Shelley Duvall

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Shelley Duvall
Duvall in 1975
Born
Shelley Alexis Duvall

(1949-07-07) July 7, 1949 (age 74)
Occupation(s)Actress, producer
Years active1970–2002; 2022–present
WorksFull list
Spouse
Bernard Sampson
(m. 1970; div. 1974)
Partners

Shelley Alexis Duvall (born July 7, 1949) is an American actress and producer widely known for her portrayal of distinctive, often eccentric characters. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a

Primetime Emmy Awards
.

Born in

black comedy film Brewster McCloud (1970). Despite her hesitance towards becoming an actress, she continued to work with Altman, appearing in McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) and Thieves Like Us (1974). Her breakthrough came with Altman's cult film Nashville (1975), and she earned widespread acclaim with the drama 3 Women (1977), also directed by Altman, for which she won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress and earned a nomination for the British Academy Film Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. That same year, she appeared in a supporting role (as a writer for Rolling Stone) in Woody Allen's satirical romantic comedy Annie Hall (1977) and hosted Saturday Night Live
.

In the 1980s, Duvall became famous for her leading roles, which include

Primetime Emmy Award nomination in 1988), and Nightmare Classics
(1989).

Duvall sporadically worked in acting throughout the 1990s, notably playing supporting roles in Steven Soderbergh's thriller The Underneath (1995) and the Henry James adaptation The Portrait of a Lady (1996), directed by Jane Campion. Her last performance was in Manna from Heaven (2002), after which she retired from acting. Duvall for many years kept out of the public media, keeping her personal life generally private; however, her health issues earned significant media coverage. After a 20-year hiatus from acting, Duvall is set to return to act in an upcoming horror film, titled The Forest Hills.[1]

Early life

Shelley Alexis Duvall was born on July 7, 1949,

née Massengale, 1929–2020), a real estate broker, and Robert Richardson "Bobby" Duvall (1919–1994), a cattle auctioneer-turned-lawyer (not to be confused with actor Robert Duvall, to whom Shelley is not related).[6][7] Duvall has three younger brothers: Scott, Shane, and Stewart.[8]

Duvall spent her first years living in various locations throughout Texas due to her father's work, before the family settled in Houston when she was five years old.[6] Duvall was an artistic and energetic young child, eventually earning the nickname "Manic Mouse" from her mother.[9] She also became interested in science at a young age, and as a teenager aspired to become a scientist.[6] After graduating from Waltrip High School in 1967,[10] Duvall sold cosmetics at Foley's and attended South Texas Junior College, where she majored in nutrition and diet therapy.[9]

Career

1970–1976: Early roles

Around 1970, she met

Wild West woman in Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson (1976). The same year, Duvall left Altman to star as Bernice, a wealthy girl from Wisconsin in PBS's adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story Bernice Bobs Her Hair (1976).[12] She also hosted an evening of Saturday Night Live and appeared in five sketches: "Programming Change", "Video Vixens", "Night of the Moonies", "Van Arguments" and "Goodnights".[13]

1977–1980: Breakthrough and acclaim

In 1977, Duvall starred as Mildred "Millie" Lammoreaux in Robert Altman's psychological thriller

BAFTA nomination.[16] She next appeared in a minor role in Woody Allen's Annie Hall
(1977).

Duvall in Bernice Bobs Her Hair (1977)

Duvall's next role was that of Wendy Torrance in The Shining (1980), directed by Stanley Kubrick. Jack Nicholson said in the 2001 documentary Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures that Kubrick was great to work with but that he was "a different director" with Duvall. Because of Kubrick's methodical nature, principal photography took a year to complete. The film's script was changed so often that Nicholson stopped reading each draft. Kubrick antagonized his actors, and Kubrick and Duvall argued frequently. Kubrick intentionally isolated Duvall, and went through exhausting shoots, such as the baseball bat scene, which she had performed 127 times.[17] Afterwards, Duvall presented Kubrick with clumps of hair that had fallen out due to the extreme stress of filming.[18] For the last nine months of shooting, she said that the role required her to cry 12 hours a day, five or six days a week,[19] and "it was so difficult being hysterical for that length of time."[20] In an interview with Roger Ebert, she also said that making the film was "almost unbearable. But from other points of view, really very nice, I suppose."[21]

