Shelley Duvall died just days after her 75th birthday.
The actress from The Shining died on Thursday, July 11, in her Blanco, Texas, home, according to her partner Dan Gilroy. THR and The New York Times stated that Duvall died as a result of diabetic complications.
Gilroy told THR, “My dear, sweet, wonderful life partner and friend has left us.” Recently, she endured excessive suffering; she is now at peace. Fly away, sweet Shelley.”
Director Scott Goldberg, who worked with Duvall on her final film, 2023’s The Forest Hills, tells PEOPLE, “Shelley leaves a tremendous legacy and will be mourned by so many people, including myself. I am proud of her for overcoming obstacles to act again, and I will always be thankful for her friendship and generosity.
Duvall was born on July 7, 1949, in Fort Worth, Texas. According to the Los Angeles Times, Shelley considered a career in science until three crew members of filmmaker Robert Altman’s 1970 film Brewster McCloud “discovered” her at a party in Houston where her then-fiancé Bernard Sampson was showcasing artwork.
The production members invited Duvall to a sort of covert casting call for Altman’s film, disguised as an event for “art patrons” that the director attended. This resulted in Duvall’s first on-screen appearance in Brewster McCloud.
She continued to work with the filmmaker on films such as McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971), Thieves Like Us (1974), and Nashville (1975).
“After Thieves Like Us, Robert looked at me and said, ‘I knew you were good, but I didn’t know you were great,'” she told the magazine PEOPLE in 2023. “It’s the reason I stuck with it and became an actress.”
Duvall went on to star in over a dozen films and television programs during the 1970s, including 1977’s Annie Hall, before making her most well-known film, Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 horror classic The Shining.
The film, which took 56 weeks to make and holds the Guinness World Record for “most retakes for one scene with dialogue,” stars Duvall and Jack Nicholson in an adaptation of Stephen King’s 1977 horror book of the same name.
“[Kubrick] doesn’t print anything until about the 35th take. ” Thirty-five takes, running and crying and carrying a little boy, it gets hard,” the actress told The Hollywood Reporter of her time filming The Shining in February 2021. She delivered a flawless performance right from the initial rehearsal. “That is difficult.”
To get into the correct mindset, Duvall stated she would “listen to sad songs” before each scene or “just think about something very sad in your life or how much you miss your family and friends.”
“But eventually, your body protests. It says, “Stop doing this to me.” I do not want to cry every day. “And sometimes just thinking about it makes me cry,” she continued. “When I woke up early on a Monday morning and realized I had to weep all day due to a scheduled event, I would immediately start crying.” I’d say, ‘Oh no, I can’t.’ And yet, I did it. I’m not sure how I accomplished it. Jack [Nicholson] also shared some information with me. He responded, ‘I don’t know how you do it.
The Shining made Duvall a household name. “When somebody recognizes you at a Dairy Queen in Texas, you’re a star,” she told PEOPLE in 1981.
Duvall appeared in over 40 more television and film roles in the two decades following the release of The Shining, and she began producing in the 1980s with children’s anthology series such as Tall Tales & Legends and Faerie Tale Theatre, for which she convinced stars such as Robin Williams, Teri Garr, Jeff Bridges, Mick Jagger, and Liza Minnelli to appear, according to the Los Angeles Times. In 1984, the series earned her a Peabody Award.
“Producing allows you to take control of your life,” Duvall told PEOPLE in 1987. “You don’t have that level of control while acting. You do not need to wait for someone to offer you apart. ” You can get things going on your own.”
“I like producing better,” she said. “Acting does not foster sanity. I never want to lose my enthusiasm for life. I think I have Peter Pan syndrome. I never want to lose my innocence or my dreams. Duvall received two Emmy nominations for her children’s television shows.
After the release of Manna from Heaven in 2002, the actress went away from the spotlight and did not appear in a film for the next two decades.
In 2016, the Dr. Phil program heavily criticized Duvall for exploiting her mental health difficulties during her appearance. “I found out what kind of person he is the hard way,” she told The Hollywood Reporter in 2021 of Dr. Phil anchor Phil McGraw.
In 2023, Duvall made her cinematic comeback with the indie horror thriller The Forest Hills, a film she shot remotely under the direction of writer-producer-director Scott Goldberg through Zoom. “Acting again is so much pleasure. “It enhances your life,” she told PEOPLE in 2023.
Duvall was married to artist Bernard Sampson from 1970 to 1974, then dated singer Paul Simon in the 1970s before meeting her lifelong boyfriend Gilroy in the late 1980s.