American actress Shelley Duvall, the tormented woman who dodges Jack Nickolson’s axe blow in the film ‘The Shining’, has died on Thursday at the age of 75, according to ‘The Hollywood Reporter’.
Duvall died in her sleep from complications of diabetes at her home in Blanco, Texas, the actress’s husband, Dan Gilroy, told the American newspaper.
“My dear, sweet, wonderful life partner and friend has left us. She has been through so much lately, she is now free. Fly away beautiful Shelley,” Gilroy said.
The actress made her big screen debut in 1970 in Brewster McCloud alongside director Robert Altman. She also appeared in films such as McCabe & Mrs. Miller and Thieves Like Us before joining the cast of Nashville in 1975.
Throughout her film career, the actress starred in seven films by Altman, who was considered her great mentor.
For the thriller ‘3 Women’, Duvall won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress, and a BAFTA nomination for her performance as Millie.
She gained fame with the film adaptation of the suspense film ‘The Shining’ in 1980, where she played the role of Wendy Torrance, the wife of Jack Torrance (Jack Nickolson), a couple who take up residence at the Overlook Hotel in Colorado to keep an eye on the facilities during the winter months.
The two starred in one of the most terrifying scenes on the big screen when a terrified Wendy takes refuge in the bathroom with a knife in her hand following a crazed Jack chased her through the hotel with an axe in his hand, intending to kill her.
“Here he is, Jack,” he says in one of the film’s most recognizable scenes, as he pokes his head through the bathroom door, which has been hacked to pieces, and unlocks it to walk toward his wife, who is trying to flee.