Adrienne Levine (June 24, 1966 – November 1, 2006), better known by the
stage name
A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...
Adrienne Shelly (sometimes credited as Adrienne Shelley), was an American actress, film director and screenwriter. She became known for roles in independent films such as
Hal Hartley
Hal Hartley (born November 3, 1959) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and composer who became a key figure in the American independent film movement of the 1980s and '90s. He is best known for his films '' The Unbelievable T ...
's ''
The Unbelievable Truth'' (1989) and ''
Trust
Trust often refers to:
* Trust (social science), confidence in or dependence on a person or quality
It may also refer to:
Business and law
* Trust law, a body of law under which one person holds property for the benefit of another
* Trust (bus ...
'' (1990). She wrote, co-starred in, and directed the 2007 posthumously-released film ''
Waitress
Waiting staff (British English), waitstaff (North American English), waiters (male) / waitresses (female), or servers (North American English), are those who work at a restaurant, a diner, or a bar and sometimes in private homes, attending ...
'' which later became a Broadway show.
Shelly's death in 2006 was initially determined by police to be suicide; her husband's insistence on a re-evaluation brought her killer to justice.
Shelly's husband established the Adrienne Shelly Foundation, which awards scholarships, production grants, finishing funds, and living stipends to artists. In her honor, the
Women Film Critics Circle
The Women Film Critics Circle (WFCC) is a film critics
Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: journalistic criticism that appears regularly in ...
gives an annual Adrienne Shelly Award to the film that it finds "most passionately opposes violence against women."
Early life
Shelly was born Adrienne Levine in
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
to Sheldon Levine and Elaine Langbaum.
She had two brothers and was raised on
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
. She began performing when she was about 10
at
Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Training Center. Shelly made her professional debut in a
summer stock
In American theater, summer-stock theater is a theater that presents stage productions only in the summer. The name combines the season with the tradition of staging shows by a resident company, reusing stock scenery and costumes. Summer stock the ...
production of the musical ''
Annie
Annie may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Annie (given name), a given name and a list of people and fictional characters with the name
* Annie (actress) (born 1975), Indian actress
* Annie (singer) (born 1977), Norwegian singer
The ...
''
while a student at
Jericho High School
Jericho High School is an American comprehensive public high school in the hamlet of Jericho in Nassau County, New York. It is the only high school in the Jericho Union Free School District. It opened in 1959.
As of the 2014-15 school yea ...
in
Jericho, New York
Jericho is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Nassau County, New York, United States, on the North Shore of Long Island, approximately 29 miles (47 km) east of Midtown Manhattan. Its population was 13,567 as of the U.S. 2010 Cen ...
. She went on to
Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...
, majoring in film production, but dropped out after her junior year and moved to
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
.
Career
Shelly's breakthrough came when she was cast by
independent film
An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, i ...
maker
Hal Hartley
Hal Hartley (born November 3, 1959) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and composer who became a key figure in the American independent film movement of the 1980s and '90s. He is best known for his films '' The Unbelievable T ...
as the lead in ''
The Unbelievable Truth'' (1989) and ''
Trust
Trust often refers to:
* Trust (social science), confidence in or dependence on a person or quality
It may also refer to:
Business and law
* Trust law, a body of law under which one person holds property for the benefit of another
* Trust (bus ...
'' (1990).
''Trust'' was nominated for the
Grand Jury Prize
A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upo ...
at the
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...
, where Hartley's script tied for the
Waldo Salt
Waldo Miller Salt (October 18, 1914 – March 7, 1987) was an American screenwriter who won Academy Awards for both ''Midnight Cowboy'' and '' Coming Home''.
Early life and career
Salt was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Winifred (n ...
Screenwriting Award. Shelly guest-starred in a number of television series including ''
Law & Order
''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment, launching the '' Law & Order'' franchise.
''Law & Order'' aired its entire run on NBC, premiering on ...
'', ''
Oz'' and ''
Homicide: Life on the Street'', and played major roles in over two dozen
off-Broadway
An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
plays, often at Manhattan's Workhouse Theater.