Of Duvall's performance in The Shining,

Vulture wrote in 2019: "looking into Duvall's huge eyes from the front row of a theater, I found myself riveted by a very poignant form of fear. Not the fear of an actor out of her element, or the more mundane fear of a victim being chased around by an ax-wielding maniac. Rather, it was something far more disquieting, and familiar: the fear of a wife who's experienced her husband at his worst, and is terrified that she'll experience it again."[22] Screen Rant described her acting as her "best" career performance, and calling her "the heart of the film; she is out of her depth in dealing with her husband's looming insanity while trying to protect her young son, all while being fearful of the malevolence around her."[23] At the same time, there was criticism from fans of Stephen King's novel (and eventually from King himself) that Duvall's portrayal demeaned the character, and it was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress. Maureen Murphy, co-founder of the Golden Raspberries, said in 2022 that she regretted nominating Duvall.[24][25] That year the Razzie committee officially rescinded the nomination in acknowledgement that Kubrick's harsh directing had impacted her performance.[26]

While Duvall was in London shooting The Shining, Robert Altman cast her to portray Olive Oyl in his big-screen adaptation of Popeye, opposite Robin Williams. The film was a commercial success, but it received negative reviews. However, Duvall was praised for her performance. The film has been positively re-evaluated in the decades since its release.[27][28] Film critic Roger Ebert said that it was a role she was "born to play." "Shelley Duvall is like a precious piece of China with a tinkling personality. She looks and sounds like almost nobody else, and if it is true that she was born to play the character Olive Oyl (and does so in Altman's new musical Popeye), it is also true that she has possibly played more really different kinds of characters than almost any other young actress of the 1970s."[29]

1981–1992: Production ventures

Duvall's role of Pansy in

Emmy
nomination.

While Duvall was producing Faerie Tale Theatre, it was reported that she was to star as the lead in the film adaptation of

Booker (also 1984), a biographical television short based on the life of Booker T. Washington, directed by Stan Lathan.[32] Next, Duvall appeared as a lonely and timid woman who receives a message from a flying saucer in The Twilight Zone episode "The Once and Future King/A Saucer of Loneliness", and the friend of Steve Martin's character in the comedy Roxanne
(1987).

Think Entertainment

In 1988, Duvall founded a new production company called Think Entertainment to develop programs and television movies for cable channels. She created Nightmare Classics (1989), a third Showtime anthology series that featured adaptations of well-known horror stories by authors including Edgar Allan Poe. Unlike the previous two series, Nightmare Classics was aimed at a teenage and adult audience. It was the least successful series that Duvall produced for Showtime and ran for only four episodes.[33] In 1991, Duvall portrayed Jenny Wilcox, the wife of Charlie Wilcox (Christopher Lloyd) in the Hulk Hogan action-adventure film Suburban Commando.[34] In October that year, Duvall released two compact discs, Hello, I'm Shelley Duvall... Sweet Dreams that features Duvall singing lullaby songs and Hello, I'm Shelley Duvall... Merry Christmas, on which Duvall sings Christmas songs.[35][36] A year later, Duvall landed a guest spot on the television series L.A. Law as Margo Stanton, a show dog owner and breeder who presses charges against the owner of a Welsh Corgi that mated with her prize-winning Afghan Hound.[37] In 1990, she played Little Bo Peep in Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme.

1992–2002: Later work and retirement

In 1992, Think Entertainment joined the newly formed Universal Family Entertainment to create Duvall's fourth Showtime original series, Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories,

Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, before selling Think Entertainment in 1993 and retiring as a producer. She subsequently appeared as the vain, over-friendly, but harmless Countess Gemini—sister to the calculating Gilbert Osmond (John Malkovich)—in Jane Campion's 1996 adaptation of the Henry James novel The Portrait of a Lady. A year later, she played a beatific nun in the comedy film Changing Habits and a besotted, murderous, ostrich-farm owner in Guy Maddin's fourth feature Twilight of the Ice Nymphs. The same year, she played Chris Cooper's character's gullible wife who yearns for a better life in Horton Foote
's made-for-television film, Alone.

