3 Women (1977) and
Popeye (1980). By
Thieves, Duvall had graduated to star billing, playing Keechie, a garage owner s daughter in Depression-era Mississippi who falls for an escaped convict, played by Keith Carradine. What she was doing in Altman movies like
Thieves was just transcendent, says Lily Tomlin, 81, who appeared with Duvall in
Nashville. (Duvall played a preening country music groupie, Tomlin a gospel singer raising two deaf kids.) She s sitting on the porch drinking a Coke in a swing, and Keith Carradine is coming on to her, and she s so innocent. The way she played that so sweet and funny and heartbreaking. It just killed me. Like so many others, Tomlin long ago lost touch with Duvall. I tried to find her for a minute when I first heard that she was gone off some place. I think I had a [project] idea for her at the time, Tomlin says. But I didn t really put a lot of sweat into it. I wish I had now.