In Memoriam: Celebrating The Life and Times Of Shelley Duvall

Let's take a look at her incredible career here. Shelley Duvall is best known for her roles in the 1980 horror movie classic 'The Shining' with Jack Nicholson and the 1980 comedy 'Popeye' with Robin Williams.

Known for working with film director and screenwriter Robert Altman, her first screen role was in Altman's 1970 comedy 'Brewster McCloud,' as 'Variety 'reported. Her start in the business was marked by several ups and downs, as with most actors.

Staying true to such roots, Duvall was known as an unconventional movie star — her unusual looks even being categorized as homely and awkward. But, according to a 1977 New York Times interview, she didn’t let such blunt observations phase her.

"I don’t think such remarks are cruel. That’s some people’s opinion. I know I’m not your stereo-type American beauty." The writer, Ricki Fulman, went on to describe Duvall as a real person. “She speaks in a refreshingly real manner. Even her name is her real one.” Sounds like an honest-to-goodness Fort Worthian to us.

Thanks to her father’s work as a cattle auctioneer-turned-lawyer, Duvall spent a good portion of her childhood hopping around the state. Her family would eventually settle in Houston, which is where her career took off when famed director Robert Altman discovered her while casting his movie.

Then working in the cosmetics department at a Foley’s, Duvall had met some of the film’s crewmembers while at a party to promote her then-husband’s art career. The director was clearly taken with Duvall’s happy-go-lucky demeanor and unconventional looks. To put it in a word, she would become his muse.

As Anne Dingus once wrote in a 'Texas Monthly' piece from 1999, "No other character actress is quite as memorable as Shelley Duvall." While her role as Wendy Torrance in Kubrick’s horror flick might be her most iconic, her partnership with Altman was no doubt her most prolific.

As movie roles dried up in the 80s and 90s, Duvall would pivot to producing children’s shows for cable television, which garnered her two Primetime Emmy nominations and a Peabody Award...

Then, sometime in the early 2000s, Duvall left Hollywood and took refuge in the Texas Hill Country — which to Tinseltown is “off the face of the planet” — and never looked back. But thanks to her enduring performances in iconic films, interest and speculation regarding her disappearance never waned.

This would culminate in a highly criticized interview aired on 'Dr. Phil' in 2016. No longer the rail thin, bubbly muse of Altman, it became clear in a very public manner that Duvall was struggling with mental illness. Although her story ended sadly, her life brought joy to countless others who enjoyed her work!