Duvall continued to make film and television appearances throughout the late-1990s. In 1998, she played Mrs. Jackson in the comedy Home Fries and Gabby in the direct-to-video children's film Casper Meets Wendy. Near the end of the decade, she returned to the horror genre with a minor role in Tale of the Mummy (1998), co-starring Christopher Lee and Gerard Butler,[39] and The 4th Floor (1999), co-starring Juliette Lewis.[40] In the 2000s, Duvall accepted minor roles, including as the mother of Matthew Lawrence's character in the horror-comedy Boltneck (2000) and as Haylie Duff's aunt in the independent family film Dreams in the Attic, which was sold to the Disney Channel but was never released.[41] Following a small role in the 2002 independent film Manna from Heaven, Duvall took an extended hiatus from acting and public life.

2022–present: Return to acting

After a 20-year absence, it was announced in October 2022 that Duvall would be returning to acting in The Forest Hills, an independent horror-thriller film directed and written by Scott Goldberg and co-starring Edward Furlong, Chiko Mendez, and Dee Wallace.[1] The film, about a man (Mendez) tormented by nightmarish visions after receiving head trauma in the Catskill Mountains, was given an official trailer the following month.[42]

Personal life

Duvall in 1977

Duvall married artist Bernard Sampson in 1970, but their marriage disintegrated as Duvall's acting career accelerated, leading to their divorce in 1974.[6] While she was shooting Annie Hall in New York in 1976, Duvall met singer/songwriter Paul Simon. The couple began a relationship and lived together for two years. Their relationship ended when Duvall introduced Simon to her friend, actress Carrie Fisher; Fisher took up with Simon.[43] Duvall has been in a relationship with musician and former Breakfast Club lead vocalist Dan Gilroy since 1989. The pair began their relationship while co-starring in the Disney Channel show Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme, which was also produced by Duvall.[2]

After the 1994 Northridge earthquake, Duvall relocated from her Benedict Canyon, Los Angeles, home to Blanco, Texas.[44][45][21] Duvall said that when she returned to her home state of Texas in 1994 to shoot the Steven Soderbergh film The Underneath, she made the decision to move back to the state. Eight years later, in 2002, she retired from acting after 32 years in the business.[2]

In November 2016, Duvall agreed to be interviewed by

mental illness.[46] The segment received significant criticism from the public,[47] with many suggesting that Duvall was being exploited.[48] Vivian Kubrick, daughter of director Stanley Kubrick, posted an open letter to Dr. Phil on Twitter,[49] while actress Mia Farrow tweeted that it was "upsetting and unethical to exploit Shelley Duvall at this vulnerable time in her life."[50] Director Lee Unkrich also saw the episode and was able to locate her in 2018. The two have become friends, and Unkrich has said that Duvall remains very proud of her career.[2]

In February 2021, Seth Abramovitch, writer for The Hollywood Reporter, located Duvall for an interview, stating that "I only knew that it didn't feel right for McGraw's insensitive sideshow to be the final word on her legacy."[51] The article noted that her memory was "sharp and full of engrossing stories."[52] With regard to The Shining, Duvall spoke of the emotional toll of performing the role of Wendy Torrance and the challenges of long days on the set but said that Kubrick was "very warm and friendly" to her. Anjelica Huston, who was dating Jack Nicholson at the time, believed that Duvall was fully committed to the role and had even rented a small apartment in order to be close to the set.[2]

Filmography

Discography

  • Hello, I'm Shelley Duvall...Sweet Dreams (1991)
  • Hello, I'm Shelley Duvall...Merry Christmas (1991)

