For those unfamiliar with Duvall’s legacy in showbiz, here’s a brief account of it.
Duvall starred in seven films—Brewster McCloud, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Thieves Like Us, Nashville, Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull’s History Lesson, 3 Women, and Popeye—directed by her mentor, Robert Altman. She, however, became most well-known for Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, in which she dodged the ax wielded by an unhinged Jack Nicholson.
Her resume also included F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Bernice Bobs Her Hair for PBS, Frankenweenie, Home Fries, and Jane Campion’s The Portrait of a Lady. Suburban Commando, Manna From Heaven, and more.
Besides her acting career, Duvall gained recognition as the head of her own production company, Think Entertainment, which created two-time Emmy-nominated children’s programs for cable television.
Duvall died in her sleep of complications from diabetes on Thursday, July 11, at her home in Blanco, Texas. “My dear, sweet, wonderful life partner and friend left us. Too much suffering lately; now she’s free. Fly away, beautiful Shelley,” Dan Gilroy, her partner since 1989, said at the time.
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