Former actress Shelley Duvall has remained out of movies and television for nearly 20 years. After falling out of love with show business, the acclaimed performer moved to a sleepy town in Texas with partner Dan Gilroy and never looked back.
But in 2016, a concerning appearance on Dr. Phil led many to worry about Duvall’s mental health. However, a recent profile in The Hollywood Reporter reveals Duvall is actually doing better than Dr. Phil McGraw had us believe.
In the extensive profile, reporter Seth Abramovitch details Duvall’s newfound life in her native Texas, as well as her illustrious past. Duvall was best known for her collaborations with director Robert Altman, and for portraying Wendy Torrance — Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson)’s wife — in Stanley Kubrick‘s The Shining. The latter experience was particularly scarring for Duvall.
By 1994, Duvall had said her goodbyes to Hollywood and relocated to Texas. That is, until she resurfaced in her mainstream interview with McGraw.
According to THR, Duvall still gets “visibly distressed” at the mention of McGraw’s name. “I found out the kind of person he is the hard way,” Duvall says. “My mother didn’t like him, either. A lot of people, like Dan, said, ‘You shouldn’t have done that, Shelley.’” Following the broadcast and its backlash, McGraw attempted to contact Duvall. “He started calling my mother. She told him, ‘Don’t call my daughter anymore.’ But he started calling my mother all the time trying to get her to let me talk to him again.”
The overall takeaway from Duvall’s recent interview is that she’s found comfort in her Texan lifestyle, far away from the glitz and glamor of Los Angeles. The profile notes that locals look on her as “more of an eccentric aunt than faded movie star.” The infamous Dr. Phil clip is just one fragmented look on the now-71-year-old’s life, which is not nearly as telling as the full picture.
Gallery — Co-Stars Who Hated Each Other:
