Late Night Last Century: Shelley Duvall Teaches Letterman Modern Science

Late Night Last Century is a weekly column highlighting some of the funniest and most unforgettable comedy from late night, talk shows, and variety shows of the 20th century that’s currently streaming on YouTube. This week, we remember Shelley Duvall, who visited David Letterman to discuss her series, Faerie Tale Theatre.

What began with a question asking about her start in acting ends with a conversation on recombinant DNA. Such was the breadth of Shelley Duvall’s brilliance, as displayed on a September 7, 1984 appearance on Late Night with David Letterman. “Recombinant DNA enables you to clone things,” Duvall explained. “And I think it’s probably the most exciting discovery of our times.”

Duvall, who died earlier this week at the age of seventy-five, was born in Fort Worth, Texas. She had dreams of becoming a scientist. But instead, she had to settle for being one of the greatest screen actors of the last half of the 20th century. Not bad. 

Audiences today will know Duvall best from her work opposite Jack Nicholson in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (1980). A decade earlier, she made her film debut in Robert Altman’s black comedy, Brewster McCloud, beginning one of the most significant actor-performer relationships of New Hollywood. Next came McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971), and then later Thieves Like Us (1974), Nashville (1975) and 3 Women (1977), a performance that won her an award from the Cannes Film Festival. 

In 1977, Duvall hosted Saturday Night Live, walking out in a bumblebee costume and performing alongside members of the show’s original cast. That same year, she appeared in Woody Allen’s Annie Hall. In 1980, she played Olive Oyl in Altman’s live-action musical comedy, Popeye, a role she was basically born to play. In the ‘80s and ‘90s she created, produced, and hosted Faerie Tale Theatre, a series of children’s shows for Showtime that adapted classic stories and folktales. The list goes on. 

In her appearance on Late Night, Letterman appears awkward, and asks whether they have met before as Duvall takes her seat on the couch. “Hi David, nice to meet you,” she says a minute into the appearance, comically extending her hand without missing a beat. From there, it is off to the races, with Letterman asking her about the scientific periodicals to which she subscribes, how she teamed up with Altman, and later Faerie Tale Theatre. If you haven’t figured it out by now, Shelly Duvall could do it all. RIP to a true legend. 

Will DiGravio is a Brooklyn-based critic and researcher, who first contributed to Paste in 2022. He is an assistant editor at Cineaste, a GALECA member, and since 2019 has hosted The Video Essay Podcast. You can follow and/or unfollow him on Twitter and learn more about him via his website.