Shelley Duvall, Star of ‘The Shining,’ Dead at 75

Shelley Duvall, the lithe, wide-eyed actress best known for playing tormented Wendy Torrance in The Shining, has passed away at age 75. Duvall died in her sleep from complications related to diabetes at her home in Blanco, TX.

“My dear, sweet, wonderful life partner and friend left us,” her longtime partner, musician Dan Gilroy, confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter. “Too much suffering lately, now she’s free. Fly away, beautiful Shelley.”

Duvall and Gilroy met in 1989 when they starred together on the Disney Channel series Mother Goose Rock ‘n Rhyme, which Duvall also produced. Gilroy is the former lead singer of The Breakfast Club; he is not the screenwriter of the same name, as several outlets have reported.

Born in 1949 in Fort Worth, TX, Duvall was discovered at age 20 by auteur Robert Altman, who cast her in several of his most well-remembered films: Brewster McCloud (1970); McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971); Thieves Like Us (1974); and Nashville (1975). In 1977, Duvall appeared in Woody Allen’s Annie Hall and starred in Altman’s 3 Women, the latter of which is often hailed as her finest on-screen performance.

“He offers me damn good roles,” Duvall told The New York Times of Altman back in 1977. “None of them have been alike. He has a great confidence in me, and a trust and respect for me, and he doesn’t put any restrictions on me or intimidate me, and I love him.”

Duvall was best known for her role in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, in which she played the wife of Jack Nicholson’s character. Her terrified expression features on the film’s iconic poster, taken from the scene in which Nicholson uses an ax to break through a door and proclaims, “Here’s Johnny!” to his terrified wife.

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After The Shining, Duvall sang and danced opposite Robin Williams in Altman’s Popeye; and created the celebrated children’s series Faerie Tale Theatre. In 1994, she gave a galvanizing supporting performance in Steven Soderbergh’s The Underneath, shot in her home state.

After filming wrapped, Duvall decided to move back to Texas, where she lived for the last 30 years of her life. Over the next decade, she slowly retreated from show business, finally retiring in 2002. Duvall made one final film in 2023, the low-budget horror picture The Forest Hills, in which she played the mother of the disturbed main character.

Duvall’s swift Hollywood departure, and the reasons for it, were long the subject of speculation. In 2016, she appeared on an episode of Dr. Phil McGraw’s talk show which was widely condemned for its perceived exploitation of Duvall’s seemingly fragile mental state.

In April 2024, The New York Times published an extensive profile on Duvall which found the actress in a lively, talkative state.

Duvall spent her final years prowling the Texas landscape in her Toyota 4Runner, chatting with locals and telling stories about the “crumpled headshots and cast photographs” stored in “a Ziploc bag she keeps in the SUV’s glove compartment.”

Because of an injury to her left foot that severely impacted her mobility, Duvall spent “most of her days…and some nights” in her car, “much to the chagrin” of Gilroy.

“I was a star; I had leading roles,” Duvall “solemnly” told NYT. “People think it’s just aging,” she said of her departure from the industry, “but it’s not. It’s violence.”

Elaborating on the meaning of “violence,” Duvall continued: “How would you feel if people were really nice, and then, suddenly, on a dime, they turn on you? You would never believe it unless it happens to you. That’s why you get hurt, because you can’t really believe it’s true.”