Actress Shelley Duvall passed away, according to a statement from her life partner.
The 75-year-old Duvall was well-known in Hollywood during the 1970s after he and Jack Nicholson co-starred in Stanley Kubrick’s iconic horror film The Shining.
In the middle of the 1980s, Shelley gradually lost popularity; however, in 2016, she gained notoriety following a contentious episode on Dr. Phil’s show.
THR was the first to report on her death, which was ascribed to consequences from diabetes:
“Duvall passed away at her Blanco, Texas, home from complications related to her diabetes in her sleep,” her life partner Dan Gilroy, who has known her since 1989, told The Hollywood Reporter.
As fast as her fame soared, it collapsed, and according to The New York Times, Shelley Duvall never planned to be an actress.
After being uncovered in 1970, Shelley became highly sought after in Hollywood:
“Ms. Duvall had not planned on pursuing a career in film when she met [director Robert] Altman during the 1970 filming of “Brewster McCloud”; members of his film crew had attended a party she had arranged to auction her husband’s artwork.
“Taking her with them, they presented her to Mr. Altman, a filmmaker known for his quirky films and unconventional casting choices. Despite her lack of experience, he asked her to join the cast right away.
“My sweet, wonderful, and beloved friend and life companion passed away. She has suffered too much lately; she is now free. Gilroy responded, “Fly away, beautiful Shelley.”
For The Shining, Shelley Duvall is Most Known
As fast as her fame soared, it collapsed, and according to The New York Times, Shelley Duvall never planned to be an actress.
After being uncovered in 1970, Shelley became highly sought after in Hollywood:
“Ms. Duvall had not planned on pursuing a career in film when she met [director Robert] Altman during the 1970 filming of “Brewster McCloud“; members of his film crew had attended a party she had arranged to auction her husband’s artwork.
“Taking her with them, they presented her to Mr. Altman, a filmmaker known for his quirky films and unconventional casting choices. Despite her lack of experience, he asked her to join the cast right away.
She agreed and subsequently starred in four additional films directed by Mr. Altman.
When Shelley was cast as Wendy in The Shining in 1980, her mental state completely collapsed and she became an international celebrity.
In a 1980 interview with Roger Ebert, Shelley mentioned a few of the challenges she had while working on the demanding set, stating as follows:
“So this was my opportunity to collaborate with Kubrick… enduring agonizing labor day in and day out. Nearly intolerable. The character played by Jack Nicholson has to be mad and furious all the time.
For the past nine months, I have had to cry for twelve hours a day, five or six days a week, in order to fulfill my character.
“I must have something to Primal Scream therapy since, after my 12-hour crying session, I returned home feeling really happy. I was there for a year and a month.
It had a really soothing impact. I would have been utterly uncomfortable during the day.”
Not only did Shelley observe the negative effects of The Shining on her, but Anjelica Huston, a friend of Duvall’s who was dating Nicholson at the time, subsequently recalled:
Additionally, neither Kubrick nor Nicholson seemed really sympathetic. The boys appeared to be banding together in a slight way. I may have had a completely incorrect impression of the circumstances, but I still felt that way.
“And she generally seemed shaken up and a little tortured when I saw her during those days. Nobody seemed to be particularly watching out for her, in my opinion.”
Shelley was mainly hidden from the public from the 1980s on. Focusing on her mental health, Dr. Phil McGraw made the still-controversial choice to interview her for his show in 2016:
“Duvall made a number of claims during her sit-down interview with McCraw, including the assertion that she had a ‘whirring disk’ inside of her and that her co-star in Popeye, Robin Williams, was still alive and still able to shape-shift. “I’m really ill,” she declared. “I require assistance.”
Fans worried about McGraw’s health when it aired, and she was always in the news following the uproar as Shelley was criticized for “using” Duvall.
Shelley stated in 2021 that she “found out the kind of person [Dr. Phil] is the hard way,” but she didn’t regret making the appearance.
Gilroy and Shelley Duvall’s brothers, Scott, Stewart, and Shane, survive her.
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