The Shining star and legendary actress Shelley Duvall has died at the age of 75, with Stephen King among those paying tribute.
Duvall died in her sleep due to complications from diabetes at her home in Texas on Thursday.
‘My dear, sweet, wonderful life partner and friend left us. Too much suffering lately, now she’s free. Fly away, beautiful Shelley,’ Dan Gilroy, her partner since 1989, told The Hollywood Reporter.
With a penchant for playing distinctive, eccentric characters that often had eerie undertones, Duvall was known for her roles in McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Nashville, Popeye – alongside Robin Williams – and 3 Women.
Duvall starred in seven films directed by her mentor Robert Altman, and was perhaps most famed for appearing in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining as Wendy Torrance, who narrowly avoided Jack Nicholson’s murderous blow.
Asked by The New York Times in 1977 why she chose to keep working with Altman, she said: ‘He offers me damn good roles. None of them have been alike. He has a great confidence in me, and a trust and respect for me, and he doesn’t put any restrictions on me or intimidate me, and I love him.
‘I remember the first advice he ever gave me: “Don’t take yourself seriously.” Sometimes I find myself feeling self-centred, and then all of a sudden that bit of advice will pop into my head and I’ll laugh.’
She also portrayed a journalist in Woody Allen’s Annie Hall, played Pansy alongside Michael Palin in Time Bandits and appeared as Steve Martin’s friend Dixie in Roxanne.
Director Scott Goldberg, who worked with Duvall on her final film, 2023’s The Forest Hills, told People: ‘Shelley leaves behind an amazing legacy and will be missed by so many people, myself included.
‘I am proud of her for overcoming adversity to act again and will always be forever grateful for her friendship and kindness.’
Paying tribute on X, author King wrote: ‘Very sorry Shelly Duvall has passed. Wonderful, talented, underused actor.’
Singer Paul Simon, who previously dated Duvall, wrote on X: ‘So sorry to hear of Shelley’s passing. Sweet, talented eccentric.’
Reese Witherspoon shared a picture of the late star and wrote: ‘Shelley Duvall was such a unique talent in this world. She will always be treasured for her indelible performances.
‘Sending love and prayers to her family, her friends and all of her fans.’
Actress Riley Keough also shared an image of Duvall, calling her a ‘legend’, while West Side Story actress Rachel Zegler posted a picture with a broken heart.
The X account of The Shining director Stanley Kubrick paid tribute, writing: ‘Shelley Duvall, legendary character actor, and The Shining’s extraordinary Wendy Torrance has died at the age of 75.
‘Shelley’s career was varied and long. Despite being dogged with exaggerations of her treatment on set, Shelley was always vocal about her experience filming The Shining saying she “wouldn’t trade it for anything” because “working with loveable Stanley was a fascinating learning experience.”
‘Our thoughts are with Shelley’s friends and family.’
Born in Texas in 1949, Duvall began acting in 1970, immediately gravitating to darkly comedic roles.
Despite her initial hesitance to become an actress, she found her big break in 1977 in 3 Women, directed by Altman. For this part, she won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress and earned a nomination for the British Academy Film Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.
She won a variety of awards throughout her lifetime including a Peabody Award and was nominated for a British Academy Film Award and two Primetime Emmy Awards.
In the mid-1990s Duvall fled the Hollywood hills for her home state of Texas, leaving behind her production company Think Entertainment, which created children’s programming for cable TV and earnt her two Emmy Awards.
In 2016, Duvall appeared on Dr Phil in an interview in which she talked about mental illness – saying ‘I am very sick, I need help’, as per Hollywood Reporter – and afterwards the channel was widely criticised for airing it.
Recalling her time in England filming The Shining, she once recalled how Kubrick had her ‘crying 12 hours a day for weeks on end’.
She continued to People magazine: ‘I will never give that much again. If you want to get into pain and call it art, go ahead, but not with me.’
Duvall returned to acting in 2022 after two decades away with a role in The Forest Hills.
Roger Ebert wrote in 1980 that Duvall ‘looks and sounds like almost nobody else … and has possibly played more really different kinds of characters than almost any other young actress of the 1970s.
‘In all of her roles, there is an openness about her, as if somehow nothing has come between her open face and our eyes – no camera, dialogue, makeup, method of acting – and she is just spontaneously being the character.’
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us [email protected], calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
MORE : 60s rock legend, 79, ‘immediately retires’ from touring after suffering stroke
MORE : England are in the Euro 2024 final and we should revel in a love that transcends football
MORE : Shelley Duvall’s iconic characters reflected the darkness in her personal life
Share this with