Shelley Duvall’s Best Performances, from ‘The Shining’ to ‘3 Women’

10. ‘Faerie Tale Theatre’ (1982-1987)

Although Duvall will always be best known for her film work, during her time in Hollywood, she carved out a fulfilling secondary career as a children’s television creator and presenter. Her first foray into that world came with the Showtime anthology series ‘Faerie Tale Theatre,’ which she created, executive produced, and presented. Each episode retold a classic fairy tale story, featuring famous film or music stars of the period such as Duvall’s ‘Popeye’ costar Robin Williams, Jeff Bridges, Christopher Reeve, Bernadette Peters, Elliott Gould, Carole King, Liza Minnelli, and even Mick Jagger. Duvall herself starred in a few of the stories, playing the Miller’s Daughter in ‘Rumpelstiltskin’ and making for a particularly lovely Rapunzel in the series’ third episode. Even in episodes where she was on the sidelines, she shined as a warm, kooky, and lovely host. After the show wrapped in 1987, Duvall continued to produce several anthology programs for Showtime, including ‘Tall Tales & Legends,’ ‘Nightmare Classics,’ and ‘Shelley Duvall’s Bedtime Stories.’ But ‘Faerie Tale Theatre’ remains her most well-remembered series, and helped cement her as a beloved figure for a whole new generation of fans. 

9. ‘The Portrait of a Lady’ (1996)

One of Duvall’s last major films before she largely left Hollywood, Jane Campion’s adaptation of Henry James’ classic novel is a faithfully vicious tale of social scheming and heartbreak. Nicole Kidman stars as Isabel Archer, an independent but naive woman who’s manipulated and controlled by the devious Gilbert Osmond (John Malkovich). As Osmond’s sister Countess Gemini, Duvall mostly lingers in the periphery as a comedic figure, a frivolous gossip dismissed by her brother as a harmless nuisance. But Duvall conveys the Countess’ inner kindness and intelligence, as she sees through her sibling’s machinations and reveals the truth of his schemes to Archer in a crucial scene. It’s a brilliant use of Duvall’s comedic abilities and her innate sharpness as a performer. 

8. ‘McCabe and Mrs. Miller’ (1971)

Duvall has many memorable small roles in Altman projects that are worth spotlighting, including her hilarious turn as a teen groupie chasing male musicians in ‘Nashville.’ But one of her best is as a supporting figure in the director’s anti-Western ‘McCabe and Mrs. Miller,’ which casts a sweeping look at an upstart boomtown in early 1900s Washington from the perspective of Warren Beatty and Julie Christie’s cynical leads. Duvall is poignant as Ida, a mail-order bride forced into this unfamiliar landscape by her marriage to a local — and then forced into sex work when her husband is brutally beaten to death. She only has a few scenes of focus, but Duvall paints a compelling picture of a woman adapting to the rough hand that this brutal landscape has provided her.  

7. ‘Time Bandits’ (1981)

Although best known for a horror performance, one of Duvall’s greatest qualities as an actor was her light touch and quick reflexes when it came to comedy. So she’s a more than welcome face in Terry Gilliam’s ‘Time Bandits,’ where she plays the inexplicably immortal Pansy, lover of the flowery Vincent (Michael Palin). Their attempts to have a sweeping love story — whether in the Middle Ages or on the Titanic — keep getting ruined by the titular chronology-hopping crew, much to Pansy’s chagrin. Duvall is a scene-stealer in the film, playing up the character’s prissy persona to cartoonish lengths, and nurtures a sweet, silly chemistry with the equally game Palin. 

6. ‘Roxanne’ (1987)

Duvall gets a plum supporting role in ‘Roxanne,’ Steve Martin’s modernized retelling of the legendary ‘Cyrano de Bergerac’ story. She’s Dixie, an observer to the central love triangle going on between Martin’s big-nosed fire chief C.D., Daryl Hannah’s PhD astronomy student Roxanne, and Rick Rossovich’s dimwitted fire recruit Chris. A close friend to C.D., Dixie acts as a voice of reason to his insecurities, urging him to just tell Roxanne he loves her, puncturing the convoluted romantic struggle unfolding in front of her. She brings natural kindness and life to the part, making Dixie the type of confidant everybody would want. 

