Adrienne Shelly

Infobox Actor
name = Adrienne Shelly


imagesize =
caption = Adrienne Shelly on the DVD cover of "The Unbelievable Truth
birthdate = birth date|1966|6|24|mf=y
location = Queens, New York, USA
deathdate = death date and age|2006|11|1|1966|6|24
deathplace = Manhattan, New York, USA
height = 5' 2" (1.57 m)
birthname = Adrienne Levine
spouse = Andrew Ostroy

Adrienne Shelly (June 24, 1966 – November 1, 2006), sometimes credited as Adrienne Shelley, was an American actress, director, and screenwriter.

Biography

Early life

Of Russian Jewish descent,AOL LLC (2006). [http://movies.aol.com/celebrity/adrienne-shelly/65116/biography AOL Moviefone biography] . Retrieved November 6 2006.] Shelly was born Adrienne Levine in Queens, New York, to Sheldon M. Levine and Elaine Langbaum. She had two brothers, Jeff and Mark, and was raised on Long Island. She began performing when she was about 10 [MovieMaker Magazine (2006). [http://www.moviemaker.com/magazine/editorial.php?id=285 Moviemaker interview with Shelly: "Suddenly Adrienne Shelly"] by Tim Rhys, August 1996. Retrieved November 6 2006.] at Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Training Center. She made her professional debut in a summer stock production of the musical "Annie" while a student at Jericho High SchoolNewsday Inc. (2006). [http://www.newsday.com/news/obituaries/ny-etshell044960663nov04,0,4153019.story "Remembering Talents of a Local Star"] . By Steven Snyder, with contribution from Rocco Parascandol. Retrieved November 5 2006.] in Jericho, New York. She went on to Boston University, majoring in film production, but dropped out after her junior year and moved to Manhattan.cite news|title=Adrienne Shelly, 40, an Actress, Film Director and Screenwriter, Is Dead|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/04/obituaries/04shelly.html|date=2006-11-04|author=Dennis Hevesi|publisher=The New York Times|accessdate=2007-10-07]

Career

Shelly's career breakthrough came in her starring roles in independent filmmaker Hal Hartley's "The Unbelievable Truth" (1989) and "Trust" (1990),cite news|publisher=The International Herald Tribune|url=http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/11/03/america/NA_GEN_US_Actress_Found_Dead.php|title=Actress Adrienne Shelly found dead in New York City office|date=2006-11-03|accessdate=2006-11-03] Internet Movie Database (1990-2006). [http://imdb.com/name/nm0791248/ Adrienne Shelly] . Retrieved November 3 2006.] the latter of which was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, where Hartley's script tied for the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award. [Internet Movie Database (1990-2006). [http://imdb.com/title/tt0103130/awards Awards for "Trust"] . Retrieved November 5 2006.]

She appeared in a number of films during the 1990s, and as she segued toward a behind-the-camera career she wrote and directed others, including 1999's "I'll Take You There", in which she appeared along with Ally Sheedy. She won a U.S. Comedy Arts Festival Film Discovery Jury Award in 2000 for direction of the film, and Prize of the City of Setúbal: Special Mention, at the Festróia (Tróia International Film Festival) held in Setúbal, Portugal for best director. [ [http://imdb.com/title/tt0210741/awards Awards for "I'll Take You There" at the] Internet Movie Database. Retrieved November 3 2006.]

She also guest-starred in a number of television series including "Law & Order", "Oz", and "". She played major roles in over two dozen off-Broadway plays, often at Manhattan's Workhouse Theater. In 2005 she co-starred in the film "Factotum" with Matt Dillon. Her last known work was writing, directing and playing a supporting role in the film "Waitress", starring Keri Russell and Nathan Fillion, [cite news|publisher=CBC|locatio=Canada|url=http://www.cbc.ca/arts/story/2006/11/03/shelly-obit.html|title=Actress Adrienne Shelly found dead|date=2006-11-03|accessdate=2004-11-03] which premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. [Sundance Film Festival 07 (2006). [http://festival.sundance.org/2007/pdfs/07_SFF_PROGRAMANNOUNCEMENT120106.pdf Sundance Film Festival Announces Films in the Premiers, Spectrum, New Frontier, Park City at Midnight and From the Sundance Collection Series (pdf)] . Retrieved December 18 2006.]

