We have some very sad news to share today, as The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that Shelley Duvall, best known for playing Wendy Torrance in the 1980 horror classic The Shining and Olive Oyl in the 1980 live-action version of Popeye, has passed away at the age of 75. According to Dan Gilroy, her life partner since 1989, died in her sleep of complications from diabetes at her home in Blanco, Texas. Gilroy said, “My dear, sweet, wonderful life partner and friend left us. Too much suffering lately, now she’s free. Fly away, beautiful Shelley.“
Born in Fort Worth, Texas on July 7, 1949, Duvall was a Texas college student when she basically just fell into an acting career. She happened to meet director Robert Altman at a party while he was in Texas shooting his 1970 movie Brewster McCloud. Intrigued by her “upbeat presence and unique physical appearance”, the director and crew members talked Duvall into taking a role in the film. Suddenly she was an actress who started racking up credits: Nashville, Annie Hall, Time Bandits, Roxanne, The Portrait of a Lady, 3 Women (she won the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival for her performance in that one), the aforementioned The Shining (where director Stanley Kubrick famously put her through the wringer during production) and Popeye, and fifty more, including hosting her own TV show, Faerie Tale Theatre. She retired from acting over twenty years ago and in recent years she has been in the news for her struggles with mental illness, including an appearance on the Dr. Phil show in 2016… but she did recently take part in the upcoming horror film The Forest Hills.
The Shining is one of my favorite movies and I remember watching Faerie Tale Theatre and Popeye quite a bit when I was a kid, so I have been a Shelley Duvall fan for most of my life. It’s sad to hear that she is no longer with us, and that we won’t get to see her follow up her performance in The Forest Hills with any more movies.
Our heartfelt condolences go out to Shelley Duvall’s family, friends, and fans.