Shelley Duvall net worth: Shelley Duvall is an American actress who has a net worth of $500 thousand. Duvall is probably best-known appearing as Olive Oyl in the 1980 film adaptation of “Popeye” and as Wendy Torrence in Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”.
Early Life: Shelley Duvall was born in Fort Worth, Texas on July 7, 1949. Her family eventually settled in Houston. Her father was a cattle auctioneer turned lawyer. Her mother was a real estate agent. Shelley was a straight-A student in high school. She then spent a brief period at South Texas Junior College.
After leaving college she got work cosmetics salesperson and occasional local retail model.
Career: In 1970 she married an artist named Bernard Sampson. That same year, she and Bernard hosted a party that was attended by iconic director Robert Altman. Altman was captivated by Shelley’s looks, style and personality. Altman instantly cast her in his 1970 film “Brewster McCloud”. This led to work in subsequent Robert Altman films, as well as roles in other projects.
She went on to appear in such projects as “McCabe & Mrs. Miller”, “Love, American Style”, “Nashville”, “Bernice Bobs Her Hair”, “3 Women”, and “Annie Hall”.
1980 proved to be her breakout year, when she co-starred in the now classic films, “The Shining” and “Popeye”.
Shelley enjoyed a successful career as both an actress and producer for many years until largely retreating from public life. She appeared in such projects as “Time Bandits”, “L.A. Law”, “Frasier”, “The Portrait of a Lady”, “Homefries”, and “Wishbone”.
From 1982 to 1987 she produced every aspect of the popular, “Fairie Tale Theatre” series. She produced several other series for children and teens.
Personal Life: Shelley was married to Bernard Sampson from 1970 to 1974. She dated musician Paul Simon from 1976 to 1979. He broke up with her at the airport as he dropped her off before she flew to London to film “The Shining”. Simon went on to date actress Carrie Fisher, who was introduced to Simon through Duvall.
In 1989 she began living with Dan Gilroy. They had a 3-acre hillside property in Studio City, California where they kept 36 birds, two cats and eight dogs.
It has long been reported that Shelley left Gilroy, their home and animals following the 1994 Northridge earthquake. In a 2021 interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Shelley seemed to confirm that the Northridge was at least partially the reason she suddenly moved to Texas, without ever looking back. In the interview Shelley also explained that soon after the earthquake she was having financial issues, and after filming a small part in a Steven Soderbergh movie called “The Underneath” she decided to visit her mom in Houston and essentially did not not return to LA for two decades.