Duvall Peaked for Four Years…Okay, Seven Years If You Count “Thieves Like Us”

I’m very sorry that Shelley Duvall has left us at age 75.

Duvall’s performances were always fascinating, always unique, always space-casey, always something else.

But her peak period boiled down to just three films — 3 Women (’77), The Shining (’80) and Popeye (ditto). Which meant that the impetus behind her career peak boiled down to her partnerships with two brilliant fellows — Robert Altman (Thieves Like Us, Nashville, 3 Women, Popeye) and Stanley Kubrick (The Shining).

I think her Shining baseball bat scene with Jack Nicholson was her best.