From the captions at "Shelley Duvall: A Life in Pictures/With her gossamer frame and toothy smile, she was one of the biggest film stars of the 1970s" (NYT)(free-access link).
July 12, 2024
"Duvall dancing at Studio 54. She lived the life of a celebrity in the 1970s and 1980s, dating Paul Simon and Ringo Starr...."
"The film critic Pauline Kael called her the 'female Buster Keaton.' On casting Duvall in 'The Shining,' Stanley Kubrick told her, 'I like the way you cry.'... Sitting between Paul Simon and James Taylor, Duvall greets Arnold Schwarzenegger at a screening in 1977."
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35 comments:
Selley Duvall was absolutely delightful. Olive Oyl - the part she was absolutely born to play as no other actor then or now could pull that off, is my favorite performance of hers.
She certainly let herself age naturally.
Those captions read like trash.
A wiry, stringy woman can be a great sex partner.
Speaking from experience.
Married once. Two partners. No children.
Her eyes faded so much.
Thank you for the free link. The last picture (caption) indicated she was going back to acting. Hopefully she was doing what she loved before she passed away.
Thanks.
There has recently been a history of disco on "regular" TV. Gays wanted places to dance and fool around in public. If a bar was truly public, it could be raided under old morals laws. So a place opened in NYC that was members only, and the driving beat and showy style of disco was perfect for gays, straights, and whatevers. Studio 54 aimed at celebrities soon followed.
My YouTube feed recently gave me Grace Jones, a Pentacostal pastor's kid, on tour yet again in her late 70s, famous at Studio 54 back in the day. Show biz people often think they are showing the path to racial/ethnic harmony, and leaving a number of old hates behind. If so, a price may be paid.
I was in my 20s in the 1970s. Looking at these photographs, I feel as though I am looking at what I at the time wished was mine. Now, of course, I realize that if I had been there, it would have gotten old fast. The photos are great, but I don't believe it would be great to be inside them. Imagine being Paul Simon's girlfriend. That can't be good.
Shelley Duvall as a concept parallels that of ZaSu Pitts (not a typo, btw) -- the everyday woman offered in contrast to the dramatic ideal. By no means a recent trope, the pretty ladies' maid giving contrast to the etherial beauty of her aristocratic mistress is evident in English drama going back to the Restoration comedies, and in opera look no further than Die Entführung aus dem Serail.
Pitts appeared in hundreds of film and television productions from the Silent Era to the early SitComs, always in supporting roles, and generally presented as the leading lady's best friend, roommate, wise family retainer, etc. She never lived the celebrity life as we know it, debauched and destructive, but as a character actress she was seldom without work and endured.
Shelley Duvall became a celebrity largely on the strength of her performance in The Shining. Her "Olive Oyl" was outstanding in Popeye, but that movie was a commercial flop, thanks to Robert Altman's cocaine consumption. In the hands of a more stable and egocentric director, her talent shone more brightly. Had she not fallen for the celebrity lifestyle, perhaps a lot more work would have come her way.
Ah Zasu Pitts. My distant cousin!
"gossamer frame" ... That's a pretty phrase. Sylph-like.
"Imagine being Paul Simon's girlfriend. That can't be good."
??
She certainly had a screen presence. You remember her performances. She wasn't really a star though. I don't think you'd seek her movies out, the way you do with Faye Dunaway....That very last picture is harrowing. It doesn't look like she found much in the way of serenity or wisdom during her last years. One wonders if she was even having such a good time during all those pictures of her having a good time. Well, she achieved fame and success and it will take two or three waves to erase her footprints off the sand.
Amazing photos. She had those eyes. A one-of-a-kind look with those eyes. Such a great range of movies that she did. The movie "McCabe and Mrs. Miller" is one of my top ten of all time, so I've watched it many times over the years. I see more in each viewing. In that film she does such a great development of a character from when we first meet her to the end of the movie. It's really a great artistic role.
The last photo shocked me. Recent and I believe she was 75. Diabetes must have had its way with her. But it sure looked like a full life.
BTW Ann, I'm not sure what your comment about 'being married to Paul Simon' means. Other than you don't much care for Mr. Simon. But Edie Brickell apparently does as they've been together for 32 years. I would think, at the least, you'd be living with someone creating amazing music without inducing cringe.
Carrie Fisher was Paul Simon's girlfriend....Iirc, she didn't speak highly of the experience. She was especially disappointed that he didn't write a memorable song about her. I wonder if women have some wish to be The Dark Lady of the Sonnets. It does offer a kind of lasting fame. That woman on the cover of the Dylan album pulled it off. She's got Dark Lady of the Sonnets status.
Stumpy and Garfinkle?
"BTW Ann, I'm not sure what your comment about 'being married to Paul Simon' means. Other than you don't much care for Mr. Simon. But Edie Brickell apparently does as they've been together for 32 years. I would think, at the least, you'd be living with someone creating amazing music without inducing cringe...."
I like his music. I just get the feeling he wouldn't be good to be inside a relationship with. Best to have him at a distance where you can enjoy his work without any personal static. That's how I feel about celebrities in general. Imagine sitting between Paul Simon and James Taylor and having Arnold Schwarzenegger drop by to meet you. It's better in your imagination.
My favorite celebrity is Bob Dylan. He's the person I don't know who I would feel worst about if I saw that he had died. I have all the access I want to Bob Dylan in that I can listen to all of his recorded music and sometimes go to a concert. It's not about not "caring for" the person.
I think I’d take Simon over Arnold or JT but what donI know?
First time I drove to NYC I’m trying to turn on to 54th from 7th Ave and just as I gun it through the crosswalk the door of the double parked limo pops open and I slam the brakes. Edie pops out in front of my hood with Paul exiting curbside. Yikes. My brush with greatness…
Simon seemed like an okay dude in his docu on tv right now. Kicking it in Texas, yah?
I barely understand my own relationships, and try never to speculate about the relationships of artists that I don't know.
There seems to be a strong subtext here of poor little waif used by beastly men, as if she hadn't asked for the roles.
FWIW I rate musicians much higher than mere actors, and would rather listen to Paul Simon than watch Shelley Duvall.
“It was not a toomah!”
—- Arnold Schwarzenegger
One of the great faces of Hollywood.
What is it with celebrities dating each other?
Was it just the Hollywood PR machine ginning up hype?
If I was some big movie star I'd move out of Hollywood, get a ranch in Santa Barbara, and marry a normal woman; somebody I'd known before I was a 'famous.'
And then my kids wouldn't grow up in a sewer.
But that's just me...
Its hard not to look down on paul simon. He's 5-3, with 1 inch heels.
BTW, why do some people get upset when you criticize a rich celebritity? They're not your friends. And they don't need your protection. Better to focus your feelings on real people in your life.
I looked at the photos and thought about how I wish we'd had Gilda Radner with us longer.
Nice shots. The Seventies were great fun.
"Imagine sitting between Paul Simon and James Taylor and having Arnold Schwarzenegger drop by to meet you."
The winning line. I laughed out loud at the thought.
I can see how Althouse might think that a man who hates the lovely, happy song "Feeling Groovy" would be a dour and unpleasant companion.
On the other hand he may have seen this.
Give it a minute.
'68. Yeah, Baby! What ya shakin'?
The Schwarzenegger photo is at the New York premier of Pumping Iron in '77.
That's the beautiful Carly Simon behind the Governator's elbow.
Damn, they got me groovin’, Rabel!
I may have seen that when it happened and if I did I probably loved it. Eighth Grade!
She was born to play Olive Oil. Other than that I have no memory of her and always confuse her with the woman who created "Lamb Chop" the sock puppet.
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