The career of Shelley Duvall, who passed away on Thursday (July 11) at the age of 75, was among the most complex and exciting in the history of contemporary film. Duvall kind of stumbled into acting unwillingly. She was discovered by Robert Altman, the late filmmaker who would go on to become her closest partner. He met her in Texas and, struck by her distinctive looks, persuaded her to take a small part in his film Brewster McCloud. He then persuaded her to act in more of his productions.Altman saw that her on-screen persona was captivating and alluring, and she emerged as one of the key actors of the 1970s and 1980s.
She moved more into television after rejecting Hollywood, and even had a brief music career.
Duvall withdrew from performing and the spotlight later in life, but left an impressive and varied body of work.
Here are some of her best moments.
The Shining
Duvall was cast as Wendy Torrance, the unhinged writer Jack Nicholson's wife. Duvall's representation of panic on screen is unquestionably one of the most remarkable in cinematic history
From the first scenes of the film, she portrays Wendy as a trembling raw nerve, and as her husband's volatility grows while they are stuck together in a remote hotel, she grows more and more unstable.
You can see what appears to be genuine anxiety and a desire to shield her son from harm in her bloodshot eyes – and it is the performance she is more famous for.
Popeye
In this first live-action adaptation of the spinach-eating sailor man, Duvall solidified her status as a true Altman inspiration by complementing the late Robin Williams’ performance as the curmudgeonly Popeye.
She even used her vocal talents to good effect, with a quirky, sweet and soulful version of He Needs Me.
In homage, we'll be stewing in tobacco and spinach.
Thieves Like Us
Thieves Like Us is one of Altman's early masterpieces that stars the late actress.Duvall plays Keechie, an exuberant gangster’s moll, who accompanies her lover on a crime spree with two prison escapees.
3 Women
Duvall won Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival for this psychological drama.She played one of the women, Pinky Rose, alongside an enigmatic teenage Sissy Spacek, who plays Millie. They team up with an eccentric artist called Willie (Janice Rule).
The trio settles into a diametrically opposed nuclear family unit of their own creation, competing with one another for each other's emotional growth.
The Portrait of a Lady
Here, Duvall gives a poignant performance alongside Nicole Kidman, who plays the feisty Isabel Fletcher in the 1996 British-American hybrid.
In this adaptation of the Henry James novel, Duvall plays the seemingly frivolous Countess Gemini, who exposes the malevolent scheming of her brother, Gilbert (expertly played by John Malkovich).
Time Bandits
Even while she is most remembered for her angst-ridden performances, Duvall's deft use of humour and fast reactions were among her best acting traits.
Therefore, she is a much-welcome presence in Terry Gilliam's Time Bandits, in which she portrays the mysteriously ageless Pansy, the flowery Vincent's (Michael Palin) girlfriend.
Annie Hall
Although this wasn’t a major role for Duvall, as some of her work was lost in the edit, the actress’s role as Pam the Rolling Stone reporter in this Woody Allen epic is worthy of a mention for some of her classic lines.
