Shelley Alexis Duvall (July 7, 1949 – July 11, 2024) was born in Houston, Texas. Her mother and father were Bobbie and Robert Duvall. As a young child, Shelley’s mother Bobbie humorously gave Shelley the nickname “Manic Mouse” because she would often run around her house and tip over furniture. Shelley however was more than a mouse, but rather quite the little artist. Her favorite thing to do when she was very young was draw.
Shelley attended Waltrip High School in the Oak Forest neighborhood of Houston for all four years and graduated in 1967.
After graduating, she went to South Texas Junior College for two years to pursue her interest in science and took classes in botany, astronomy, microbiology, and nutrition and diet therapy. However, Shelley later dropped out after a shocking encounter with a vivisected monkey only a few months before being discovered by Robert Altman’s crew but she still kept up with her love of science throughout her career.
“One day I was walking down the hall and one of the students with a sense of humor of sorts stuck a skinned monkey in front of me,” Shelley recalled. “I almost had a heart attack. I figured it was too cruel of a business to be in, that I could not deal with it because I love animals too much.”