Personal life

Shelly, who took her professional surname after her late father's given name, was married to Andrew Ostroy, the chairman and CEO of the marketing firm Belardi/Ostroy ALC.cite news|title=Indie-Film Star 'Suicide' Stunner |url=http://www.nypost.com/seven/11032006/news/regionalnews/indie_film_star_suicide_stunner_regionalnews_philip_messing__mark_bulliet_and_dan_mangan.htm?page=0 |publisher=New York Post|date=November 3 2006|author=Philip Messing|coauthors=Mark Bulliet; Dan Mangan] They had a daughter, Sophie, who was two years old at the time of Shelly's death.cite news|publisher=Daily News|location=New York|date=November 7 2006|title=Killer Staged Her 'Suicide'|author=Alison Gendar|coauthors=John Lauinger; Barbara Ross; Corky Siemaszko]

Murder

At about 5:45 p.m on November 1, 2006, Shelly's husband found her hanging by a bedsheetcite news|date=November 3, 2006|title=Actress Found Hanged in Village Apartment|publisher=New York Daily News|author=Alison Gendar|coauthors=Michael White] from a shower rod in the bathtub of the Abingdon Square apartment in Manhattan's West Village that Shelly used as an office. It initially appeared to be a suicide. Ostroy had dropped her off at 9:30 a.m. that day, and as the building's doorman told journalists, "He hadn't heard from her and he said it was odd not to hear from her, so he was nervous. And he asked me to go up to the apartment with him, so we went to the front door, and it was unlocked."

An autopsy was performed the following day. The New York City Police Department was suspicious of sneaker prints in the bathtub that did not match Shelly's shoes (she was found wearing only socks). Shelly's husband also indicated that there was money missing from Shelly's wallet. He denied allegations that she could have committed suicide. [ABC Inc., WABC-TV New York (2006). [http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=local&id=4726326# "Husband: Actress-wife's death suspicious"] . Retrieved November 5 2006.]

Press reports on November 6, 2006 stated that police had arrested construction worker Diego Pillco, a 19-year-old Ecuadorian illegal immigrant who confessed to killing Shelly after she complained about the noise he was making in the apartment below hers. Pillco said that he "was having a bad day."cite news|title=Star's Suicide was Killer Cover-up|author=Larry Celona |url=http://www.nypost.com/seven/11072006/news/regionalnews/stars_suicide_was_killer_cover_up_regionalnews_larry_celona__murray_weiss_and_dan_mangan.htm |publisher=New York Post|date=November 7 2006|coauthors=Murray Weiss; Dan Mangan|accessdate=2006-11-13] Police said Pillco had made videos implicating himself in the murder, and as of November 7 2006 was being held without bail for her murder. ["Newsday" (date n.a.): "NYPD questions a person in death of actress Adrienne Shelly"] [CBS Broadcasting Inc. (2006). [http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_306192615.html WCBS-TV/Associated Press. "Brooklyn Man Charged With Murder Of Actress"] . Retrieved November 7 2006.]

Diego Pillco entered his guilty plea February 14, 2008. He said that, contrary to his original story, Shelly had not complained about noise, but rather had caught him stealing money from her purse after he slipped into the apartment. When she tried to call the police, he grabbed the phone and covered her mouth as she began to scream. After she fell, he tied a bedsheet around her neck and choked her. Thinking her dead, he hanged her from the shower rod in a staged suicide. Pillco received 25 years in prison without parole when he was sentenced on March 6, 2008. [cite news | url = http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/15/nyregion/15actress.html | title = In Guilty Plea, Actress’s Killer Changes Story to Robbery | author = Anemona Hartocollis | publisher = The New York Times | date = February 15 2008 ] ["Entertainment Weekly"; February 29, 2008; Page 18.]

At Pillco's sentencing on March 13, 2008, Shelly's husband, along with family members said that they would never forgive him.cite web| date=March 14, 2008| title ='ROT,' BASTARD! Hubby damns Shelly Slayer in court| publisher=New York Post| page =Page 19| url =http://www.nypost.com/seven/03142008/news/regionalnews/rot__bastard__101921.htm| accessdate=2008-03-14] Andy Ostroy had said of Pillco "...you are nothing more than a coldblooded killer" and that he hoped he would "rot in jail."

In remembering Shelly, Ostroy said that "Adrienne was the kindest, warmest, most loving, generous person I knew. She was incredibly smart, funny and talented, a bright light with an infectious laugh and huge smile that radiated inner and outer beauty...she was my best friend, and the person with whom I was supposed to grow old."

