Shelley Duvall
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Shelley Duvall | |
| Born | Shelley Alexis Duvall July 7, 1949 Houston, Texas, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1970–present |
| Spouse(s) | Bernard Sampson (1973–1977) |
Shelley Alexis Duvall (born July 7, 1949) is an award-winning American film and television actress. She began her career in the 1970s, playing characters in the movies of Robert Altman, and eventually starred in movies by Woody Allen, Stanley Kubrick, Terry Gilliam, Steve Martin and Tim Burton.
Contents |
[edit] Early life
Duvall was born in Houston, Texas, the daughter of Bobbie Ruth Jaz Crawford (née Massengale), a real estate broker, and Robert Richardson Duvall, a defense attorney (not related to the actor, Robert Duvall). She has three brothers, Scott, Shane, and Stewart. Duvall graduated from Waltrip High School. Duvall was working as a cosmetics saleswoman at a Houston Foley's when she was discovered at a party by production scouts for Altman's Brewster McCloud (1970).
[edit] Career
After an interview with Robert Altman, Duvall won the lead role of Suzanne, the free-spirited love interest to Bud Cort's reclusive Brewster in Brewster McCloud. Altman was so impressed with Duvall's work that he cast the young actress in his next films, including McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971), Thieves Like Us (1974), and Nashville (1975). In 1977, Duvall was awarded a Best Actress by the Cannes Film Festival and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association for her portrayal of the delusional Millie Lammoreaux in Altman's 3 Women. That same year, Duvall appeared in Annie Hall as Woody Allen's one-night stand and hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live.
Duvall's next role would be Wendy Torrance opposite Jack Nicholson in Stanley Kubrick's The Shining (1980). Jack Nicholson states in the documentary Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures that Kubrick was great to work with but that he was "a different director" with Duvall. Perhaps the most notorious example of this was Kubrick's insistence that Shelley perform 127 takes of the now-infamous "baseball-bat" scene, which broke a world-record for the most retakes of a single movie scene with spoken dialogue. Despite her turbulent relationship with Kubrick on the set, Duvall was fully satisfied with the final product and said she learned more from working with Kubrick on The Shining than she did on all her previous films.
[edit] Duvall as producer
In January 1979, Altman called up Duvall and offered her the role he believed she was born to play: Olive Oyl in the big-screen adaptation of Popeye. Duvall was reluctant to accept the role due to negative memories of being called "Olive Oyl" as a child, but went on to accept it in stride. Critics called her "perfect" for the role and agreed with Altman that "she was born to play" the character.
During the making of Popeye, Duvall showed Robin Williams some of the antique illustrated fairy tale books that she had been collecting since she was 17. One of these was an old copy of "The Frog Prince". Envisioning Williams as the perfect "Frog Prince", she approached Showtime with her idea for a cable television series based on classic fairy tales. After receiving the go-ahead from Showtime, she proceeded to form her own production company, Platypus Productions, and in 1982 began executive producing Faerie Tale Theatre for Showtime. The one-hour anthology series, which ran for 26 episodes until 1987, featured live-action adaptations of well-known fairy tales and starred many of Duvall's celebrity friends. The first episode, "The Tale of the Frog Prince," indeed starred Williams in the amphibious title role. Duvall hosted every episode and played characters in four. In 1985, she created another one-hour anthology series for Showtime with a similar concept: Shelley Duvall's Tall Tales and Legends featured live-action adaptations of American folk tales. As with Faerie Tale Theatre, the series starred well-known Hollywood actors, with Duvall serving as host, executive producer, and occasional guest star. The series ran for only nine episodes but resulted in an Emmy nomination for Duvall.
After Tall Tales and Legends ended in 1988, Duvall founded a new production company called Think Entertainment to develop programs and made-for-TV movies for cable channels. Under the banner of both Think Entertainment and Platypus Productions, she created Nightmare Classics, a third anthology series for Showtime that adapted well-known horror stories by such authors as Edgar Allan Poe. Unlike the previous two series, Nightmare Classics was aimed at a strictly teenage and adult audience. It was the least successful series that Duvall produced for Showtime, running for only four episodes. In 1992, Think Entertainment joined forces with the newly-formed Universal Cartoon Studios to create her fourth and last original series for Showtime. Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories, which brought children's storybooks to life with celebrity narrators, proved to be a comeback for Duvall, earning her a second Emmy nomination.
[edit] Present day
After playing a small role in the 2002 independent film Manna from Heaven, Duvall disappeared from the public eye. She is currently living in Blanco Texas.
[edit] Filmography
| Actor | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Other notes |
| 2002 | Manna from Heaven | ||
| 2000 | Dreams in the Attic | ||
| Boltneck | |||
| 1999 | The 4th floor | ||
| 1998 | Home Fries | ||
| Tale of the Mummy | |||
| 1997 | Changing Habits | ||
| My Teacher Ate My Homework | |||
| RocketMan | |||
| Twilight of the Ice Nymphs | |||
| 1996 | The Portrait of a Lady | ||
| 1995 | Underneath | ||
| 1992 | Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories | ||
| 1991 | Suburban Commando | ||
| 1987 | Roxanne | ||
| 1984 | Frankenweenie | ||
| Terror in the Aisles | archival footage | ||
| 1981 | Time Bandits | ||
| 1980 | Popeye | ||
| The Shining | |||
| 1977 | 3 Women | ||
| Annie Hall | |||
| 1976 | Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson | ||
| 1975 | Nashville | ||
| 1974 | Thieves Like Us | ||
| 1971 | McCabe & Mrs. Miller | ||
| 1970 | Brewster McCloud | ||
| TV Films | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1998 | Casper Meets Wendy | ||
| 1997 | Alone | ||
| 1991 | Frogs! | ||
| 1990 | Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme | ||
| 1987 | Frog | ||
| 1984 | Booker | ||
| 1982 | Faerie Tale Theatre | (1982–1987) | |
| 1976 | Bernice Bobs Her Hair | ||
