Actress Shelley Duvall Away at 75 years old

 

Shelley Duvall Photo

Actress Shelley Duvall Passes Away at 75 old

US actress Shelley Duvall, famously known for her roles in films like The Shining, Annie Hall, and Nashville, has passed away at 75. Her partner, Dan Gilroy, confirmed the news to The Hollywood Reporter. "My dear, sweet, wonderful life partner and friend left us. Too much suffering lately, now she’s free. Fly away, beautiful Shelley," he said. Duvall died in her sleep from complications related to diabetes at her Texas home, Gilroy added.

Duvall's illustrious career included a standout performance in the 1977 drama 3 Women, directed by Robert Altman, for which she won the Cannes Film Festival's Best Actress award and received a Bafta nomination. Three years later, she portrayed Olive Oyl opposite Robin Williams in Altman's musical adaptation of Popeye. Despite falling out of favor in Hollywood and disappearing from screens for two decades, Duvall made a comeback in 2023's The Forest Hills.

With her large brown eyes and unique charisma, Duvall was a captivating presence in the film industry. She began her career with Altman in the 1970 dark comedy Brewster McCloud and continued to collaborate with him on projects like McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971), Thieves Like Us (1974), and Nashville (1975). Her performance in 3 Women is considered one of the greatest of the 1970s by The Guardian's Anne Billson.

In Woody Allen's Annie Hall (1977), Duvall memorably played Pam, a Rolling Stone reporter. However, her most iconic role was Wendy Torrance in Stanley Kubrick's 1980 horror classic The Shining, where she endured a grueling filming process, recalling, "I had to cry 12 hours a day, all day long, the last nine months straight, five or six days a week."

Duvall's later roles included Time Bandits and Roxanne, and she founded her own production companies, creating and hosting the beloved 1980s children's TV show Faerie Tale Theatre. Her acting career diminished in the 1990s, with her final notable role in Jane Campion’s The Portrait of a Lady before disappearing from the public eye in 2002. The New York Times attributed her withdrawal to the aftermath of a 1994 earthquake and her brother's battle with cancer.

In a 2023 interview, Duvall reflected on her absence from the film industry, attributing it to the harsh realities of Hollywood rather than aging. Concerns about her health arose after a troubling appearance on Dr. Phil in 2016, where she spoke about her mental health struggles. Gilroy later explained that she had become "paranoid and just kind of delusional."

Despite these challenges, Duvall returned to acting in The Forest Hills, showing that her talent and magic remained intact. Novelist Nicole Flattery described her as the "ultimate film star," praising her ability to portray characters whose daffiness masked deeper emotions.