Shelley Duvall - TV Tropes

"There's nothing that can beat the feeling of doing a movie or a TV show that makes everyone feel good."

Shelley Alexis Duvall (July 7, 1949 – July 11, 2024) was an American actress, producer, writer, and singer.

Discovered by Robert Altman while he was in Houston shooting Brewster McCloud, she appeared in seven of Altman's films, gaining acclaim for her ability to create quirky, memorable characters. Attracting the notice of other top-notch filmmakers, she had a notable supporting role in Woody Allen's Annie Hall, then was tapped by Stanley Kubrick for her most famous role, as Wendy Torrance in his adaptation of Stephen King's horror novel The Shining. She was busy in The '80s, not only appearing in movies but also creating TV shows such as Faerie Tale Theatre and Tall Tales & Legends. Duvall and her partner, musician Dan Gilroy, left Hollywood in 1994 and resettled in a small town in the Texas Hill Country west of Austin. She gradually backed away from acting after that, making her last film appearance in 2002.

Very much a Reclusive Artist, Duvall disappeared from the spotlight until a 2016 appearance on Dr. Phil in which she appeared disheveled and somewhat incoherent, which raised concerns about her mental health, along with discussions about whether Phil was exploiting her instead of helping, and whether the legendary Troubled Production of The Shining and especially Kubrick's Enforced Method Acting techniques might have been a major cause of her issues. A 2021 Hollywood Reporter interview seemed to find her in much better spirits. During this interview, she was finally asked directly whether she believed Kubrick to have been abusive when he directed her in The Shining (as has often been the subject of Hollywood myth), and although she acknowledged the shoot was grueling and that he was a difficult, demanding man in general, she replied in the negative.

In 2022 — a full two decades following her last film role — Duvall would make her return to acting with the independent horror-thriller film The Forest Hills.

On July 11, 2024, she passed away in her sleep due to complications from diabetes, four days after her 75th birthday. She was in a committed relationship with her partner since 1989, Dan Gilroy of the '80s band Breakfast Club.

She is not related to Robert Duvall.

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Selected filmography:

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Film roles 

Television roles 

Tropes associated with her work:

• Actor-Inspired Element: LA Joan of Nashville was written to be "the only pure voice in the movie". When Shelley was cast, because she couldn't sing, Robert Altman instead had her utilise her talent of putting clothes together, so she assembled Joan's wardrobe herself, wanting to make her visually striking.
• And Starring: Brewster McCloud gives her the 'and introducing' credit.
• The Cameo: She cameos as Frances Cleveland, the First Lady and wife of Grover Cleveland in Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson.
• Cartwright Curse: Her characters' love interests tend to die, to the point that biographers noted that the first decade of her career saw her being put at a cross section of sex and death.
• Cast the Runner-Up: The role of Albuquerque in Nashville was written for her, but because Shelley wasn't much of a singer, she was given the role of LA Joan instead.
• Creator Backlash: Sort of towards The Shining, though not to the extent that urban legends would have you believe. As she had worked only with Robert Altman for the previous decade, who emphasised improv and actors building their characters through being in the moment, she was unprepared for the perfectionism and repetition of a Stanley Kubrick film. While the amount of retakes is often exaggerated, it was still a strenuous shoot that kept her occupied for a year. She did say she wouldn't trade the experience, but also that she would rather not repeat it.
• Dark Horse Casting: She had no professional acting training and was essentially just asked by Robert Altman to star in Brewster McCloud after he met her at a party.
• Dyeing for Your Art: She had her hair cut for a scene in Thieves Like Us.
• Harpo Does Something Funny: There was no script for 3 Women, so she came up with about 80% of her dialogue.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: She was known for her thin frame, so she was often cast alongside men who were much beefier to make the most of this contrast.
• Leslie Nielsen Syndrome: She began her career in gritty dramas such as Thieves Like Us, 3 Women etc or horror films like The Shining. Starting with Popeye, she transitioned into comedy and Lighter and Softer children's media.
• Playing Against Type:
  • After a string of roles where she played women who were innocent and/or naïve, she played a groupie in Nashville who ignores her dying aunt to flirt with multiple famous men.
  • 3 Women also has her as an annoying Motor Mouth who sleeps with her friend's husband shamelessly and then gets jealous when another friend starts acting like her.
• Produced by Cast Member: While she mainly just presented each episode of Faerie Tale Theatre, she did also star in seven episodes. She produced the series as well.
• Production Posse: Robert Altman directed her in six films - Brewster McCloud, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Thieves Like Us, Nashville, 3 Women and Popeye. She also cameo'd in his Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson. Four of those films also starred Keith Carradine.
• Race Lift: She plays the title character in a TV adaptation of Bernice Bobs Her Hair. Bernice in the book had prominent Native American heritage, while Shelley did not.
• Star-Making Role: While people were already talking up her performance in Brewster McCloud, it was arguably Nashville that made her really famous.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Robert Altman wrote a part for her in A Wedding, but she turned it down. The PR line was that she wanted to spend the summer with her boyfriend Paul Simon, but she really just didn't want to have to go back to bit parts after the acclaim she had received for 3 Women.
  • Jack Nicholson fought for Jessica Lange to play Wendy in The Shining, as that was closer to how she is written in the book, and even had Stanley Kubrick meet with her. Kubrick on the other hand envisioned Wendy being more fragile, and preferred Shelley. Years later, Jack Nicholson would admit that he was right.
  • The studio really wanted Lily Tomlin to play Olive Oyl in Popeye, but Robert Altman insisted that Shelley was the best one for the role, to the point that he threatened to walk off the project if she wasn't cast.

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