Shelley Duvall’s Partner of 35 Years Files Petition in Court Over Late Actress’ Estate

Shelley Duvall’s longtime partner, Dan Gilroy, filed court documents over her estate days after her death, In Touch can exclusively reveal.

According to court records obtained by In Touch, Dan, who spent the last 35 years with Shelley, submitted an Application for Letter of Administration in Texas court.

The probate paperwork was filed on July 18 and lists the decedent as “Shelley Alexis Duvall.”

The case type was listed as “dependent administration” — which usually means the decedent died without a will.

Shelley did not have children but is survived by her brothers: Scott, Stewart and Shane.

As In Touch previously reported, The Shining actress died on July 11 at the age of 75.

She had celebrated her birthday only four days before she passed.

Dan told TMZ he found the actress unresponsive in their home that morning. Shelley’s life partner said the actress had been under hospice care and bedridden for the last couple of months.

Dan told the outlet that Shelley died in her sleep. “My dear, sweet, wonderful life partner and friend left us. Too much suffering lately, now she’s free. Fly away, beautiful Shelley,” Dan told The Hollywood Reporter following Shelley’s death.

Shelley was known for her role in Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 film The Shining with Jack Nicholson. The hit thriller was based on a book by Stephen King. She had roles in Popeye with Robin Williams, Annie Hall and countless other projects.

She stopped working in 2002 before coming back to make a final movie in 2023, The Forest Hills.

Prior to the move to Texas, Shelley and Dan lived in a three-acre property in Los Angeles. According to People, the property had 36 birds, eight dogs, two cats, and two goldfish.

The duo decided to leave Hollywood for Texas in 1994, where they lived for the remainder of Shelley’s life.

Director Scott Goldberg, who worked with Shelley on her final project, spoke to People following her death. He told the outlet, “Shelley leaves behind an amazing legacy and will be missed by so many people, myself included. I am proud of her for overcoming adversity to act again and will always be forever grateful for her friendship and kindness.” Stephen King said, “Very sorry Shelly Duvall has passed. Wonderful, talented, underused actor.”

The official Twitter account for the late director Stanley Kubrick said following her death, “Shelley Duvall, legendary character actor, and The Shining’s extraordinary Wendy Torrance has died at the age of 75.”

The statement continued, “Shelley’s career was varied and long. Despite being dogged with exaggerations of her treatment on set, Shelley was always vocal about her experience filming The Shining saying she ‘wouldn’t trade it for anything’ because ‘working with loveable Stanley was a fascinating learning experience.’ Our thoughts are with Shelley’s friends and family.”

For years, rumors swirled that Stanley treated Shelley worse than her costars on set.

She addressed the situation in a 2016 interview, “Stanley really gets a bad reputation sometimes but he was a perfectionist. We had our moments when we laughed and joked around on set, but then there were times that we just exploded at each other!”

In 2021, she described Stanley as “very warm and friendly.”