was literally thinking about the sweet and beautiful Shelley Duvall just YESTERDAY before I heard the news about her passing. so heartbroken, but also so grateful to know she spent her last days filled with love and joy. all credit goes to Shelley Duvall Archive on X (Twitter).
also before her passing, Shelley had returned to acting. this would be her last movie; The Forest Hills
I’m sad, but also looking forward to seeing her final film. she will be deeply missed and her legacy won’t be forgotten.
THE FOREST HILLS (2023) Werewolf movie with Edward Furlong, Shelley Duval and Dee Wallace
THE FOREST HILLS (2023) Werewolf movie with Edward Furlong, Shelley Duval and Dee Wallace
The Forest Hills is a 2023 horror film in which a man is tormented by nightmarish visions after enduring head trauma while camping.
Written and directed by Scott Goldberg. Produced by Jon Russell Cring, Tracy Nichole Cring, Jason Dugo, Dan Gilroy and Brinke Stevens.
The Dresnick Goldberg Productions-Digital Thunderdome Studios production stars Edward Furlong, Shelley Duval, Chiko Mendez, Dee…
Actress / producer Shelley Duvall died this week at 75. Her greatest performance IMHO was in Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, as Wendy Torrance. Talk about an actor putting his cast through the ringer! The documentaries and behind-the-scenes footage shows Kubrick and Duvall arguing quite a bit. The scene with the baseball bat apparently took 127 takes!?! While it was quite an experience she said she's never work with him again.
Duvall's famous scared-as-s**t performance in The Shining
She was also a frequent collaborator with Robert Altman appearing in Brewster McCloud, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Thieves Like Us, Nashville, Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson, 3 Women, and Popeye. That's quite a run. The last one, I saw in the theater as a kid and there definitely was a striking resemblance between Duvall and the cartoon Olive Oyl. Her song "He Needs Me" in that soundtrack later appeared in PTA's Punch-Drunk Love.
Other notable films she did included Woody Allen's Annie Hall, Terry Gilliam's Time Bandits, Tim Burton's debut Frankenweenie, Steve Martin's friend in Roxanne, Home Fries, and last year's The Forest Hills (read my review from the 2023 Salem Horror Fest here).
Duvall and Ringo Starr in the late 70s
In the 80s and 90s she produced a great deal of children's TV shows. In the last decade she was in the news for her health struggles more so than her acting. She dated Paul Simon in the 70s and reportedly dated Ringo Starr in the late 70s. She was married to Dan Gilroy of the 80s band The Breakfast Club, known for former member / Gilroy's ex-wife Madonna and their hit "Right on Track".
The link above is the obit from Hollywood Reporter.