Shelley Duvall, Best Known for Her Riveting Performance in 'The Shining', Has Died at Age 75

Actor Shelley Duvall has died at the age of 75, as confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter on July 11, 2024. Although her final years were described as troubling at times, cinephiles and pop culture junkies alike will always remember her for the polarizing roles that changed both the film and television landscapes.

Whether she was running from her husband's real or internal ghosts in The Shining, or holding her comedy own with Robin Williams in the Popeye movie, Shelley was a singular talent. Here's what we know about Shelley Duvall's cause of death.

Shelley passed away in her sleep on July 11, 2024, due to complications from diabetes. She was with her partner of 35 years, Dan Gilroy, at their home in Blanco, Texas. "My dear, sweet, wonderful life partner and friend left us. Too much suffering lately, now she’s free. Fly away, beautiful Shelley," said Dan in a statement to the Hollywood Reporter.

She was loved by fans the world over, who immediately took to social media to express their condolences and share what they adored most about the actor who had become a recluse in her waning years. Hannah Strong, the editor Little White Lies, tweeted, "Shelley Duvall lit up the screen – every film she was in was brighter for her presence, and yet the industry (and life) were frequently so cruel to her. I'm sad she's died, but glad she was living a good life in her final years by all accounts. There won't be another like her."

"Across her body of work she gave us something all too rare," wrote Mitchell Beaupre, the managing editor at Letterboxd, "a truly singular presence, disarmingly ethereal and remarkably expressive. A face made for cinema." It was her face that was often spoken about, as it was not what Hollywood was typically drawn to. She was often called too thin. People said her eyes were too big. Of course, most people realized that that's where all of Shelley's expression lived, in her eyes.

In February 2021, Shelly spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about a life that was largely hidden from the public eye. This was five years after a rather disastrous appearance on Dr. Phil, during which she "babbled free-associative nonsense and disclosed paranoid fantasies." Most fans were deeply saddened by what they saw, but Shelley prevailed.

Her life in Texas was by all accounts charming, almost as charming as her time hosting Faerie Tale Theatre, a children's show that ran from 1982 to 1987. In fact, it was that show that brought Shelley and Ryan Obermeyer, an Austin artist, together. He was raised by Faerie Tale Theatre and befriended Shelley after dropping a postcard off at her house. Soon they were lunching together on a regular basis, while building a friendship that was mutual love and respect.

It seems as if that's what Shelley brought out of people, a desire to be kind to her when she was kind to them on their television screens decades ago. That's the kind of legacy we should all strive for.