Shelley Duvall was made for horror movies. With her wide, haunting eyes and her uncanny ability to portray sheer terror, there is no doubt her role as Wendy Torrence in The Shining will live on in horror movie fame indefinitely. The film launched Shelley Duvall into stardom, but her following roles never quite reached the same level of glory. So we wondered, after all is said and done, what is Shelley Duvall’s net worth? Was The Shining as lucrative as one would think, or was her financial gain as short-lived as Jack Torrence’s patience? Here’s what we found out.
Shelley Duvall began her acting career in the 1970s with movies such as 3 Women and Brewster McCloud and continued it into the 80’s. She played Olive to Robin William’s Popye in the 1980 hit Popye, so she was no stranger to fame by the time she landed her prime role in Stephen King’s hit horror story, The Shining.
Duvall played Wendy Torrence, the kind, if not slightly naive, wife of writer Jack Torrence, played by Jack Nicholson. The story follows a small family who agrees to caretake over an old hotel during its off season. As a writer, Torrence thought it would be the perfect opportunity to get some work done among the peace and quiet. Unfortunately, the haunted hotel and Torrence’s infinitely creepy son had other plans. The movie gave us some of the most recognizable horror movie moments of our time, including dead twin girls hanging out in the haunted hallway, and the scenes where Torrence loses it with an axe.
Let us not forget the movie’s quotes that shook us to the core too, such as the Torrence’s creepy son croaking out the phrase”Red Rum” over and over or Jack Nicholson busting through an axed door yelling “Heeere’s Johnny!” With moments like these from the mind of the king of creepy himself, Stephen King, it’s no wonder the movie shot both the story and its actors into the primetime Hollywood scene.
Duvall played in a few movies following The Shining, and then we saw her again recently in the 2022 hit The Northman. With such a longstanding career, surely Shelley Duvall would have accumulated quite a fortune, right? Apparently, not so much.
While Shelley did appear in a 2022 film, she reportedly took a near 20-year break from acting. While many thought it was due to her appearance in The Shining, she actually left years after her role as Wendy Torrence. She reportedly moved to Texas and retired from acting in 2002 after 32 years in the biz. She lived a quiet life, then reappeared 20 years later for a role in the Northman. So what does that all accumulate to financially?
Shelley Duvall’s net worth is reportedly $5 million. While at first glance that may seem like a good chunk of change, to put things into Hollywood heavy hitter perspective, Brad Pitt is worth $357 million, Will Smith $350 million. Even the low end of an average LA home is $2 million. A mansion in Malibu also ranges around $30 million on the low end. So in the ranks of Hollywood, $5 million is fairly humble. Although, let’s be real, what Shelley Duvall lacks in finances she makes up for in notoriety. She is one of the most recognizable faces in Hollywood for her role in The Shining. Although apparently notoriety does not always translate to financial wealth, but hey that’s showbiz, baby!
Shelley Duvall may not be sitting quite as financially pretty as Brad Pitt or some of the other Hollywood stars, but her face will live on in our memories (and nightmares) for years to come. She has been and always will be, the face of one of the greatest horror movies ever made, The Shining.