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Work Result
1977 Cannes Film Festival
Best Actress
3 Women Won
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Actress Won
National Society of Film Critics Best Actress Runner-up
New York Film Critics Circle Best Actress Runner-up
1978 British Academy Film Award Best Actress in a Leading Role Nominated
1984
Peabody Award
Faerie Tale Theatre Won
1988 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Children's Program Tall Tales & Legends Nominated
1992
Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour)
Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories Nominated
1998
Gemini Award
Best Performance by an Actress in a Guest Role in a Dramatic Series The Adventures of Shirley Holmes: "The Case of the Wannabe Witch" Nominated
2019 Women Film Critics Circle Award Lifetime Achievement Award Nominated
2020 Texas Film Award Texas Film Hall of Fame Inducted[53]

References

  1. ^ a b Grobar, Matt (October 28, 2022). "Shelley Duvall Returns With Horror 'The Forest Hills', Her First Film In Two Decades – First Look". Deadline. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e Abramovitch, Seth (February 11, 2021). "Searching for Shelley Duvall: The Reclusive Icon on Fleeing Hollywood and the Scars of Making 'The Shining'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
  3. Cengage. Archived
    from the original on May 6, 2023.
  4. ^ a b c Taylor, Clarke (November 6, 1977). "How Did Shelley Duvall Become a Star?". Boca Raton News. Retrieved April 12, 2014 – via Google News.
  5. ^ Colacello, Bob; Warhol, Andy (November 30, 2016) [1981]. "Shelley Duvall Before 'The Shining'". Interview. Archived from the original on August 14, 2019.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Kort, Michele (December 15, 1991). "Shelley Duvall Grows Up: There's a Lot of the Kid Left in the Tenacious Producer Who Put Cable on the Map and Breathed New Life into Children's TV". Los Angeles Times.
  7. ^ Kleiner, Dick (July 12, 1992). "Ask Dick". Santa Maria Times. p. C2 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Klemesrud, Judy (March 23, 1977). "Shelley Duvall, An Unlikely Star" (PDF). The New York Times.
  9. ^
    The Biography Channel
    . Retrieved September 13, 2017.
  10. ^ "A Tribute to Actress/Producer Shelley Duvall". Waltrip Alumni Association. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
  11. ^ Dingus, Anne (July 1999). "What Part Did Shelley Duvall Beat Out Gilda Radner For?". Texas Monthly. Archived from the original on May 27, 2014. Retrieved May 25, 2014.
  12. .
  13. ^ "Season 2: Episode 21". Saturday Night Live Transcripts. Retrieved April 12, 2014.
  14. ^ Sterritt, David. "3 Women: Dream Project". The Criterion Collection. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  15. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved February 9, 2022.
  16. ^ "BAFTA Awards Search: 1978 Film Actress". BAFTA Awards. Retrieved September 13, 2017.
  17. ^ Abbott, Christian (February 19, 2022). "The Shining: Shelley Duvall's 'unbearable' ordeal on Stanley Kubrick film: 'Excruciating'". Express.co.uk. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  18. ^ "Roles that Drove Actors Over the Edge: Shelly Duvall in 'The Shining'". Looper. July 28, 2015. Retrieved November 3, 2015.
  19. ^ Razzles revoke shining award The Washington Post. (subscription required)
  20. ^ SHELLEY DUVALL/KUBRICK BBC INTERVIEW "The Shining" 1981 (HD). MISS SHELLEY DUVALL. February 19, 2021. Retrieved March 3, 2023 – via YouTube.
  21. ^ a b Ebert, Roger (December 14, 1980). "Interview with Shelley Duvall". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on April 23, 2015 – via RogerEbert.com.
  22. ^ Ebiri, Bilge (November 8, 2019). "The Discomforting Legacy of Wendy Torrance". Vulture. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
  23. ^ "Shelley Duvall's 10 Best Movies, According To IMDb". ScreenRant. August 8, 2021. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  24. ^ Sharf, Zack (February 22, 2022). "Razzie Awards Founder Regrets Shelley Duvall's 'Shining' Nomination: 'I'd Take That Back'". Variety. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  25. ^ Bergeson, Samantha (February 22, 2022). "Razzie Founders Say They Would 'Take Back' Shelley Duvall's Worst Actress Nomination for 'The Shining'". IndieWire. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  26. The Wrap
