Jason Robards (Magnolia) Magnolia

Jason Robards plays Earl Partridge, a dying television producer consumed by regret over abandoning his first wife and young son. It was Robards' final film role -- he died in December 2000 of lung cancer, the same disease that kills Earl in the film.

Anderson based Earl on his own dying father

Much of Earl's material drew from Anderson's experience with his father Ernie Anderson, a television personality (the voice of ABC and the host of Cleveland horror-movie show Ghoulardi) who died of cancer. Anderson wrote Earl's deathbed confession -- the rambling, morphine-soaked monologue about Lily, about cheating, about leaving his son to care for his dying mother alone -- from personal knowledge of what cancer does to a man's capacity for honesty.

Earl is the structural hub of the film. His dying wish to see his son sets the Frank storyline in motion. His confession radiates outward to connect every storyline -- the theme of fathers failing children begins with Earl and extends to Jimmy Gator, Rick Spector, and the absent parents of Donnie Smith. (wikipedia, mentalfloss)

Robards was Anderson's first choice but initially declined

Robards initially turned down the role due to a staph infection. Anderson offered the part to George C. Scott, who reportedly threw the script across the room, objecting to the language. Robards then accepted. (wikipedia, mentalfloss)

Robards brought decades of experience playing men in extremis -- he had won consecutive Academy Awards for All the President's Men (1976) and Julia (1977) and was known for Eugene O'Neill roles on stage. His Earl is not sentimental; he is a man who ran a television empire, cheated on his wife, abandoned his son, and now wants absolution from the son he destroyed. The performance works because Robards plays the guilt without softening it -- Earl does not become likable; he becomes human.

The deathbed scenes anchor the film's emotional structure

Earl's confession comes in fragments across the film, interrupted by morphine haze and coughing. Phil Parma sits beside him, holding his hand, not looking away. The confession builds from vague references to "Lily" and "a son" in Act One to the full story of abandonment in Act Three -- Earl cheating on Lily, marrying Linda, leaving his son Jack to care for his dying mother alone.

Earl dies with Frank at his bedside. The scene is nearly wordless -- Frank weeps, Earl is barely conscious, Phil watches from the doorway. Robards' physical deterioration across the film is convincing enough that audiences did not know whether they were watching acting or illness. He was seventy-seven during filming. (wikipedia)