Shelley Duvall (Shelley Alexis Duvall) is an American actress and producer. Duvall is most remembered for her roles as Olive Oyl in the 1980 adaption of “Popeye” and Wendy Torrence in Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining.”
Shelley Duvall has received nominations and prizes for her portrayals of distinctive and eccentric characters at the Cannes Film Festival, British Academy Awards, and Primetime Emmy Awards. This article will examine Shelley Duvall’s biography, career, and net worth.
Shelley Duvall Net Worth: How Rich is the American Actress?
Shelley Duvall Early Life
Robert Duvall and Bobbie Ruth Crawford welcomed Duvall into the world on July 7, 1949, in Fort Worth, Texas. Her mother was a real estate broker, while her father was a livestock auctioneer before becoming a lawyer.
She was raised alongside her three younger brothers, Scott, Shane, and Stewart. Due to her father’s job, Duvall’s family frequently traveled from when she was a little child to settling in Houston when she was five. Duvall was regarded as a very active child interested in science and art.
In high school, Shelley earned all As. She enrolled at South Texas Junior College to study nutrition and diet treatment after completing her high school education in 1967 at Waltrip High School. She also started selling cosmetics at Foley’s, a department store.
Shelley Duvall Career Journey
Shelly wed Bernard Sampson, a painter, in 1970. Robert Altman, a renowned director, attended the party she and Bernard gave the same year while he was in Texas filming “Brewster McCloud.”
Many of the film’s crew members who were present were struck by Duvall’s distinctive appearance and cheery demeanor. She was asked if she wanted to be in the movie.
She accepted the invitation even though she had never performed in an acting role before and took her first flight outside of Texas to Hollywood. She played the love interest of the main character in the movie. Then, in 1971’s “McCabe & Mrs. Miller” and “Thieves Like Us” in 1974, Altman cast Duvall.
She also appeared in “Nashville,” a 1975 ensemble comedy directed by Robert Altman. She made her acting debut in “Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull’s History Lesson” the following year, followed by “Bernice Bobs Her Hair.”
Altman is the director of each of these movies. Due to her popularity, she was allowed to host “Saturday Night Live” and participate in five skits.
Although Duvall had been gaining notoriety in Hollywood, her breakthrough performance didn’t come until 1977, when she played the lead in Robert Altman’s suspense thriller “3 Women.”
Many of Duvall’s lines were improvised, yet her performance was praised by critics and won her the Best Actress prize at the 1977 Cannes Film Festival. Additionally, she was nominated for a BAFTA and won the LAFCA Award for Best Actress.
She had a minor appearance in Woody Allen’s “Annie Hall” the following year. She starred in Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 film “The Shining” as Wendy Torrance, which starred Jack Nicholson.
Although Duvall’s portrayal in the movie has garnered recognition, she initially did not earn favorable reviews, even though it has become a cult classic.
In Kubrick’s documentary, Nicholson also stated that the shooting was demanding and that Kubrick frequently irritated the performers to heighten the psychological tension in the movie.
In the example, he frequently isolated Duvall and subjected her to taxing shoots, shooting the same scene more than one hundred times. Altman chose Duvall to play Olive Oyl alongside Robin Williams in his production of “Popeye” while “The Shining” was being filmed.
The movie was well-received by critics and audiences alike, and Duvall, in particular, won plaudits for her performance. Her next role was in “Time Bandits” in 1981, after which she started hosting, narrating, and producing “Faerie Tale Theatre” in 1982.
Duvall appeared in seven program episodes while also producing 27 of them. After the show’s popularity, she developed “Tall Tales & Legends,” an anthology series based on American folk stories. Duvall garnered an Emmy nomination for her performance throughout the show’s nine-episode run.
In 1988, Duvall established Think Entertainment, a new production firm focusing on producing. She oversaw all aspects of production for the well-known “Fairie Tale Theatre” series from 1982 to 1987. She also created several other shows for kids and teenagers.
Another horror-themed anthology series she devised and produced was “Nightmare Classics” in 1989. Her business joined the newly established Universal Family Entertainment in 1992. She then made “Shelley Duvall’s Bedtime Stories,” another original series, leading to her second Emmy nomination.
Then she developed the fifth season of “Mrs. Piggle Wiggle,” sold her business, and stopped producing. Duvall continued appearing in movies and television shows throughout the 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s, mostly in supporting and guest parts.
Aside from “The Portrait of a Lady,” she also appeared in “Alone,” “Home Fries,” “Tale of the Mummy,” “The 4th Floor,” and “Manna from Heaven.” She eventually quit in 2002 and has since mainly avoided the spotlight.
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Shelley Duvall Personal Life
Bernard Sampson and Shelley were wed from 1970 to 1974. From 1976 through 1979, she dated Paul Simon, a musician. He ended their relationship at the airport, where he dropped her off before she flew to London to work on “The Shining.”
Following their introduction by Duvall, Carrie Fisher, and Simon started dating. She started sharing a home with Dan Gilroy in 1989. Thirty-six birds, two cats, and eight dogs were housed in Studio City, California, on their three-acre hillside property.
After the Northridge earthquake in 1994, it has long been said that Shelley abandoned Gilroy, their house, and their animals. Shelley admits that the Northridge was at least a factor in her abrupt move to Texas in a 2021 interview with the Hollywood Reporter.
She never looked back. In the interview, Shelley also said that she was experiencing financial difficulties shortly after the earthquake.
After recording a small role in the Steven Soderbergh film “The Underneath,” she decided to see her mother in Houston and, for the most part, did not return to Los Angeles for two decades. Duvall sold her home in Los Angeles and moved to Blanco, Texas, where she resides.
