R.I.P. Shelley Duvall: ‘The Shining’ Star Dead At 75

Shelley Duvall, the doe-eyed actress who starred opposite Jack Nicholson in the horror classic The Shining, has died. She was 75.

Her partner, Dan Gilroy, confirmed the news to The Hollywood Reporter. Duvall reportedly passed away Thursday (July 11) in her sleep after experiencing complications from diabetes.

“My dear, sweet, wonderful life partner and friend left us. Too much suffering lately, now she’s free. Fly away, beautiful Shelley,” he said.

Born in Fort Worth, Texas, Duvall got her start in acting at the age of 18 when she was scouted at her boyfriend’s art opening. She nabbed her first role in Robert Altman‘s 1970 comedy Brewster McCloud, marking the beginning of a long partnership between herself and the filmmaker.

“After Thieves Like Us, Robert looked at me and said, ‘I knew you were good, but I didn’t know you were great,’ ” she told People in 2023. “It’s the reason I stuck with it and became an actress.”

She went on to star in seven Altman films, including Popeye opposite Robin Williams, and the acclaimed drama 3 Women with Sissy Spacek and Janice Rule. She also starred in Time Bandits, Roxanne, and Suburban Commando, amongst several others.

Duvall’s emotional performance in 3 Women captured Stanley Kubrick‘s attention, and he offered her the role of Wendy Torrance in The Shining before the script had even been written. “He said I was great at crying,” she recalled in a 2021 interview with THR.

According to THR, production on The Shining lasted 56 weeks, with the crew working 16-hour days, six days a week. The actress regularly listened to “sad songs” and worked herself up before filming to achieve the level of hysteria Kubrick wanted for Wendy.

“Thirty-five takes, running and crying and carrying a little boy, it gets hard. And full performance from the first rehearsal. That’s difficult,” she said. “I don’t know how I did it. Jack said that to me, too. He said, ‘I don’t know how you do it.’”

Duvall later made a name for herself as a prolific producer in children’s programming with her production company, Think Entertainment, earning herself two Primetime Emmy Awards.

She eventually retired from Hollywood in 2002 and settled down in Central Texas until 2023, when she came out of retirement to play a supporting role in the indie horror The Forest Hills, marking her first role in over 20 years and the final performance of her career.

Speaking to People last year, the actress confessed that she it was “so much fun” to be back in front of the camera again and said she hoped to continue acting.

“[Jessica Tandy] won an Oscar when she was 80,” she said. “I can still win.”