Shelley Duvall
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Notes
Duvall's "Faerie Tale Theatre" won a Peabody Award
Duvall lives with 11 dogs, 12 parrots and 58 finches, budgies and cockateels.
Biography
Director Robert Altman discovered the gifted Shelley Duvall while she was attending college in Houston, TX and promptly cast her in her debut film "Brewster McCloud" (1970). She went on to make seven movies in all with Altman, from the sublimely brilliant "Nashville" (1975) and "3 Women" (1977), for which she won both a Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Award and an L.A. Film Critic's Association Award, to "Popeye" (1980), in which she starred as Olive Oyl opposite Robin Williams. Duvall showed herself particularly adept at playing kooky waifs and characters for whom everything goes wrong, like the trusting wife of Jack Nicholson's deteriorating writer in Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining" (1980). Among her many fine performances for television was her role in Joan Micklin Silver's "Bernice Bobs Her Hair" for PBS' "Great American Short Story" series, considered by many the best adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald to the screen.
Duvall's work as a TV producer of children's shows has nearly eclipsed her fine acting career. During the production of "Popeye," she showed Robin Williams some of her collection of antique illustrated children's books, and, picturing Williams as the perfect "Frog Prince," approached Showtime with her idea for a series based on fairy tales. She formed her own company, Platypus Productions, in 1982 and proceeded to create and executive produce two award-winning series for the cable network: "Faerie Tale Theater," comprised of 26 star-studded episodes, and "Shelley Duvall's Tall Tales and Legends," nine tales of American folk heroes. In 1988, she founded Think Entertainment, a groundbreaking cable production company that produced in conjunction with Platypus her "Nightmare Classics," a one-hour anthology series adapting the works of such authors as Edgar Alan Poe, and then later "Shelly Duvall's Bedtime Stories," both again for Showtime. In addition to her long-standing relationship with Showtime, Duvall has also produced for PBS, TNT, The Disney Channel, Nickelodeon and the three major networks.
Duvall has somehow managed to step-up her acting career, which had never become completely extinguished but had certainly languished in the face of her producing responsibilities. The mid-90s have seen her as a guest on NBC's "Frasier" (1994) as well as in Showtime's "Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle" (1994) and ABC's "Aliens for Breakfast" (1995), the latter two also produced by her. As for her big screen efforts, starting with Steven Soderbergh's "The Underneath" (1995), Duvall cranked out in rapid succession Lynn Roth's "Changing Habits"(1996), Jane Campion's highly evocative "The Portrait of a Lady" (1996), Guy Maddin's "Twilight of the Ice Nymphs" (1997) and Stuart Gillard's "Rocket Man" (1997). Her love of music added a further dimension to her career. Not only did she record records for children, she also pioneered a new concept in music video programming for TV: "Nick Jr. Rocks," which debuted on Nickelodeon in 1991 and targeted children aged 2 to 6.
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Producer (Feature Film)
Music (Feature Film)
Director (Special)
Cast (Special)
Producer (Special)
Cast (Short)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Producer (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1970
Cast by Altman in debut film, "Brewster McCloud"
1971
Re-teamed with Altman for "McCabe & Mrs. Miller"
1974
Won critical attention for Altman's "Thieves Like Us"
1975
Joined the ensemble of Altman's award-winning film, "Nashville"
1977
Cast in "Annie Hall" as Woody Allen's one-night stand
1977
Received critical acclaim for her portrayal of the delusional Millie Lammoreaux in Altman's "3 Women"
1980
Co-starred with Jack Nicholson in Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining"
1980
Played Olive Oyl, opposite Robin Williams in the title role, for Altman's big-screen adaptation of "Popeye"
1981
Had a supporting roles in Terry Gilliam's "Time Bandits"
1982
Formed Platypus Productions; released first series under the Platypus banner, the award-winning "Faerie Tale Theatre" for Showtime
1984
Starred in Tim Burton's short film, "Frankenweenie"
1985
Created the anthology series, "Shelley Duvall's Tall Tales and Legends," for Showtime; earned an Emmy nomination
1987
Had a supporting role, opposite Steve Martin, in "Roxanne"
1988
Founded the production company, Think Entertainment, to develop programs and made-for-TV movies for cable channels
1989
Created her third Showtime anthology series, "Nightmare Classics," under the banner of Think Entertainment and Platypus Productions
1990
Duvall's Think Entertainment joined forces with Universal Cartoon Studios in creating the original Showtime series, "Shelly Duvall's Bedtime Stories"; earned second Emmy nomination
1994
Produced her fifth and final series for Showtime, "Mrs. Piggle Wiggle"
1994
Moved to Texas after her Los Angeles home was damaged in the Northridge earthquake
1996
Co-starred with Nicole Kidman and John Malkovich in Jane Campion's "The Portrait of a Lady" as Countess Gemini
1998
Played Drew Barrymore's mother in the big-screen comedy, "Home Fries"
1999
Had a supporting role in the film, "The 4th Floor"
2002
Last film to date was a small role in the independent film, "Manna from Heaven"
Videos
Movie Clip
Trailer
Family
Companions
Bibliography
Notes
Duvall's "Faerie Tale Theatre" won a Peabody Award
Duvall lives with 11 dogs, 12 parrots and 58 finches, budgies and cockateels.
She was inducted into the Video Hall of Fame in December 1985 as an innovator in video programming
She served as chairman for the 1987 Golden ACE committee for the National Cable Television Academy's ACE Awards
Duvall also served as secretary of the Board of Governors Executive Committee for the National Academy of Cable Programming
She has recorded a series of children's records entitled the "Hello I'm Shelley Duvall" collection for Lou Adler's kids' label Ode to Kids; also sang three songs on Nat Kipner's "The Animal Express" record (1991)
