RIP Shelley Duvall

RIP Shelley Duvall (July 7, 1949 - July 11, 2024)

Shelley Duvall as…
Ida Coyle in MCCABE & MRS. MILLER
Pam in ANNIE HALL
Wendy Torrance in THE SHINING
Olive Oyl in POPEYE

As a child, I watched many episodes on TV of Faerie Tale Theatre, but the only thing I remember from it is "Hello I'm Shelly Duvall".

In case you missed it, do read this recent profile about her, Shelley Duvall Vanished From Hollywood. She’s Been Here the Whole Time.

Her disappearance wasn’t, as it had been rumored, born of a protracted breakdown caused years before by her treatment on the set of “The Shining.” In fact, she continues to have only good things to say about that intense yearlong shoot in London and her admiration for Mr. Kubrick. Instead, the pause may be more accurately, though not definitively, attributed to the emotional impact of two events: the 1994 Northridge earthquake, which damaged her Los Angeles home, and the stressful toll of one of her brothers falling ill, which prompted her return to her native Texas three decades ago.

It could also equally be attributed to the curse of fame: It isn’t enough to be famous; one must continuously stoke the fire. Leave it for too long, especially if you begin to “age out” as a woman in the industry, and a career will wane.

I also recommend you read Sheila O’Malley’s obituary published on Substack, The Sheila Variations 2.0,

Shelley Duvall was a rarity, in more ways than one. She was an artist and a muse. Altman knew he could toss her into anything, and she would at the very least be watch-able. Why was she so watch-able? Because she was real. “Raw” is the word everyone uses, including Altman. But “raw” is a deceptive word. You can be “raw” as hell and still be self-conscious when everyone is looking at you and waiting for you to do something. You can be “raw” in real life and be unable to bring that “raw”-ness to the camera, to a fictional circumstance. Shelley Duvall was brilliant in that she was able to be as unself-conscious, as raw, as HERSELF, when the camera was rolling as she was in her real life. There was no difference for her. It’s like she roller-skated into the frame from offscreen and there was no boundary between the two sides. Something happens to people - even very very good actors - when they hear “action”. You go from being a real person to an actor playing a scene. There’s a little interior “click” that happens. Shelley Duvall didn’t experience that click.