Shelley Duvall, 'The Shining' star, dies at 75

Shelley Duvall - best known for her roles in films like "The Shining and "Nashville" -  has breathed her last at the age of 75.

The Texas-born movie star's partner Dan Gilroy has confirmed the news to The Hollywood Reporter.

"My dear, sweet, wonderful life, partner, and friend left us last night,” Gilroy said in a statement. “Too much suffering lately, now she’s free. Fly away beautiful Shelley."

Duvall died Thursday in her sleep at her home in Blanco. The cause was complications of diabetes, said her friend, the publicist Gary Springer.

Concerns about her health were raised when she appeared on the TV talk show Dr Phil in 2016 and told him: "I'm very sick. I need help."

Duvall would go on to appear in Altman films including “Thieves Like Us,” “Nashville, “Popeye,” “Three Women” and “McCabe & Ms. Miller.”

Duvall was attending junior college in Texas when Altman’s crew members, preparing to film “Brewster McCloud,” encountered her as at a party in Houston in 1970. They introduced her to the director, who cast her “Brewster McCloud” and made her his protege.

At her peak, Duvall was a regular star in some of the defining movies of the 1970s and 1980s. In “The Shining,” she played Wendy Torrance, who watches in horror as her husband, Jack (Jack Nicholson), goes crazy while their family is isolated in the Overlook Hotel. 

By the 1990s, she began retiring from acting. Her last film role was in 2002’s “Manna From Heaven.” Duvall retreated from public life. Earlier this year she gave her first interview in years.