Farewell to the unmistakable and great terrified round eyes in Shining. She passed away at the age of 75 Shelley Duvallfamous, among others, for the role of Wendythe anguished wife of Jack Torrance in the’horror of 1980 directed by Stanley Kubrick. L’actress she left silently, in her sleep. She confirmed it to Hollywood Reporter the mate Dan Gilroy. The death It happened in his house in Texas and due to the complications of the diabetes. “My dear, sweet, wonderful life partner has left us. Too much suffering lately, now she is free. Fly away, beautiful Shelley,” Gilroy told the magazine.
Born in Fort Worth in Texas July 7, 1949, Shelley Duvall she was destined for a career in sciencewhen she was discovered by chance during a party by a crew that was working for Robert Altman during the filming of ‘Brewster McCloud’ (Even Birds Kill). He found himself with a part in the 1970 film. Since then Altman became her mentor and directed her seven more times, including as Olivia Oylthe girlfriend of Popeyein ‘Popeye’. She played other significant roles in ‘Nashville’ (1975), ‘Annie Hall’ (1977), ‘Three Women’, a film for which she won the award for best actress at the Cannes Film Festival.
But it was the role of Wendyin Shiningto definitively consecrate her. Memorable is the scene, ‘Here’s Johnny’ (Here’s Johnny) when Jack Torrancealias Jack Nicholsontries to enter, breaking down the door with an axe, into the room where his wife is Wendy. She screams in terror and holds a large kitchen knife in her hand to defend herself.
For the part of Wendy, Duval was put to the test and the interpretation marked her life forever. The shooting lasted 13 months and took place in London. The film entered the Guinness World Record for the highest number of takes, 138 times, for a scene with dialogue. While the one in which theactress who backs up the stairs trying to keep at bay Nicholson with a baseball bat was repeated 127 times. In 1981, in an interview with Peoplethe actress said that Kubrick made her cry for 12 hours a day. “I will never get to that point again – he stressed – if you want to suffer and call it art, go ahead but not with me”. While in a 2021 interview with Hollywood Reporter revealed that before filming, she would put on her headphones and listen to sad songs or think about something really unhappy. But she soon realized that her body had started to rebel and sometimes she would start to despair at the thought of having to cry every day. Eventually, she developed a nervous breakdown and in 2016, during the talk show ‘Dr Phil’, she revealed that she had problems with mental health. “I’m very sick,” she explained, “I need help.”
For about twenty years, since 2002, she had remained away from the spotlight: she returned to acting for the last time in 2022 in the thriller ‘The Forest Hills’ directed by Scott Goldberg. From 1988 to 1993 he also produced some television series.