The Shining actor Shelley Duvall has died, aged 75

Actor Shelley Duvall, one of the stars of Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, has died aged 75. Duvall died after suffering the complications of diabetes at home in Blanco, Texas, according to partner Dan Gilroy.

He told Hollywood Reporter: “My dear, sweet, wonderful life partner and friend left us. Too much suffering lately, now she’s free. Fly away, beautiful Shelley."

Duvall appeared in numerous films until quitting Hollywood in the 1990s and returning to Texas. In 2016 she appeared on TV to talk about her health and mental health battles.

As well as being an actor she was head of her own production company, Think Entertainment, which created children’s programs for cable television that won her two Emmy Award nominations.

Duval made her onscreen debut in Brewster McCloud (1970) the starred opposite Robin Williams in Popeye in 1980. Other film roles included parts in McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971), Thieves Like Us (1974), Nashville (1975), Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull’s History Lesson (1976; and 3 Women (1977).

She famously collaborated with Robert Altman on seven of his films. For the film adaptation of Stephen King’s The Shining, Duvall said Kubrick had her “crying 12 hours a day for weeks on end”. She said she would listen to sad songs and think about her friends and family to make herself cry for the film.

It was claimed she was made to perform her iconic scene with a baseball bat 127 times. Shelley Duvall's health and well-being became a topic of public concern in recent years, particularly following a controversial interview on the "Dr. Phil" show in November 2016.

During this appearance, she exhibited signs of severe mental illness, leading to widespread criticism of the show's handling of her situation. The exact onset of her illness was not publicly documented, but it was evident by the time of this interview that she had been struggling with mental health issues for some time.