Shelley Duvall, muse of director Robert Altman and the shrieking star of seminal horror film The Shining, died on Thursday. Her life partner, Dan Gilroy confirmed the news to The Hollywood Reporter. According to Gilroy, Duvall passed away in her sleep at their home in Blanco, Texas due to complications from diabetes. She was 75.
“My dear, sweet, wonderful life partner and friend left us. Too much suffering lately, now she’s free. Fly away, beautiful Shelley,” said Gilroy.
Discovered by Altman in her native Texas, Duvall would appear in seven of the acclaimed director’s films, beginning with Brewster McCabe in 1970. Her breakthrough role was in Altman’s ensemble film Nashville, and she went on to earn acclaim for playing daydreaming health attendant Millie Lamoureaux in 3 Women. The performance won her the Cannes Film Festival Award for best actress and earned her a leading actress BAFTA nomination.
But Duvall is best known for her iconic role as Wendy Torrance, wife of Jack Nicholson‘s ax-wielding Jack Torrance, in Stanley Kubrick’s iconic film adaptation of Stephen King‘s The Shining. The shoot was infamously rough, with Duvall telling People in 1981 that Kubrick had her “crying 12 hours a day for weeks on end.”
“I will never give that much again,” she said. “If you want to get into pain and call it art, go ahead, but not with me.”
She is survived by Gilroy, as well as her brothers, Scott, Stewart and Shane.