Shelley Duvall, the willowy, moon-eyed actor best known for her role in “The Shining,” died on Thursday. She was 75.
Duvall died in her sleep at her home in Blanco, Texas. Her death was due to complications from diabetes, Dan Gilroy, Duvall’s life partner since 1989, told The Hollywood Reporter.
“My dear, sweet, wonderful life partner and friend left us. Too much suffering lately, now she’s free. Fly away, beautiful Shelley,” Gilroy said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter on Thursday.
Duvall made a name for herself in the 1970s, starring in seven films directed by Robert Altman. She was introduced to Altman at a party while he was filming “Brewster McCloud,” per The New York Times. She had no previous interest or training in an acting career, but Altman immediately asked her to join the cast — she accepted and became his protege.
Over the next decade, she appeared in a series of Altman movies, including “McCabe and Mrs. Miller,” “Thieves Like Us” and “Nashville.”
“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 told The New York Times in 1977 on why she repeatedly worked with Altman.
“I remember the first advice he ever gave me: ‘Don’t take yourself seriously.’ Sometimes I find myself feeling self-centered, and then all of a sudden that bit of advice will pop into my head and I’ll laugh.”
During an appearance on “Dr. Phil” in 2016, Duvall said: “I am very sick. I need help.”
Following a two-decade hiatus, she briefly returned to acting in 2022 for a role in “The Forrest Hills.”
“I was a star; I had leading roles,” she told The New York Times in April. “People think it’s just aging, but it’s not. It’s violence. 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.”
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