Personal Info
Known For:
Acting
Birthday:
July 7, 1949
Place of Birth:
Fort Worth, Texas, USA
Social Media
Shelley Duvall
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 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.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Shelley Duvall, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Filmography
| Year | Movie | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | The Forest Hills | Rico's Mother |
| 2005 | Saturday Night Live: The Best of Dan Aykroyd | Bad Ballet Dancer (archive footage) |
| 2002 | Manna from Heaven | Detective Dubrinski |
| 2001 | Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures | Self |
| 2000 | Big Monster on Campus | Mrs. Stein |
| 1999 | The 4th Floor | Martha Stewart |
| 1998 | Home Fries | Mrs. Jackson |
| 1998 | Tale of the Mummy | Edith Butros |
| 1998 | Casper Meets Wendy | Gabby |
| 1997 | Shadow Zone: My Teacher Ate My Homework | Mrs. Fink |
| 1997 | Changing Habits | Sister Agatha |
| 1997 | Twilight of the Ice Nymphs | Amelia Glahn |
| 1997 | Alone | Estelle |
| 1997 | RocketMan | Mrs. Randall (uncredited) |
| 1997 | Guy Maddin: Waiting for Twilight | Self |
| 1996 | The Portrait of a Lady | Countess Gemini |
| 1996 | Robert Altman: Giggle And Give In | Self |
| 1995 | The Underneath | Nurse |
| 1994 | Aliens for Breakfast | Teacher |
| 1991 | Suburban Commando | Jenny Wilcox |
| 1991 | Frogs! | Annie |
| 1990 | The Chipmunks Rockin' Through The Decades | Self |
| 1990 | Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme | Little Bo Peep |
| 1988 | Earthquake Survival | Self |
| 1987 | Roxanne | Dixie |
| 1987 | Frog | Mrs. Anderson |
| 1987 | Rip Van Winkle | Self - Host (uncredited) |
| 1987 | The Little Mermaid | Self - Host |
| 1987 | The Dancing Princesses | Self - Host |
| 1986 | Johnny Appleseed | Self / Host |
| 1986 | Ponce de Leon | Self / Host |
| 1986 | John Henry | Self / Host |
| 1986 | Davy Crockett | Self / Host |
| 1986 | Pecos Bill | Self / Host |
| 1986 | Darlin' Clementine | Self / Host / Clementine |
| 1986 | Casey at the Bat | Host |
| 1986 | The Princess Who Had Never Laughed | Self - Host |
| 1986 | Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp | Self - Host |
| 1986 | Mr. Bill's Real Life Adventures | Self |
| 1986 | Lily | Lily Miniver |
| 1985 | The Pied Piper of Hamelin | Self - Host |
| 1985 | Annie Oakley | The Host |
| 1985 | Cinderella | Self - Host |
| 1985 | The Emperor's New Clothes | Self - Host |
| 1985 | Puss in Boots | Self - Host / Narrator |
| 1985 | The Legend of Sleepy Hollow | Self / Host |
| 1984 | Frankenweenie | Susan Frankenstein |
| 1984 | Pinocchio | Self - Host (uncredited) |
| 1984 | Thumbelina | Self - Host (uncredited) |
| 1984 | Booker | Laura |
| 1984 | Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs | Snow White's Mother / Self - Host |
| 1984 | The Boy Who Left Home to Find Out About the Shivers | Self - Host (uncredited) |
| 1984 | The Princess and the Pea | Self - Host (uncredited) |
| 1984 | Goldilocks and the Three Bears | Self - Host (uncredited) |
| 1984 | Beauty and the Beast | Self - Host (uncredited) |
| 1983 | The Fairest of Them All | Self |
| 1983 | The Nightingale | Nightingale (voice) / Narrator (voice) / Self - Host |
| 1983 | Jack and the Beanstalk | Self - Host (uncredited) |
| 1983 | Rapunzel | Rapunzel / Marie, Rapunzel's Mother / Self - Host |
| 1983 | Sleeping Beauty | Self - Host (uncredited) |
| 1983 | Little Red Riding Hood | Self - Host (uncredited) |
| 1983 | Hansel and Gretel | Self - Host (uncredited) |
| 1982 | Twilight Theatre | |
| 1982 | Rumpelstiltskin | The Miller's Daughter / Self - Host |
| 1982 | The Tale of the Frog Prince | Self - Host (uncredited) |
| 1981 | Time Bandits | Dame Pansy / Pansy |
| 1980 | The Shining | Wendy Torrance |
| 1980 | Popeye | Olive Oyl |
| 1980 | Making 'The Shining' | Self |
| 1977 | Annie Hall | Pam |
| 1977 | 3 Women | Mildred "Millie" Lammoreaux |
| 1977 | The Paul Simon Special | Joan of Arc |
| 1976 | Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson | The First Lady (Mrs. Cleveland) |
| 1976 | Bernice Bobs Her Hair | Bernice |
| 1975 | Nashville | L.A. Joan |
| 1974 | Thieves Like Us | Keechie |
| 1971 | McCabe & Mrs. Miller | Ida Coyle |
| 1970 | Brewster McCloud | Suzanne |
| Hello, I'm Shelley Duvall | Self | |
| Howl: Inside the Forest Hills | Self |
| Year | TV Show | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Maggie Winters | Muriel |
| 1997 | The Adventures of Shirley Holmes | Alice Flitt |
| 1995 | Wishbone | Renee Lassiter |
| 1994 | Aaahh!!! Real Monsters | Ocka (voice) |
| 1994 | Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle | Potsi |
| 1993 | Frasier | Caroline (voice) |
| 1992 | Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories | Shelley Duvall |
| 1986 | L.A. Law | Margo Stanton |
| 1985 | The Twilight Zone | Margaret (segment "A Saucer of Loneliness") |
| 1985 | The Ray Bradbury Theater | Leota Bean |
| 1985 | Tall Tales & Legends | Self - Host |
| 1985 | Tall Tales & Legends | Clementine |
| 1984 | WonderWorks | Laura Burroughs |
| 1982 | Faerie Tale Theatre | The Miller's Daughter |
| 1982 | Faerie Tale Theatre | Marie / Rapunzel |
| 1982 | Faerie Tale Theatre | Narrator / Nightingale (voice) |
| 1982 | Faerie Tale Theatre | Snow White's Mother |
| 1982 | Faerie Tale Theatre | Narrator (voice) |
| 1982 | Faerie Tale Theatre | Self - Host |
| 1980 | Fridays | Self |
| 1975 | Saturday Night Live | Self - Host |
| 1974 | Spécial cinéma | Self |
| 1971 | Cannon | Liz Christie |