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Shelley Duvall quit Hollywood after brother's cancer diagnosis

Shelley Duvall stepped away from Hollywood to focus on her family during a time of crisis credit:Bang Showbiz
Shelley Duvall stepped away from Hollywood to focus on her family during a time of crisis credit:Bang Showbiz

Shelley Duvall took a 20-year hiatus from Hollywood after her brother was diagnosed with spinal cancer.

'The Shining' star walked away from her acting career in 2002 following the release of her film 'Manna from Heaven' - retiring from her movie work and stepping away from public life - and she's now revealed she wanted to be at home in her native Texas to focus on her family as her sibling faced a life-threatening health crisis.

She told PEOPLE: "It's the longest sabbatical I ever took, but it was for really important reasons - to get in touch with my family again."

Shelley, 73, has now come out of retirement to appear in new horror movie 'The Forest Hills' and she's happy to be back in the film business.

She explained: "Acting again - it's so much fun. It enriches your life," before joking she might even win an Oscar after previously being overlooked by the Academy Awards for her earlier work.

She added: "[Jessica Tandy] won an Oscar when she was 80. I can still win."

Shelley recently gave a rare interview to The Hollywood Reporter in which she opened up about working with famed director Stanley Kubrick on 1980 classic 'The Shining' and revealed she was worn down by the moviemaker's insistence on doing multiple takes for every shot. She said: "[Kubrick] doesn't print anything until at least the 35th take. Thirty-five takes, running and crying and carrying a little boy, it gets hard. And full performance from the first rehearsal. That's difficult ... "

"[Before a take I would] listen to sad songs. Or you just think about something very sad in your life or how much you miss your family or friends. "But after a while, your body rebels. It says: 'Stop doing this to me. I don't want to cry every day'."