Actress Shelley Duvall was released in December 1980.
/Associated Press
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/Associated Press
Shirley Duvall, the plucky Texas-born movie star whose wide-eyed, alluring presence was a mainstay in Robert Altman’s films and was a co-star in Stanley Kubrick’s ” “The Shining” co-starring. She is 75 years old.
Duvall died in his sleep Thursday at his home in Blanco, Texas, his longtime partner Dan Gilroy announced. Her publicist friend Gary Springer said the cause was complications from diabetes.
Gilroy said in a statement: “My dear, sweet, wonderful life, partner and friend left us last night. She has been through so much pain recently and now she is free. Fly away, beautiful snow. Lai.
In 1970, Duvall was in junior college in Texas when members of the Altman cast met her at a party in Houston preparing to shoot “Brewster MacLeod.” “Brewster MacLeod,” allowing her to become her own actor.
Duvall subsequently appeared in Ultraman films, including Thieves Like Us, Nashville, Popeye, Three Women and McCabe and Ms. Miller.
“He offered me… good roles,” Duvall told New York Times 1977. He has confidence in me, trusts and respects me, he doesn’t limit me or intimidate me and I love him. I remember the first advice he gave me was: ‘Don’t take yourself seriously.
Duvall, gaunt and awkward, was not a traditional Hollywood star. But she has a fascinating candor and exudes a strange naturalism. Film critic Pauline Kael called her a “female Buster Keaton”.
In her prime, Duvall was a regular in some classic films of the 1970s and 1980s. In The Shining, she plays Wendy Torrance, who watches in horror as her husband Jack (Jack Nicholson) goes crazy while their family is quarantined in the Overlook Hotel. Duvall’s screaming face and Jack’s ax through the door make up half of the film’s most iconic images.
But Duvall disappeared from the film almost as quickly as she appeared in it. In the 1990s, she began to withdraw from the entertainment industry. Her last film role was in 2002’s “Nectar from Heaven.” Duvall retired from public life. Earlier this year, she gave her first interview in years.
“If people were really nice and all of a sudden, they turned on you” — she snapped her fingers — “how would you feel?” Duvall told The Times. “Unless it happens to you, you never believe it. That’s why you get hurt, because you can’t really believe it’s real.
