Shelley Duvall, actress in "The Shining," dies at 75 in the US
The actress, born in Fort Worth, Texas, claimed her career was profoundly influenced by director Robert Altman.
Shelley Duvall
Shelley Duvall, the versatile actress known for her role in The Shining alongside Jack Nicholson and for her working relationship with director Robert Altman, died Thursday at age 75.
The Hollywood Reporter media outlet reported her death, citing her life long partner Dan Gilroy, who announced that Duvall died in her sleep at her home in Blanco, Texas after facing complications from diabetes.
Born July 7, 1949, in Fort Worth, Texas, Duvall was discovered by Altman, the maverick filmmaker known for his rich characters, sharp social criticism and sharp satire. He cast her in the 1970 black comedy Brewster McCloud.
The actress developed a wide repertoire, breaking into the big-screen world with Nashville (1975) and going on to play memorable and eccentric characters that earned her a few awards, including the Cannes for her role in the acclaimed drama 3 Women (3 Women, 1977).
Her career was basically defined by her work with Altman, with whom she said she continued to act because "he offers me damn good roles." "None of them have been alike," she told The New York Times in 1977.
But her most notable performance was her role in the 1980 movie adaptation of Stephen King's horror novel The Shining, directed by Britain's Stanley Kubrick. She shared a starring role with Jack Nicholson.
Kubrick cast her to play the role of Wendy Torrance in this classic horror movie. The movie tells the story of her writer husband, who is hired as a winter caretaker at a remote mountain hotel and succumbs to disorders that drive him to homicidal madness. From then on, he terrorizes his wife and young son at the isolated location.
Duvall confessed to People magazine in 1981 that the 13-month filming job was exhausting and that Kubrick had her "crying 12 hours a day for weeks on end."
She also made a short appearance in the Woody Allen-directed movie Annie Hall (1977), and starred alongside Robin Williams in Altman's interpretation of Popeye (1980). In the 1980s, she made her way into children's programming.
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