Shelley Duvall, an award-winning actress who most famously starred in Stanley Kubrick’s horror classic “The Shining,” has died, her partner Dan Gilroy said.
She was 75.
“She’s gone after much suffering, which I guess is a good thing,” Gilroy told NBC News, adding: “I can’t tell you how much I miss her.”
Duvall had been in hospice care for the last few months while dealing with complications from diabetes, he said. She died in her sleep early Thursday at their home in Blanco, Texas, he said.
The Hollywood Reporter first reported the news of Duvall’s death.
Known for her distinctive doe-eyed mannerisms and the unconventional characters she chose to portray, Duvall has said that she never set out to be an actor. She attributed her film career to director Robert Altman, who cast her in her first role in his dark comedy, “Brewster McCloud,” in 1970. She went on to act in several other Altman films, including the Western “McCabe & Mrs. Miller” and “Nashville,” a musical comedy. She had several prominent leading roles in the 1980s, starring as Olive Oyl in the live-action “Popeye” movie opposite Robin Williams and in “The Shining” with co-star Jack Nicholson.
Her role in “The Shining” was widely praised, although she later recounted how difficult it was to work under Kubrick’s demanding process.
Duvall won a Cannes best actress award in 1977 for her role in “3 Women,” a psychological horror film directed by Altman.
In 2012, Duvall retreated from Hollywood for a break that would last 20 years. She was interviewed on an episode of “Dr. Phil” in 2016, appearing disheveled as she talked about her struggle with mental illness. The show was widely criticized at the time and accused of exploiting Duvall’s struggle for viewers’ entertainment.
In a New York Times profile of the actress earlier this year, Gilroy said the “Dr. Phil” interview “did nothing” for Duvall. “It just put her on the map as an oddity,” he said.
Duvall returned to acting with the 2023 indie horror film “The Forest Hills.” It would also be her last movie.
