Shelley Duvall

Shelley Alexis Duvall (July 7, 1949 – July 11, 2024) was an American actress and producer. Known for her distinctive screen presence, portrayals of eccentric characters, and later productions in children's programming, her accolades include a Cannes Award and a Peabody Award, in addition to nominations for a British Academy Film Award and two Primetime Emmy Awards. Four of Duvall's films have been preserved in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" as of 2025.

Duvall was born in Fort Worth, Texas, and raised in Houston, Texas, and was initially interested in science. In 1970, she was hosting a party for her boyfriend of the time at her house, where she was discovered by filmmaker Robert Altman. Impressed by her upbeat personality, Altman cast her in the black comedy film Brewster McCloud that same year. She rose to fame by collaborating with Altman throughout the 1970s, appearing in the Western film McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971), the crime film Thieves Like Us (1974), and the musical Nashville (1975). She received critical acclaim for her performance in Altman's psychological drama film 3 Women (1977), which earned her a Cannes Award and a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress. That same year, she had a supporting role in Woody Allen's romantic comedy Annie Hall. She became one of the most successful actresses of the 1970s by the end of the decade.

Duvall gained fame for playing Wendy Torrance in Stanley Kubrick's horror film The Shining (1980), with both her performance and filming experiences receiving continued attention. Also in 1980, she played Olive Oyl in Altman's adventure film Popeye. She increased her profile appearing in Terry Gilliam's fantasy film Time Bandits (1981), Tim Burton's short film Frankenweenie (1984), and Fred Schepisi's comedy film Roxanne (1987). The 1980s also saw Duvall venture into producing children's programming, founding the production companies Platypus and Think Entertainment and creating the programs Faerie Tale Theatre (1982–1987), Tall Tales & Legends (1985–1987), and Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories (1992–1994). She received Emmy nominations for Outstanding Children's Program and Outstanding Animated Program.

In the 1990s, Duvall sold her companies and acted infrequently, notably appearing in Steven Soderbergh's thriller film The Underneath (1995) and Jane Campion's drama film The Portrait of a Lady (1996). After her role in Gabrielle Burton's comedy film Manna from Heaven (2002), she announced an indefinite hiatus from acting. Her mental health during this period was covered by the media, briefly turning her private life public. She returned and announced a comeback in 2022 with the independent film The Forest Hills (2023), which would become her final role. Duvall died of diabetes complications on July 11, 2024.

Early life

Shelley Alexis Duvall was born on July 7, 1949, in Fort Worth, Texas, the first child of Bobbie Ruth Crawford (née Massengale, 1929–2020), a real estate broker and in the legal field, and Robert Richardson "Bobby" Duvall (1919–1994), a cattle auctioneer-turned-lawyer. Her younger brothers were Scott, Shane, and Stewart.

For her first few years, Duvall lived in various locations throughout Texas due to her father's work, before the family settled in Houston when she was five years old. She was in a choir. She was an artistic and energetic young child, eventually earning the nickname "Manic Mouse" from her mother. Growing up, Duvall's only exposure to acting was when she forgot her lines to Joyce Kilmer's poem "Trees" in a sixth-grade talent show. She became interested in science at a young age; as a teenager she aspired to become a scientist. After graduating from Waltrip High School in 1967, she sold cosmetics at Foley's, a department store; she attended South Texas Junior College and majored in nutrition and diet therapy. Duvall dropped out of college shortly after when she witnessed a monkey vivisection.

Career

1970–1976: Discovery by Robert Altman and breakthrough

On April Fool's Day 1970, Duvall was hosting a party in Houston for her artist boyfriend, Bernard Sampson, when three crew members in town for Brewster McCloud (1970) pre-production arrived. Intrigued by Duvall's offbeat looks and hyper-enthusiasm, they invited her to pitch Bernard’s paintings the next day to "art patrons". In a surreptitious casting call led by Robert Altman, Bert Remsen, and Lou Adler, they asked her to be part of the feature instead. Altman reflected on casting Duvall: "I was really quite mean to her, as I thought she was an actress. But she wasn’t kidding; that was her. She was an untrained, truthful person. She was very raw in Brewster but quite magic." Filmed in the summer of 1970, Duvall appeared in the film as Suzanne Davis, an Astrodome tour guide and the free-spirited love interest to Bud Cort's reclusive Brewster. After filming ended Duvall left Texas for the first time flying across the country with duties to promote the film, appearing in several publications and photoshoots such as Vogue and Show Magazine. Though not an immediate success, the film was received positively and brought attention to Duvall. Beatrice Loayza of The Atlantic believes her character "would've seemed innocuous enough were it not for the actor's hypnotic charms".

Following Brewster McCloud, Duvall became a protégé of Altman. Her first commercial success came with playing the supporting character of an unsatisfied mail-order bride in McCabe & Mrs. Miller, released in 1971. It was received negatively upon release but has retrospectively been acclaimed, and it is Duvall's first film to enter the United States National Film Registry. Her leading role as Keechie, the forlorn daughter of a convict, in Thieves Like Us followed three years later in 1974. Her experience in Thieves Like Us made her realize she wanted to take acting seriously. Duvall reflected on this turning point: “Until then it had been a piece of cake. Then I began realizing about technique, began learning, began being a little scared."

Duvall had her breakthrough for playing Martha, a spaced-out groupie, in Altman's 1975 ensemble comedy film Nashville. The film was a major critical and commercial success, becoming the most "talked about American movie" and grossing $10 million. Keith Carradine, who collaborated with Duvall on Thieves Like Us and Nashville, told Variety: "She had that fascinating physical appearance, there was something slightly off-center and hauntingly beautiful about her. And then she had that extraordinary personality; she was quirky and just utterly enchanting. What you saw on screen, that's just who she was." Nashville would be her second film selected for the National Film Registry. The following year, she played the First Lady, wife of Grover Cleveland, in Altman's Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson, which was released to mixed reviews. Also in 1976, Duvall starred as Bernice, a wealthy girl from Wisconsin, in the PBS adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story Bernice Bobs Her Hair.

1977–1981: Critical acclaim and mainstream recognition

In 1977, Duvall gave what some critics considered to be one of her best performances in Altman's psychological thriller 3 Women, portraying Mildred "Millie" Lammoreaux, a woman living in a dreary California desert town. Although there was a written screenplay, Duvall, like other cast members, improvised many of her lines. In spite of the film not being a major box-office success, it received critical acclaim. Texas Monthly critics Marie Brenner and Jesse Kornbluth praised Duvall for giving an "extraordinary performance". Michael Sragow of The New Yorker called her "brilliant: she coins a brand-new caricature of the confident yet clueless single female, then suggests a real person underneath." Robbie Freeling of IndieWire believed the film succeeded because of Duvall: "it's one of the finest films of the seventies, and Duvall deserves a lion's share of the credit." Anne Billson at The Guardian agreed, calling it "peak Duvall" and "quite simply one of the greatest performances of the 1970s." Her performance garnered the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress, as well as a British Academy Film Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role nomination. Also in 1977, she appeared in a minor role in Woody Allen's Annie Hall, her third film to be added to the National Film Registry, and hosted an evening of Saturday Night Live. On Saturday Night Live, she appeared in five sketches: "Programming Change", "Video Vixens", "Night of the Moonies", "Van Arguments", and "Goodnights".