The Late Great Shelley Duvall

Shelley Duvall, who starred in such movies as The Shining (1980) and Popeye (1980) and worked a good deal with director Robert Altman died today, July 11 2024, at the age of 75. The cause was from complications from diabetes.

Shelley Duvall was born on July 7 1949 in Fort Worth, Texas. Her family moved to Houston when she was five years old. She attended South Texas Junior College. There she studied nutrition and diet therapy. While in college she threw a party for her fiancé, artist Bernard Sampson. At the party she met crew members of Robert Altman's movie Brewster McCloud, then filming in Houston. The crew members took her to meet casting director Lou Adler, who offered her a role in the movie. Shelley Duvall then made her film debut as Suzanne in Brewster McCloud. She made enough of an impression on director Robert Altman that he her cast her as mail order bride Ida Coyle in McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971).

In the Seventies she appeared in the movies Thieves Like Us (1974), Nashville (1975), Buffalo Bill and the Indians or Sitting Bull's History Lesson (1976), Annie Hall (1977), 3 Women (1977), The Shining (1980), and Popeye (1980). She made her television debut in 1973 in a guest appearance on Cannon. In the Seventies dhse also guest starred on Love, American Style; Baretta; American Short Story, and Saturday Night Live. She appeared in The Paul Simon Special.

In the Eighties Shelley Duvall was the narrator on the TV show Faerie Tale Theatre, which she also produced. Later in the decade she narrated and produced the show Tall Tales & Legends and she produced the show Nightmare Classics. She guest starred on the 1980s revival of The Twilight Zone.  She appeared in the movies Time Bandits (1981) and Roxanne (1987). She appeared in the short subject Frankenweenie (1984).

In the Nineties Shelley Duvall produced and hosted the TV show Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories. She guest starred on the show The Ray Bradbury Theatre, L.A. Law, Adventures from the Book of Virtue, Aahh!!! Real Monsters, Wishbone, The Adventures of Shirley Holmes, Maggie Winters, and The Hughleys. She appeared in the movies Suburban Commando (1991), Underneath (1995), The Portrait of a Lady (1996), Changing Habits (1997), Twilight for the Ice Nymphs (1997), ShadowZone: My Teacher Ate My Homework (1997), RocketMan (1997), Tale of the Mummy (1998), The 4th Floor (1999), Big Monster on Campus and (2000). She appeared in the movie Manna from Heaven in 2002. It was following Manna in Heaven that she went on hiatus from acting. She played one final role in The Forest Hills (2023).

Shelley Duvall was a remarkable actress capable of playing a wide variety. Chances are good that many people will remember her best as Wendy Torrance, Jack Torrance's much put-upon wife in The Shining. Many will also remember her as Olive Oyl in Popeye, a role she was seemingly born to play. In Thieves Like Us she played Keechie, a garage owner's daughter who falls in love with bank robber Bowie (Keith Carradine). In Nashville she played groupie Martha, who insists on being called "L.A. Joan." Over the years she played everything from Grover Cleveland's wife in Buffalo Bill and the Indians or Sitting Bull's History Lesson to an attendant at a health spa for the elderly.

Of course, Shelley Duvall was also a great producer. She was responsible for such classic TV shows as Faerie Tale Theatre, Tall Tales & Legends, and Bedtime Stories. These were shows that were meant for children, but were done in such a way that adults could enjoy them as well. It is little wonder that they were nominated and won awards. Shelley Duvall as a great actress and a great producer, and she will be remembered for both.