    . Retrieved April 1, 2022.
  27. ^ "Popeye". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  28. ^ "Critic Reviews for Popeye". Metacritic. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
  29. ^ Ebert, Roger (January 4, 1981). "Shelley Duvall Was Ripe for Role of Olive". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. New York Times Wire Service. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
  30. ^ "Shelley Duvall Announces Plans to Marry This Year". St. Petersburg Times. Associated Press. April 13, 1981. p. 3A.
  31. ^ Wilson, Earl (November 25, 1981). "It's Thumbs Up for Shelley Duvall". The Milwaukee Sentinel.
  32. ^ "Booker (1984)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on August 14, 2019.
  33. ^ Nanwalt, Sasha (August 6, 1989). "Television; Shelley Duvall Tries Scaring Up A New Audience". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 4, 2014. Retrieved February 12, 2017.
  34. ^ "Shelley Duvall Filmography". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Archived from the original on August 14, 2019. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  35. ^ "Hello, I'm Shelley Duvall...Sweet Dreams by Shelley Duvall". MTV. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  36. ^ "Shelley Duvall Discography". MTV. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  37. ^ "LA Law Season 8 Episode 19 :: "Tunnel of Love"". Youtube.com. Archived from the original on January 9, 2016. Retrieved June 4, 2014.
  38. ^ "Shelley Duvall turns to entertainment for children". Entertainment Weekly. May 15, 1992. Archived from the original on September 9, 2017. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  39. ^ "Talos, the Mummy". Screen Daily. April 25, 2000. Archived from the original on May 9, 2020.
  40. ^ McDonagh, Maitland. "The 4th Floor". TV Guide. Archived from the original on May 9, 2020.
  41. ^ Bro Bob. "Actress Haylie Duff – The Beginning". haileyduff.com. Retrieved October 3, 2016. ... the sad thing was that all these efforts never resulted in the film being sold to anyone.
  42. ^ Squires, John (November 3, 2022). "'The Forest Hills' Trailer – Shelley Duvall and Edward Furlong Star in Werewolf Movie". Bloody Disgusting!. Retrieved November 6, 2022.
  43. ^ Armstrong, Lois (March 16, 1981). "Olive's Wasn't the Only 'Popeye' Love Story—Shelley Duvall Snagged a Prince Charming Too". People. Archived from the original on April 16, 2014.
  44. ^ Horowitz, Joy (April 21, 1992). "Shelley Duvall and the Tales She Tells to Children". The New York Times.
  45. ^ "Shelley Duvall". Texas Monthly. July 1, 1999.
  46. ^ "'Shining' actress Shelley Duvall tells Dr. Phil she's mentally ill". USA Today. November 16, 2017. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  47. ^ Vincent, Alice (October 30, 2019). "Shelley Duvall: The Shining's saddest legacy". The Telegraph. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
  48. ^ De Moraes, Lisa (November 18, 2016). "'Dr. Phil' Airs Hour Of Ill & Confused Shelley Duvall For November Sweep Broadcast, Triggering Hollywood Outrage". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on November 23, 2016. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  49. ^ Kubrick, Vivian. "My Letter to you Dr Phil". Twitter. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
  50. ^ Farrow, Mia. "To Dr. Phil". Twitter. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
  51. ^ Lattanzio, Ryan (February 13, 2021). "Shelley Duvall Recalls Troubling 'Dr. Phil' Interview, Finding Out Who He Was 'the Hard Way'". IndieWire. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
  52. ^ Dawn, Randee (February 12, 2021). "Shelley Duvall speaks out on controversial 'Dr. Phil' interview, 'Shining' trauma". Today. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
  53. ^ "AFS Announces 2020 Texas Film Hall of Fame Honorees Erykah Badu and Shelley Duvall for March 12 Event, Rising Star Award for Kaitlyn Dever, Star of Texas Award for the 1970 film Brewster McCloud, featuring Duvall and Michael Murphy, Screening featuring cast on March 11".

External links