Shelley Duvall, the doe-eyed actor who was both muse and protege of director Robert Altman but might best be remembered for her co-starring role opposite Jack Nicholson in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, died today, July 11, of complications from diabetes at her home in Blanco, Texas. She was 75.
Her death was announced by her longtime partner Dan Gilroy.
“My dear, sweet, wonderful life partner and friend left us,” Gilroy said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. “Too much suffering lately, now she’s free. Fly away, beautiful Shelley.”
Duvall rose to fame in the 1970s in a series of Altman’s films, starting with Brewster McCloud and followed by McCabe & Mrs. Miller; Thieves Like Us; 3 Women; Nashville; and Buffalo Bill and the Indians.
She would go on to appear in Woody Allen’s Annie Hall as a flighty Rolling Stone reporter and star in her most famous role as Wendy Torrance alongside Jack Nicholson in Kubrick’s classic adaptation of Stephen King’s The Shining.
A native of Houston, Texas, Duvall was discovered by Altman when the director was in town filming Brewster McCloud. After he cast Duvall to play the love interest of Bud Cort’s title character, For her appearance in the director’s 3 Women, she won the Cannes Film Festival’s Best Actress Award.
In addition to her film career, Duvall became a writer, producer, and director in her own right with multiple children’s entertainment series, including Faerie Tale Theatre, Mother Goose Rock’N’Rhyme, Tall Tales, and Legends and Bedtime Stories.
Born Shelley Alexis Duvall on July 7, 1949, Duvall found her earliest mainstream success in Altman’s 1975 classic Nashville (1975). Two years later came the director’s 3 Women and a brief but memorable appearance as a flighty Rolling Stone reporter in Annie Hall. That same year she hosted Saturday Night Live.
Her profile continued to rise the following decade, when she starred in a role that seemed tailor-made for her gawky, saucer-eyed appearance: She played Olive Oyl in Altman’s 1980 live-action feature version of Popeye opposite Robin Williams.
But her signature role came that year as The Shining’s terrorized Wendy Torrance. (Hollywood legend has it that she was nearly as terrorized by director Stanley Kubrick himself, who required Duvall to undergo take after take).
She also appeared in Terry Gilliam’s 1981 film Time Bandits, and, in 1987, Roxanne opposite Steve Martin.
Duvall pivoted to television later in the ’80s, producing and starring in children’s fare include Faerie Tale Theatre (1982–1987), the Emmy-nominated Tall Tales & Legends (1985–1987) and Nightmare Classics (1989).
Although she worked occasionally throughout the ’90s, she retired in 2002 due to health issues that included both physical and mental struggles. In a 2016 interview on Dr. Phil, she appeared confused, rambling, agitated and disoriented. Promos for the controversial and widely condemned interview showed Duvall saying to the camera, “I am very sick. I need help.”
The interview was held for that year’s November sweeps, and many in Hollywood were outraged and accused Dr. Phil McGraw of exploiting the troubled star. Days later, the Actors Fund reached out to try and help with financial aid and any other assistance she might have needed — from social services to direct financial assistance.
