Most well-known for the role of Wendey in the Stanly Kubrick classic, The Shining. Shelley Duvall went from working at a retail store to starring in multiple films over multiple decades. Her wide eyes and expressive face have made an immense impact on the silver screen.

Early life

Shelley Alexis Duvall was born in Fort Worth, Texas, on July 7, 1949, to Robert and Bobbie Duvall. She was the oldest of four, with three younger brothers. The family eventually settled in Houston, where her father went from cattle rancher to lawyer. Her mother was a real estate agent. In high school, Duvall was a smart student who intended to become a scientist. Following her graduation from Waltrip High School in 1967, she enrolled in South Texas Junior College in Houston but eventually dropped out. She then went to work for a department store.

Shelley also did some modeling. It was through modeling she met artists Bernard Sampson. “We met at a benefit for the astronauts that crashed. I was modeling a Rudi Gernreich bathing suit, the kind with the cutouts.” The benefit was for the who died in the 1967 Apollo 1 disaster, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The two married in 1970.

To assist with helping her husband sell some of his works, shelly hosted a party. Some of the guests included crewmembers from Brewster McCloud (1970), Robert Altman’s film that followed his hit film M*A*S*H (1970). The crew was impressed by Duvall’s appearance and enthusiastic sales pitch. They requested for her to bring some paintings to two influential “art patrons”. These so-called “patrons” turned out to be none other than Robert Altman and producer Lou Adler.

“She had the most amazing amount of energy I’d ever seen in anyone. She looked like a flower,” Adler would later say in the same article.

After meeting Altman and Alder, they convinced her to submit a picture and at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s request to do a screen test. The film Brewster McCloud sparked a successful series of collaborations between Duvall and Altman. Altman would cast her in a total of seven films, including Nashville (1975), his satire of US society and country music, and of course Popeye (1980).

Because her film career was taking off, Duvall and Sampson moved to Los Angeles in 1974. Their marriage did not last and ended before the year was over. During the filming of Annie Hall (1977) in New York in 1976, Duvall met singer-songwriter Paul Simon, and the two started dating.

The Shining

In 1979, Shelley Duvall was cast in Stanley Kubrick’s iconic horror film The Shining (1980) as Wendy, the wife of Jack Nicholson’s unstable hotel caretaker.

On New Year’s Day 1979, as Duvall was about to board the Concorde to London to begin filming, Paul Simon broke up with her at the airport. The tears during the Atlantic crossing were only the beginning of the emotional marathon ahead. When she arrived in London, Kubrick met her with his daughter, and the two took her to dinner.

Kubrick is known for his grueling schedule and excessive number of takes. Filming would go on for six days a week, up to 16 hours a day, for 56 weeks. He would usually do 35 or more takes to get the shot he wanted. Imagine running, screaming, crying, and carrying a little boy, for 35 takes or more for a single scene. The notorious staircase scene was shot 127 times. The tears and emotional trauma her character feels on those steps are about as real as it gets.

Duvall said that she would put on a Sony Walkman and listen to sad songs or just think of unhappy memories to get into the proper head space to play Wendy. Being dumped at the airport probably helped a bit. Filming was an ordeal “I had to cry 12 hours a day, all day long, the last nine months straight, five or six days a week,” she once recalled. When asked if she believed Kubrick’s methods were excessively harsh or harmful in order to bring out her performance, Duvall responded, “He’s got that streak in him. He definitely has that. But I think mostly because people have been that way to him at some time in the past… He was very warm and friendly to me,” she said. “He spent a lot of time with Jack and me. He just wanted to sit down and talk for hours while the crew waited.” While film experts might disagree with her assessment, I believe that her acting is what truly captivates viewers throughout the film, even more so than Nicholson’s portrayal of madness.

The Next Stage

For something upbeat, she followed up The Shining with Popeye. Duvall starred as Olive Oyl opposite Robin Williams in Altman’s musical version of Popeye. Despite receiving negative reviews from both critics and audiences, the film has gained a small following in recent years.

After that, Duvall’s film roles included Terry Gilliam’s Time Bandits (1981) and Roxanne (1987) with Steve Martin. She also set up her own production company and produced and hosted the cherished 1980s children’s television series Faerie Tale Theatre, a quirky anthology series that ran from 1982 to 1987. Every aspect of the show was overseen by Duvall. She created Tall Tales & Legends, that featured adaptations of American folk tales. Both shows featured major stars such as Jamie Lee Curtis, Ed Begley Jr. Jeff Bridges, and Carrie Fisher.

Duvall continued to act into the 1990s however, the roles diminished in quantity and quality, as often happens with actors as they age, especially women. In 1989 she met Dan Gilroy, the former lead singer for Breakfast Club. The two would eventually leave California and move to Texas, where Duvall would stay mostly away from the limelight. Duvall did appear in a few productions towards the end of her life. Most recently, in Scott Goldberg’s The Forest Hills (2023).

Shelly Duvall died in her sleep of complications from diabetes at her home in Texas, at the age of 75.