In Memoriam: Shelley Duvall

(July 7, 1949 – July 11, 2024)

Shelley Duvall, the doe-eyed actor who was both muse and protégé of director Robert Altman but might best be remembered for her co-starring role opposite Jack Nicholson in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, died of complications from diabetes at her home in Blanco, Texas. She was 75.

Duvall rose to fame in the 1970s in a series of Altman’s films, starting with Brewster McCloud and followed by McCabe & Mrs. Miller (in which she made an indelible impression as a sweet-natured young widow who turns to prostitution in an Old West bordello operated by the title characters, played by Warren Beatty and Julie Christie), Thieves Like Us, 3 Women, Nashville and Buffalo Bill and the Indians.

A native of Texas, Duvall was discovered by Altman when the director was in Houston filming Brewster McCloud. After he cast Duvall to play the love interest of Bud Cort’s title character, she would win the 1977 Cannes Film Festival’s Best Actress Award for her appearance in Altman’s 3 Women. She also earned a Best Actress BAFTA Awards nom for the film.

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, Disney Channel’s Mother Goose Rock’N’Rhyme, Tall Tales & Legends and Shelley Duvall’s Bedtime Stories — scoring Emmy nominations for the latter two in 1988 and 1992, respectively.

In 2023, she acted in indie horror film The Forest Hills. It starred Chiko Mendez as Rico, a disturbed man who is tormented by nightmarish visions after suffering head trauma while camping in the Catskill Mountains. Duvall played Rico’s mother, who serves as his inner voice.

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