Shelley Duvall
Shelley Alexis Duvall (born July 7, 1949) is an American actress and producer known for her portrayals of distinct, often eccentric characters. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a Cannes Film Festival Award, a Peabody Award, and two Primetime Emmy Awards. Born in Texas, Duvall had no acting experience growing up in Houston. She was an honor student in school and sold perfumes at a department store, but being an actress never crossed her mind. Duvall recently quit a short stint studying science at a local college, when she was discovered by Robert Altman's crew at a party. Altman was impressed with her upbeat presence and cast her in 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). It was her involvement in Thieves that solidified her desire to pursue acting. Her breakthrough came with Altman's cult film Nashville (1975), and she earned widespread acclaim with the drama 3 Women (1977), as the self-absorbed Millie Lammoreaux, for which she won Best Actress at Cannes. That same year she appeared in a supporting role (as a reporter 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 Olive Oyl in Altman's live-active feature version of Popeye (1980) and in Stanley Kubrick's horror film The Shining (1980) as Wendy Torrance. She initially received negative reviews for her performance in the latter, but received widespread acclaim for it in the decades following its release. She appeared in Terry Gilliam's fantasy film Time Bandits (1981), the short comedy horror film Frankenweenie (1984) and the comedy Roxanne (1987). She ventured into producing television programming aimed at children in the latter half of the 1980s, notably creating and hosting the programs Faerie Tale Theatre (1982–1987) and Tall Tales & Legends (1985–1987). In 1988, Shelley founded Think Entertainment, a production company focused on bringing quality educational content to children. The company, which dissolved in 1993, produced Nightmare Classics (1989), Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme (1990), Bedtime Stories (1992), and Mrs. Piggle Wiggle (1994). Duvall sporadically worked in acting throughout the 1990s, notably playing supporting roles in Steven Soderbergh's thriller The Underneath (1995) and The Portrait of a Lady (1996), directed by Jane Campion. She also appeared in more children's movies like Suburban Commando (1991), Frogs (1992), and Casper Meets Wendy (1998). In addition to TV and film, Duvall recorded two albums Sweet Dreams (1991) and Merry Christmas (1991), and wrote It's a Bird's Life (1993), a 3DO video game. Amidst all this, the 1994 Northridge earthquake destroyed Duvall's Studio City home and she relocated to Texas to be closer to family. 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 in an upcoming horror film titled, The Forest Hills (2023).
Known For
Credits
- 2023 · The Forest Hills as Rico's Mother
- 2015 · The Chickening as Wendy (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 2005 · VM Show Vol. 2 as Wendy Torrance (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 2005 · Saturday Night Live: The Best of Dan Aykroyd as Bad Ballet Dancer
- 2002 · Manna from Heaven as Detective Dubrinski
- 2001 · Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures as Self
- 2000 · Big Monster on Campus as Mrs. Stein
- 1999 · The 4th Floor as Martha Stewart
- 1998 · Home Fries as Mrs. Jackson
- 1998 · Maggie Winters as Muriel
- 1998 · Casper Meets Wendy as Gabby
- 1998 · Tale of the Mummy as Edith Butros
- 1997 · Alone as Estelle
- 1997 · RocketMan as Mrs. Randall (uncredited)
- 1997 · Twilight of the Ice Nymphs as Amelia Glahn
- 1997 · Guy Maddin: Waiting for Twilight as Self
- 1997 · Changing Habits as Sister Agatha
- 1997 · The Adventures of Shirley Holmes as Alice Flitt
