‘The Shining’ actress Shelley Duvall has died

American actress Shelley Duvall has died, aged 75.

The actress died Thursday night, US time, in her sleep at home in Blanco, Texas, reportedly from diabetes complications.

Duvall was best known for her role as Wendy Torrance in ‘The Shining’ – the wife of a writer who goes insane while their family is holed up in a hotel in the middle of a snow storm.

For her role in The Shining, Duvall said she was put to the test during the 13-month shoot in England where director Stanley Kubrick had her “crying 12 hours a day for weeks on end”. The scene in the film, where Jack (played by Jack Nicholson) is smashing a bathroom door down with an axe, with Shelley’s Wendy horrified on the other side is one of the most recognised scenes in cinema.

Duvall began her career in several films by Robert Altman in the 1970s, including Nashville, Thieves Like Us, and 3 Women. She had a supporting role in Woody Allen’s Annie Hall before starring in lead roles in The Shining and Popeye, both released in 1980 and both as far apart as Duvall’s repertoire got.

The actress’ most recent two screen performances were 21 years apart: playing a detective in religious comedy Manna From Heaven in 2002, and her final role as a distressed mother in horror/thriller The Forest Hills in 2023.

Shelley Duvall in ‘Manna From Heaven’ (2002).

In 2016, Duvall appeared on talk show Dr. Phil where she revealed her struggles with mental illness. The show was accused of taking advantage of her, with Stanley Kubrick’s daughter Vivian calling the interview “appallingly cruel” and a “form of “lurid and exploitive entertainment.”

Duvall avoided television appearances since.

Wrote publicist Gary Springer in a statement today, “My dear, sweet, wonderful life partner and friend left us last night.”

Antonino Tati