Shelley Duvall, Star Of ‘Nashville’ & ‘The Shining,’ Dies At 75

Shelley Duvall, known for her roles in The Shining and Nashville, died of diabetes complications on Thursday in Blanco, Texas, at the age of 75.

“My dear, sweet, wonderful life, partner and friend left us last night. Too much suffering lately, now she’s free. Fly away beautiful Shelley,” said her partner Dan Gilroy in a statement.

Duvall was known as the late director Robert Altman’s protege in the 1970s and 1980s. After meeting the infamous director while filming Brewster Cloud, Duvall went on to star in five more of his films, including McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Thieves Like Us, Nashville, Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull’s History Lesson and 3 Women. She also starred as Olive Oyl in Altman’s Popeye.

“[Altman] has great confidence in me,” she told the New York Times in 1977. “And a trust and respect for me, and he doesn’t put any restrictions on me or intimidate me, and I love him.”

Her success in these films led to her being cast as Wendy Torrance, the wife of Jack Nicholson’s character in The Shining. The movie took more than a year to shoot, and Duvall was open about the particularly demanding schedule that the project required.

“After a while, your body rebels. It says: ‘Stop doing this to me. I don’t want to cry every day.’ And sometimes just that thought alone would make me cry,” Duvall told the Hollywood Reporter years after the film’s release. “To wake up on a Monday morning so early, and realize that you had to cry all day because it was scheduled – I’d be like, ‘Oh no, I can’t, I can’t.’ And yet I did it.”

In 1982, Duvall founded Platypus Productions, which adapted children’s stories into television plays. Her connections allowed her production a renowned cast, including Robin Williams, Eric Idle and Bud Cort. Altman even directed an episode.

Duvall was known for living a somewhat reclusive life after she retired from acting in 2002. In 2016, she made an appearance on Dr. Phil, which was later scrutinized by viewers who claimed she had sensationalized her struggles with mental health.

In 2023, Duvall returned to acting to appear in the indie horror film The Forest Hills.

She is survived by Gilroy and brothers, Scott, Stewart and Shane.

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