- 1997 · Shadow Zone: My Teacher Ate My Homework as Mrs. Fink
- 1996 · The Portrait of a Lady as Countess Gemini
- 1996 · Robert Altman: Giggle And Give In as Self
- 1995 · Wishbone as Renee Lassiter
- 1995 · The Underneath as Nurse
- 1994 · Aaahh!!! Real Monsters as Ocka (voice)
- 1994 · Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle as Potsi
- 1994 · Aliens for Breakfast as Teacher
- 1993 · Frasier as Caroline (voice)
- 1992 · Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories as Shelley Duvall
- 1991 · Suburban Commando as Jenny Wilcox
- 1991 · Frogs! as Annie
- 1990 · The Chipmunks Rockin' Through The Decades as Self
- 1990 · Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme as Little Bo Peep
- 1988 · Earthquake Survival as Self
- 1987 · Roxanne as Dixie
- 1987 · Rip Van Winkle as Self - Host (uncredited)
- 1987 · Frog as Mrs. Anderson
- 1986 · Davy Crockett as Self / Host
- 1986 · John Henry as Self / Host
- 1986 · Ponce de Leon as Self / Host
- 1986 · L.A. Law as Margo Stanton
- 1986 · Mr. Bill's Real Life Adventures as Self
- 1986 · Darlin' Clementine as Self / Host / Clementine
- 1986 · Casey at the Bat as Host
- 1986 · Pecos Bill as Self / Host
- 1986 · Johnny Appleseed as Self / Host
- 1985 · Annie Oakley as The Host
- 1985 · The Twilight Zone as Margaret (segment "A Saucer of Loneliness")
- 1985 · Tall Tales & Legends as Self - Host
- 1985 · Tall Tales & Legends as Clementine
- 1985 · The Legend of Sleepy Hollow as Self / Host
- 1985 · The Ray Bradbury Theater as Leota Bean
- 1985 · The Pied Piper of Hamelin as Self - Host
- 1984 · Frankenweenie as Susan Frankenstein
- 1984 · Terror in the Aisles as Wendy Torrance (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 1984 · WonderWorks as Laura Burroughs
- 1984 · Booker as Laura
- 1984 · The Boy Who Left Home to Find Out About the Shivers as Self - Host (uncredited)
- 1984 · Beauty and the Beast as Self - Host (uncredited)
- 1984 · Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs as Snow White's Mother / Self - Host
- 1984 · Thumbelina as Self - Host (uncredited)
- 1984 · Pinocchio as Self - Host (uncredited)
- 1984 · The Princess and the Pea as Self - Host (uncredited)
- 1984 · Goldilocks and the Three Bears as Self - Host (uncredited)
- 1983 · Hansel and Gretel as Self - Host (uncredited)
- 1983 · Little Red Riding Hood as Self - Host (uncredited)
- 1983 · Jack and the Beanstalk as Self - Host (uncredited)
- 1983 · Sleeping Beauty as Self - Host (uncredited)
- 1983 · The Nightingale as Nightingale (voice) / Narrator (voice) / Self - Host
- 1983 · Rapunzel as Rapunzel / Marie, Rapunzel's Mother / Self - Host
- 1982 · Rumpelstiltskin as The Miller's Daughter / Self - Host
- 1982 · Faerie Tale Theatre as Self - Host
- 1982 · Faerie Tale Theatre as The Miller's Daughter
- 1982 · Faerie Tale Theatre as Marie / Rapunzel
- 1982 · Faerie Tale Theatre as Narrator / Nightingale (voice)
- 1982 · Faerie Tale Theatre as Snow White's Mother
- 1982 · Faerie Tale Theatre as Narrator (voice)
- 1982 · The Tale of the Frog Prince as Self - Host (uncredited)
- 1982 · Twilight Theatre as
- 1981 · Time Bandits as Dame Pansy / Pansy
- 1980 · Popeye as Olive Oyl
- 1980 · Making 'The Shining' as Self
- 1980 · The Shining as Wendy Torrance
- 1980 · Fridays as Self
- 1977 · The Paul Simon Special as Joan of Arc
- 1977 · Annie Hall as Pam
- 1977 · 3 Women as Mildred "Millie" Lammoreaux
- 1976 · Bernice Bobs Her Hair as Bernice
- 1976 · Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson as The First Lady (Mrs. Cleveland)
- 1975 · Saturday Night Live as Self - Host
- 1975 · Nashville as L.A. Joan
- 1974 · Spécial cinéma as Self
- 1974 · Thieves Like Us as Keechie
- 1971 · Cannon as Liz Christie
- 1971 · McCabe & Mrs. Miller as Ida Coyle
- 1970 · Brewster McCloud as Suzanne
- Future · Hello, I'm Shelley Duvall as Herself