Shelley Duvall has died at the age of 75. The Shining star died Thursday from complications from diabetes at her home in Blanco, Texas.
The iconic actress who played Wendy Torrance in Stanley Kubrick’s legendary 1980 horror film died in her sleep at her home in Blanco, Texas.
“My dear, dear, wonderful life partner and friend has left us. Suffered too much lately, now she is free. Fly away beautiful Shelley,” Dan Gilroy, her life partner since 1989, said. The Hollywood Reporter.
Duvall was born on July 7, 1949, in Fort Worth, Texas and began her career with a role in the 1970 black comedy Brewster McCloud.
She has appeared in films such as Annie Hall, McCabe & Mrs. Miller and Popeye.
Her most notable role was as Wendy Torrance in The Shining. Although initial reviews for the film were mixed, modern critics have viewed the film in a much more positive light.
Duvall’s last film appearance was in Manna From Heaven, which was released in 2002.
After the film’s release, the actress withdrew from public life and remained retired until last year.
She made her return to the big screen in the 2023 film The Forest Hills, about a man who begins experiencing disturbing visions after sustaining a head injury during a camping trip in the Catskill Mountains.
In an interview with The New York TimesShe said she left show business in 2002 because people in Hollywood “hurt” her.
“I was a star; I had leading roles,” she told the newspaper. “People think it’s just old age, but it’s not. It’s violence.”
She eventually appeared on a 2016 episode of Dr. Phil, where she talked about how she dealt with mental illness during her time on the show.
The show’s host subsequently came under fire for allegedly exploiting the artist.
Gilroy also weighed in on the Times interview, saying that her 2016 interview with Dr. Phil was meant to be supportive of her career, but that it was ultimately judgmental and made her seem “weird.”
But then he added that he does worry about her, especially when she sleeps in her car.
Gilroy also explained that when her Los Angeles home was destroyed by the Northridge earthquake in 1994, they moved to Texas in hopes of a happier life.
Then things went downhill and she became afraid of things, maybe she didn’t want to work anymore.
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