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Shelley Duvall
Acting
Biography
Shelley Alexis Duvall (July 7, 1949 – July 11, 2024) was an American actress known for her portrayal of distinctive, often eccentric characters. She was the recipient of several accolades, including a Cannes Film Festival Award and a Peabody Award and nominations for a British Academy Film Award and two Primetime Emmy Awards.
Born in Texas, Duvall began acting after being discovered by director Robert Altman, who was impressed with her upbeat presence and cast her in the black comedy film 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). Her breakthrough came wit…
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Shelley Alexis Duvall (July 7, 1949 – July 11, 2024) was an American actress known for her portrayal of distinctive, often eccentric characters. She was the recipient of several accolades, including a Cannes Film Festival Award and a Peabody Award and nominations for a British Academy Film Award and two Primetime Emmy Awards. Born in Texas, Duvall began acting after being discovered by director Robert Altman, who was impressed with her upbeat presence and cast her in the black comedy film 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). Her breakthrough came with Altman's cult film Nashville (1975), and she earned widespread acclaim with the drama 3 Women (1977), also directed by Altman, for which she won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress and earned a nomination for the British Academy Film Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. That same year, she appeared in a supporting role (as a writer 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-action feature version of Popeye (1980) and Wendy Torrance in Stanley Kubrick's horror film The Shining (1980). 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 and youth in the latter half of the 1980s, notably creating and hosting the programs Faerie Tale Theatre (1982–1987), Tall Tales & Legends (1985–1987) (which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award nomination in 1988), and Nightmare Classics (1989). Duvall sporadically worked in acting throughout the 1990s, notably playing supporting roles in Steven Soderbergh's thriller The Underneath (1995) and the Henry James adaptation The Portrait of a Lady (1996), directed by Jane Campion. 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 21-year hiatus from acting, Duvall returned to acting in the horror film The Forest Hills. She died due to complications from diabetes at her home in Blanco, southwest of Austin, Texas.
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BODY OF WORK
Shelley Duvall's Filmography
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Shine On: The Forgotten Shining Location
as Self (archive footage)
Kubrick by Kubrick
as Self (archive footage)
Saturday Night Live: The Best of Dan Aykroyd
as Bad Ballet Dancer (archive footage)
Manna from Heaven
as Detective Dubrinski
Stanley Kubrick - Ein Leben für den Film
as Self
Dreams in the Attic
as Aunt Nellie
The 4th Floor
as Martha Stewart
Home Fries
as Mrs. Jackson
Casper Meets Wendy
as Gabby
Russell Mulcahy’s Tale of the Mummy
as Edith Butros
Big Monster on Campus
as Mrs. Stein
Alone
as Estelle
RocketMan
as Mrs. Randall (uncredited)
Twilight of the Ice Nymphs
as Amelia Glahn
Guy Maddin: Waiting for Twilight
as Self
Changing Habits
as Sister Agatha
Shadow Zone: My Teacher Ate My Homework
as Mrs. Fink
The Portrait of a Lady
as Countess Gemini
Robert Altman: Giggle And Give In
as Self
The Underneath
as Nurse
Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories: The Christmas Witch
as Host
Aliens for Breakfast
as Teacher
Suburban Commando
as Jenny Wilcox
Frogs!
as Annie
The Chipmunks Rockin' Through The Decades
as Self
Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme
as Little Bo Peep
Earthquake Survival
as Self
The Dancing Princesses
as Self - Host
Roxanne
as Dixie
The Little Mermaid
as Self - Host
Faerie Tale Theatre: Rip Van Winkle
as Self - Host (uncredited)
Frog
as Mrs. Anderson
Annie Oakley
as The Host
Davy Crockett
as Self / Host
John Henry
as Self / Host
Ponce de Leon
as Self / Host
Johnny Appleseed
as Self / Host
Mr. Bill's Real Life Adventures
as Self
The Princess Who Had Never Laughed
as Self - Host
Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp
as Self - Host
Lily
as Lily Miniver
Darlin' Clementine
as Self / Host / Clementine
Casey at the Bat
as Host
Pecos Bill
as Self / Host
The Emperor's New Clothes
as Self - Host
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
as Self / Host
Puss in Boots
as Self - Host / Narrator
Cinderella
as Self - Host
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
as Self - Host
The Snow Queen
as Host / Narrator (voice)
Frankenweenie
as Susan Frankenstein
Booker
as Laura
The Boy Who Left Home to Find Out About the Shivers
as Self - Host (uncredited)
The Secret World of the Very Young
Beauty and the Beast
as Self - Host (uncredited)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
as Snow White's Mother / Self - Host
Thumbelina
as Self - Host (uncredited)
Pinocchio
as Self - Host (uncredited)
The Princess and the Pea
as Self - Host (uncredited)
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
as Self - Host (uncredited)
Hansel and Gretel
as Self - Host (uncredited)
Little Red Riding Hood
as Self - Host (uncredited)
Jack and the Beanstalk
as Self - Host (uncredited)
Sleeping Beauty
as Self - Host (uncredited)
The Fairest of Them All
as Self
The Nightingale
as Nightingale (voice) / Narrator (voice) / Self - Host
Six Kinds of Light - John Alcott
as Self
Rapunzel
as Rapunzel / Marie, Rapunzel's Mother / Self - Host
Rumpelstiltskin
as The Miller's Daughter / Self - Host
The Tale of the Frog Prince
as Self - Host (uncredited)
Twilight Theatre
Time Bandits
as Dame Pansy / Pansy
Popeye
as Olive Oyl
Making 'The Shining'
as Self
The Shining
as Wendy Torrance
The Paul Simon Special
as Joan of Arc
3 Women
as Mildred "Millie" Lammoreaux
Annie Hall
as Pam
Bernice Bobs Her Hair
as Bernice
Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson
as The First Lady (Mrs. Cleveland)
Nashville
as L.A. Joan
Thieves Like Us
as Keechie
Brewster McCloud
as Suzanne
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
as Ida Coyle
No Poster
Howl: Inside the Forest Hills
as Self
Hello, I'm Shelley Duvall
as Self