Shelley Duvall

Known for ActingBorn 1949-07-07Died 2024-07-11Fort Worth, Texas, USA

Shelley Alexis Duvall (July 7, 1949 – July 11, 2024) was an American actress known for her portrayal of distinctive, often eccentric characters. She was the recipient of several accolades, including a Cannes Film Festival Award and a Peabody Award and nominations for a British Academy Film Award and two Primetime Emmy Awards. Born in Texas, Duvall began acting after being discovered by director Robert Altman, who was impressed with her upbeat presence and cast her in the black comedy film Brewster McCloud (1970). Despite her hesitance towards becoming an actress, she continued to work with Altman, appearing in McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) and Thieves Like Us (1974). Her breakthrough came with Altman's cult film Nashville (1975), and she earned widespread acclaim with the drama 3 Women (1977), also directed by Altman, for which she won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress and earned a nomination for the British Academy Film Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. That same year, she appeared in a supporting role (as a writer for Rolling Stone) in Woody Allen's satirical romantic comedy Annie Hall (1977) and hosted Saturday Night Live. In the 1980s, Duvall became famous for her leading roles, which include Olive Oyl in Altman's live-action feature version of Popeye (1980) and Wendy Torrance in Stanley Kubrick's horror film The Shining (1980). She appeared in Terry Gilliam's fantasy film Time Bandits (1981), the short comedy horror film Frankenweenie (1984), and the comedy Roxanne (1987). She ventured into producing television programming aimed at children and youth in the latter half of the 1980s, notably creating and hosting the programs Faerie Tale Theatre (1982–1987), Tall Tales & Legends (1985–1987) (which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award nomination in 1988), and Nightmare Classics (1989). Duvall sporadically worked in acting throughout the 1990s, notably playing supporting roles in Steven Soderbergh's thriller The Underneath (1995) and the Henry James adaptation The Portrait of a Lady (1996), directed by Jane Campion. Her last performance was in Manna from Heaven (2002), after which she retired from acting. Duvall for many years kept out of the public media, keeping her personal life generally private; however, her health issues earned significant media coverage. After a 21-year hiatus from acting, Duvall returned to acting in the horror film The Forest Hills.Read more

Movies & web series

Manna from Heaven

John Henry

Davy Crockett

Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories

Spécial cinéma

The Turn of the Screw

Earthquake Survival

Maggie Winters

Saturday Night Live: The Best of Dan Aykroyd

Dreams in the Attic

Shine On: The Forgotten Shining Location

The Paul Simon Special

The Princess and the Pea

Wishbone

The Shining

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle

Faerie Tale Theatre

Casey at the Bat

The Princess Who Had Never Laughed

Annie Oakley

Booker

The Fairest of Them All

Aaahh!!! Real Monsters

Kubrick by Kubrick

Frasier

The Twilight Zone

Annie Hall

Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures

The Pied Piper of Hamelin

Guy Maddin: Waiting for Twilight

Nightmare Classics

Frankenweenie

Nashville

The Adventures of Shirley Holmes

L.A. Law

Hansel and Gretel

McCabe & Mrs. Miller

Making 'The Shining'

3 Women

Sleeping Beauty

The Ray Bradbury Theater

The Hughleys

Frankenweenie

Alone

Saturday Night Live

The Little Mermaid

Cinderella

Goldilocks and the Three Bears