Fans Split as Shelley Duvall’s Estate Sale Brings The Shining Star’s Personal Belongings to Auction
Memorabilia from the late actor’s career goes up for bid, prompting praise from some fans and questions about privacy and legacy
Fans are split over the estate sale of Shelley Duvall's personal effects, with some collectors eager to bid on rare memorabilia from her storied career and others decrying the move as intrusive.
Duvall died in July 2024 at her Blanco, Texas home, aged 75, from complications related to diabetes, according to public statements. The Shining star, who portrayed Wendy Torrance in the 1980 Kubrick film, had stepped back from Hollywood in 2002 after years of high-profile work and later spoke about mental-health struggles and feeling hurt by the industry.
The auction catalog includes items such as the original Popeye script in which she played Olive Oyl opposite Robin Williams, as well as personal notebooks and call sheets from The Shining. The belongings are being offered at her Texas storage barn, with Vogt Auction Galleries planning an additional sale in October.
Online reaction to the sale has been mixed. Some fans praised the chance to catalog and own a piece of Duvall's legacy, while others criticized the process as intrusive or argued that her personal effects should have been preserved in museums or donated to institutions. One commenter on a video shared by Vogt Auction Galleries inside Duvall's storage barn wrote 'Dude. Start off showing some respect.' Another user described the sale as 'interesting but still feels a bit intrusive.'
Dan Gilroy, Duvall's life partner since 1989, told The Hollywood Reporter that she faced years of hurt from the industry but described her as a loving, resilient artist. He has spoken publicly about the personal challenges she endured, and about the complexity of life after Hollywood.
Duvall's career spanned a range of acclaimed films. She appeared in Three Women in 1977, Annie Hall in 1977, and McCabe and Mrs. Miller in 1971, and became a pop-culture fixture as Olive Oyl in Popeye (1980). She founded her own production company, Think Entertainment, in 1988 and later released a Christmas album in 1991. After stepping away from acting in 2002, she largely stayed out of the spotlight until a 2023 return in the independent film The Forest Hills.
Her life story continues to spark discussion about how the industry treats performers who speak candidly about mental health and the pressures of fame, and about what happens to an artist’s legacy when personal belongings are sold to strangers.