5. ‘Brewster McCloud’ (1970)

The story behind Duvall’s film debut goes that, while hosting a party for her fiancé at the time in Houston, the then 21-year-old met several crew members working on Robert Altman’s film ‘Brewster McCloud,’ a dark comedy starring Bud Cort as a recluse living in a nuclear fallout shelter. Duvall’s distinctive appearance and upbeat personality intrigued the crew, who got Altman to fly her out for the screen test that began her acting career. It’s a great story that’s almost as good as Duvall’s effortless work as the quirky, excitable Suzanne, Brewster’s Astrodome tour guide love interest. She’s the unequivocal highlight of the film, bringing immediate charisma and charm to the role. It’s proof that her exceptional acting talent came naturally. 

4. ‘Popeye’ (1980)

Some of Duvall’s greatest work wasn’t appreciated in its time. Exhibit A: ‘Popeye,’ which was reviled upon release by critics who didn’t gel with Altman’s faithful live-action rendering of the iconic ‘Popeye’ comic strip. One of the few critics to get it upon release was Roger Ebert, who particularly praised Duvall as being ‘born to play’ the Sailor Man’s love interest Olive Oyl. And he was right, because Duvall is an instantly perfect Olive, damn near stealing the show from co-star Robin Williams. Physically, she’s a perfect fit for the slim and black-haired Olive, and commits fearlessly to rubbery physical movement that feels straight out of the original cartoons. And yet, despite her skill at coming across like a real-life comic strip, Duvall’s greatest moment is her sweet, melancholic rendition of ‘He Needs Me,’ which she imbues with enough longing and desire that it makes this exaggerated world feel down to earth and real. 

3. ‘Thieves Like Us’ (1974)

Duvall’s first real lead role came in Altman’s ‘Thieves Like Us,’ an adaptation of the 1937 Edward Anderson novel (previously adapted into the Nicholas Ray classic ‘They Live By Night’). She plays Keechie, the daughter of a garageman who nurses small-time bank robber Bowie (Keith Carradine) back to health after an injury. The two fall in love, but Keechie is uneasy about Bowie’s life of crime and attempts to pull him away from the shady world he runs in. Duvall is astonishingly open and vulnerable as the kind young woman, and her anguished cry at the end of the film proved she had the juice to be a leading lady. 
 

2. ‘The Shining’ (1980)

Infamously, Duvall received a nomination for Worst Actress at the Razzies for her performance in Stanley Kubrick’s seminal Stephen King adaptation, which was poorly received at the time of its release. The organization apologized and rescinded the nom over 40 years later in 2022, partly prompted by stories since the film came out about her difficult experience on set. Although she’s maintained that Kubrick was kind to her and she had great respect for him as a director, Duvall had to bear a heavy emotional load to play Wendy, and the process of filming multiple takes of some of cinema’s most terrifying and disturbing scenes wore on her.

Still, divorced from all of the baggage and rumors surrounding the production, Duvall’s performance is extraordinary in how unnervingly authentic her anguish feels. Her wide eyes and hesitant line delivery convey a history of abuse and trauma at the hands of her husband Jack (Jack Nicholson) that’s only implied by the story, and her breakdown as her husband slides into insanity is equally as riveting as Nicholson’s flashier performance. It’s a sneakily difficult job to convey true terror and primal fear on screen, and Duvall’s work is the best any actor has come to cracking it. It’s one of the greatest performances in horror history. 

1. ‘3 Women’ (1977)

For all of Duvall’s obvious talent, she only rarely got the type of meaty showcase for her abilities that she deserved. In fact, ‘3 Women,’ Altman’s odd psychological drama about the shifting relationship between two polar opposite women in a small, sparse desert town might be the only true acting vehicle she received during her career. And what a vehicle it is. Duvall is exceptional playing the vain, outgoing Millie, whose belief in her own sophistication causes her to mistreat Sissy Spacek’s younger, timid Pinky. Duvall improvised a decent chunk of the script herself, and her talents as a comedian are evident in her effortlessly funny performance. But it’s the seamless way she portrays the sudden, inexplicable ways in which Millie swaps personalities with the women around her — first with Pinky and then with their apartment owner Willie (Janice Rule) — that makes her performance such a multifaceted, unforgettable treat. She’s remarkable in how she locates the center of this woman, while simultaneously embodying multiple identities that blur together in a dreamlike haze. Duvall received the Best Actress award at Cannes, but otherwise went mostly unrecognized by award bodies. It’s a shame, because her enigmatic, unforgettable work ranks among the greatest performances of the ’70s.