Shelley Duvall, muse of director Robert Altman and the shrieking star of seminal horror film The Shining, died on Thursday. Her life partner, Dan Gilroy, confirmed the news to The Hollywood Reporter. According to THR, Duvall passed away in her sleep at her home in Blanco, Texas, due to complications from diabetes. She was 75.

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

Born in Fort Worth, Texas, on July 7, 1949, Duvall was discovered by members of Altman’s staff at a party in Houston while attending junior college. Though she’d never left Texas before, Duvall followed Altman to Hollywood. There, she’d go on to appear in seven of the acclaimed director’s films, beginning with Brewster McCloud in 1970. Her breakthrough role was in Altman’s ensemble film Nashville, and she went on to earn acclaim for playing daydreaming health attendant Millie Lammoreaux in 3 Women. The performance won her the Cannes Film Festival’s award for best actress and earned her a leading-actress BAFTA nomination.

“He offers me damn good roles,” Duvall said of the director in a 1977 New York Times story, “Shelley Duvall, an Unlikely Star.” “None of them have been alike. He has a great confidence in me, and a trust and respect for me, and he doesn’t put any restrictions on me or intimidate me, and I love him.” The feeling was mutual. According to THR, Altman once described Duvall as the kind of actor who “was able to swing all sides of the pendulum: charming, silly, sophisticated, pathetic, even beautiful.”

While her collaboration with Altman was incredibly fruitful, Duvall is best known for her iconic role as Wendy Torrance, wife of Jack Nicholson’s axe-wielding Jack Torrance, in Stanley Kubrick’s iconic film adaptation of Stephen King’s The Shining. Duvall spent 13 grueling months shooting the film in England, and it was rumored that Kubrick intentionally isolated Duvall on set and had her perform the film’s iconic baseball bat scene 127 times. The shoot was infamously rough, with Duvall telling People in 1981 that Kubrick had her “crying 12 hours a day for weeks on end.”

“I will never give that much again,” she said. “If you want to get into pain and call it art, go ahead, but not with me.”

In 1980, the same year as The Shining’s release, Duvall reunited with Altman, displaying her range as romantic lead Olive Oyl in the musical comedy Popeye, in which she starred opposite Robin Williams. Duvall would go on to appear in many other films by acclaimed directors, including Jane Campion’s 1996 adaptation of Henry James’s novel The Portrait of a Lady, Terry Gilliam’s Time Bandits (1981), and Steven Soderbergh’s thriller The Underneath (1995). Duvall retired from acting after appearing in 2002’s Manna From Heaven, but returned to the screen some two decades later in the horror film The Forest Hills (2023).

After retiring, Duvall moved to Hill Country in Texas, where she lived until her death. But even away from the spotlight, Duvall had her admirers. Twenty-four-year-old Austin resident Sarah Lukowski began a social media fan account for Duvall: @shelleyduvallxo, or “Shelley Duvall Archive.” Over time, Lukowski and Duvall would grow to become actual friends. Just days ago, on July 8, Lukowski posted about having visited Duvall to celebrate her 75th birthday, with the two enjoying cupcakes and the Sabrina Carpenter song “Espresso.”

“I’ve seen the news about Shelley Duvall. I’m doing ok,” Lukowski posted on X. “Shelley was having difficulties with her health over the past few months and I visited with her often. I’ll always be grateful for the memories I created with her and that I was able to give her comfort and companionship.”

Duvall is survived by Gilroy as well as her brothers, Scott, Stewart, and Shane.