Beautiful, complicated Shelley Duval has left us at the age of 75. May she rest in peace. In my opinion, Duvall instantly made Stephen King’s The Shining a better story. Just one performance changed everything. In the book, the character is written as a solid, confident, feminist woman. In the movie, Duvall’s fragility up against a great evil is what makes the ending so thrilling to watch. Everything is against her and yet, she manages to outwit, outsmart and outplay Jack Nicholson, with the help of a clever son, Danny.
The book is great too, just in a different way. It isn’t just Nicholson’s hilarious, iconic performance that makes it great, though. It’s Duvall, I think, who is responsible for the film’s lasting legacy. I’ll leave the formal obit to David Phillips, but just to say. She deserves a good, long rest.
One year ago, the Grim Life Collective found the reclusive and elusive Shelley Duvall and interviewed her. It was a fairly dire situation but it was deeply moving at the same time because she connected with two of her most devoted fans. I watched it last year and cried. On the one hand, people said it was exploitative. On the other hand, it was nice to see her.
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