Legacy

Following his wife's death, Ostroy established the Adrienne Shelly Foundation, [cite web| title=Adrienne Shelly Foundation|url =http://www.AdrienneShellyFoundation.org| accessdate=2008-03-14] a non-profit organization that will award film school scholarships and grants to female filmmakers. [cite web| date=November 14, 2006|title=Adrienne Shelly Foundation Established| publisher =Multichannel Merchant|url =http://multichannelmerchant.com/news/Adrienne_Shelly_Foundation_11152006/|accessdate=2006-11-14]

On February 16, 2007, the NBC crime drama series "Law & Order" broadcast an episode, "Melting Pot", that was a thinly-veiled dramatization of Shelly's murder. [cite news|publisher=The New York Times|date=February 11, 2007|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/11/nyregion/thecity/11actr.html|title=Murder, They Wrote|author=John Freeman Gill|accessdate=2007-02-17] [TV Guide Online, Inc. (2007). [http://www.tvguide.com/detail/tv-show.aspx?tvobjectid=100255&more=ucepisodelist&episodeid=6353301 Episode Detail: Melting Pot] . Retrieved February 17, 2007.] Shelly herself had guest-starred on the show in the 2000 episode "High & Low." [CNET Networks, Inc. (2007). [http://www.tv.com/adrienne-shelly/person/29508/summary.html tv.com summary for Adrienne Shelly] . Retrieved February 17, 2007.]

Shelly's film, "Waitress", had been accepted into the 2007 Sundance Film Festival [cite news|publisher=The New York Times|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/19/movies/19shel.html|title=Sundance Dream Most Notable for an Absence|author=David Carr|date=2007-01-19] before her murder. The film, starring Keri Russell, Nathan Fillion, Cheryl Hines, Jeremy Sisto, Andy Griffith and Shelly herself, was bought during the festival by Fox Searchlight Pictures for the sum of an amount between $4 million and $5 million, as news accounts on the actual amount vary, with a final box-office draw of $18 million and an 89% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes. [cite web|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/waitress/|publisher=Rotten Tomatoes|accessdate=2008-01-08|title=Waitress (2007)]

Filmography

Acting

*"The Unbelievable Truth" (1989)
*"Trust" (1990)
*"Big Girls Don't Cry... They Get Even" (1992)
*"Hexed" (1993)
*"Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me" (1993)
*"The Road Killers" (1994)
*"Teresa's Tattoo" (1994)
*"Road" (1994)
*"Sleep With Me" (1994)
*"Sudden Manhattan" (1996)
*"Early Edition" (1997) (TV)
*"Grind" (1997)
*"Oz" .... Sarah (1 episode, 1998)
*"Wrestling With Alligators" (1999)
*"I'll Take You There" (1999)
*"Dead Dog" (2000)
*"Law & Order" (2000)(TV)
*"Rock the Boat" (2000)(TV)
*"The Shadows of Bob and Zelda" (2000)
*"Revolution #9" (2001)
*"The Sea" (2002)
*"Searching for Debra Winger" (2002)
*"In the Company of Women" (2004)
*"Tiger His Fall and Rise" (2004)
*"Factotum" (2005)
*"Waitress" (2007)

Writing

*"Serious Moonlight" (2009)cite web|last=Cooper|first= Chet|title=Cheryl Hines Interview|url=http://abilitymagazine.com/Cheryl_hines.html|publisher=Ability Magazine|accessdate=2008-02-23]

Writing and directing

*"Urban Legend" (1994) (26-minute short film) [cite web|title= Adrienne Shelly biography| publisher =Yahoo! Inc|url =http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800144240/bio|accessdate=2008-03-15]
*"Lois Lives a Little" (1997)
*"Sudden Manhattan" (1997)
*"I'll Take You There" (1999)
*"The Shadows of Bob and Zelda" (2000)
*"Waitress" (2007)

References

External links

*imdb name|id=0791248
* [http://www.adrienneshellyfoundation.org/ The Adrienne Shelly Foundation]
* [http://uk.movies.yahoo.com/artists/s/Adrienne-Shelly/biography-330460.html Biography for Adrienne Shelly at Yahoo! UK & Ireland]
* [http://www.newsweek.com/id/44479 Jones, Malcolm; "An ‘Unbelievable’ Talent"; "Newsweek"; November 10, 2006.]