s hard to know how the rest of us are supposed to carry on hurdling through Space on this cold ball of rock now that he’s passed on at age 95. But we’ll suffer through.

Robert Duvall’s ties to country music and Texas were close, and not just through his work on the film Lonesome Dove, which he always claimed was his favorite. Though he was a very highly-acclaimed actor throughout his career and was nominated for seven Academy Awards, Duvall’s Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role came from his incomparable portrayal of washed-up country artist Mac Sledge in the 1983 film Tender Mercies.

To prepare for the role, Duvall didn’t just spend a few days in front of a mirror perfecting a Southern drawl. He spent multiple weeks traveling around Texas, speaking to people in small towns and backwater locations, trying to perfectly adapt the right accent and mannerisms that would evoke Mac Sledge authentically.

Duvall reportedly drove some 680 miles around Texas in this quest, eventually finding a man he felt was perfect to emulate, and then had him read the entire film script into a tape recorder so Duvall could study it. Duvall also sang his own parts in the film, and spent the time while shooting the film playing in an actual country band in Texas to stay in-character. Now that’s dedication.

Another interesting footnote about Tender Mercies is that the film was written by Horton Foote, who also wrote To Kill a Mockingbird that Duvall also appeared in. Foote also happened to be the uncle of Tom Foote, who was George Strait’s first drummer and tour manager for decades.


But it wasn’t the filming of Tender Mercies when Robert Duvall struck up a friendship with country music songwriter and Outlaw legend Billy Joe Shaver. It was during the filming of Lonesome Dove in the late 1980s when they met. Duvall then cast Shaver in the 1997 film The Apostle. Duvall was nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of Euliss F. “Sonny” Dewey—the Pentecostal preacher from the film. Duvall also wrote and directed the movie, and cast Billy Joe Shaver as “Joe”—a close friend of Duvall’s character. June Carter Cash also appears in the film.

Just as in the movie, Robert Duvall and Billy Joe Shaver were close confidants. Duvall helped support Billy Joe Shaver after the heart attack in 2001 he suffered while performing at Gruene Hall. Later, Duvall’s wife, Luciana, directed the 2004 documentary Portrait of Billy Joe, produced by Duvall. Being a friend to such a high-profile and dignified member of society such as Duvall became very handy for Billy Joe Shaver some years later.

On March 31st, 2007, Billy Joe Shaver was at the Papa Joe’s bar on Interstate 35 just south of Waco, TX when a man named Billy Bryant Coker approached him. After Coker stirred Shaver’s drink with a knife and started a verbal altercation, Shaver decided he’d had enough and left the bar. Coker followed him out to the parking lot, and as Coker continued to come at him, Shaver drew a .22 pistol from his boot, and shot Coker in the face.

Legend says Billy Joe Shaver asked Coker “Where do you want it?” before taking the shot. But as Whitey Morgan who first recorded the song “Where Do You Want It” written by Dale Watson loves to say, “I don’t know if I believe that story, because in the face is where he got it.”

Billy Bryant Coker didn’t suffer any permanent injuries, but Billy Joe Shaver was put on trial for aggravated assault. Key to Billy Joe Shaver’s defense were two high profile character witnesses: Willie Nelson, and Robert Duvall, who was subpoenaed in the case, and was in Texas for the trial, swearing to a jury of Billy Joe’s peers that he wasn’t a violent person, and had acted in self-defense.

Ultimately, it might have been that Billy Bryant Coker was the instigator, and that Shaver had fled to the parking lot and Cocker had followed that got Shaver off the hook. But having Captain Augustus “Gus” McCrae there testifying on his behalf probably didn’t hurt Billy Joe Shaver’s prospects with the Texas jury.

It wasn’t just the characters that Robert Duvall portrayed. It was how each character seemed to be an extension of himself that made Duvall’s roles so compelling, and his characters so believable. Of course he’d be there for Billy Joe Shaver at trial. Of course he’d take playing a country singer so seriously, he’d immerse himself in the lifestyle.

Ultimately, it wasn’t just the fictional characters he portrayed. It was the personal character that Robert Duvall displayed that made him so beloved by many, beyond his legendary roles.

You we’re one of a kind, Augustus. We’re gonna miss you.

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