In 2005 she appeared in the film ''
Factotum
Factotum may refer to:
*A handyman, employed as a servant
* ''Factotum'' (novel), a 1975 novel by Charles Bukowski
* ''Factotum'' (film), a 2005 film adaptation of the novel
* Factotum (arts organisation), an arts organisation based in Belfast
* fa ...
'' starring
Matt Dillon
Matthew Raymond Dillon (born February 18, 1964) is an American actor. He has received various accolades, including an Oscar and Grammy nomination.
Dillon made his feature film debut in '' Over the Edge'' (1979) and established himself as a te ...
.
During the 1990s, Shelly segued toward a career behind the camera. She wrote and directed 1999's ''I'll Take You There'', in which she appeared alongside
Ally Sheedy
Alexandra Elizabeth Sheedy (born June 13, 1962) is an American actress. Following her film debut in 1983's '' Bad Boys'', she became known as one of the Brat Pack group of actors and starred in ''WarGames'' (1983), ''The Breakfast Club'' (1985) ...
. 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
Setúbal (, , ; cel-x-proto, Caetobrix) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population in 2014 was 118,166, occupying an area of . The city itself had 89,303 inhabitants in 2001. It lies within the Lisbon metropolitan area.
In the ti ...
, Portugal, for best director.
Her final work was writing, directing, co-set- and costume-designing, and acting in the film ''
Waitress
Waiting staff (British English), waitstaff (North American English), waiters (male) / waitresses (female), or servers (North American English), are those who work at a restaurant, a diner, or a bar and sometimes in private homes, attending ...
'', starring
Keri Russell
Keri Lynn Russell (born March 23, 1976) is an American actress. She portrayed the titular character on the drama series ''Felicity (TV series), Felicity'' (1998–2002), which won her a Golden Globe Award, and Elizabeth Jennings (The Americans), ...
and
Nathan Fillion
Nathan Fillion (; born March 27, 1971) is a Canadian-American actor. He played the leading roles of Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds on '' Firefly'' and its film continuation '' Serenity'', and Richard Castle on '' Castle''. , he was starring as J ...
,
which premiered at the
2007 Sundance Film Festival
The 2007 Sundance Film Festival ran from January 18 until January 28, 2007, in Park City, Utah with screenings in Salt Lake City, Utah and Ogden, Utah. It was the 23-rd iteration of the Sundance Film Festival. The opening night film was '' Chica ...
. Shelly's daughter, Sophie, has a cameo at the end of the film.
Personal life
Shelly, who took her professional
surname
In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community.
Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...
from her late father's
given name
A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a fa ...
,
was married to Andy Ostroy, the chairman and CEO of the marketing firm Belardi/Ostroy.
They met in 2001 on
Match.com
Match is an online dating service with web sites serving over 50 countries in twelve languages. Its headquarters are in Dallas, Texas. The company has offices in Dallas, West Hollywood, San Francisco, Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro, and Beijing. Match is ...
, were married in 2002,
and had a daughter, Sophie (born 2003), who was two years old at the time of her mother's death.
Shelly had written the film ''Waitress'' during the time she was pregnant with her daughter, Sophie. Shelly described herself as an "optimistic
agnostic
Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient ...
."
Death and investigation
Shelly was found dead at approximately 5:45 p.m on November 1, 2006. Her husband, Andy Ostroy, discovered her body in the
Abingdon Square
Abingdon Square Park is located in the New York City borough of Manhattan in Greenwich Village. The park is bordered by Eighth Avenue, Bank Street, Hudson Street and West 12th Street.
Abingdon Square Park is one of New York City's oldest par ...
apartment in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
's
West Village
The West Village is a neighborhood in the western section of the larger Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City.
The traditional boundaries of the West Village are the Hudson River to the west, 14th Street (Manhattan ...
that she used as an office. Ostroy had dropped her off at 9:30 a.m. He became concerned that Shelly had not been in contact during the day and asked the doorman to accompany him to the apartment. They found her body hanging from a shower rod in the bathtub with a bed sheet around her neck.
Although the door was unlocked and money was missing from her wallet, the
NYPD
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
believed Shelly had taken her own life. An
autopsy
An autopsy (post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of death or to evaluate any di ...
found she had died as a result of
neck compression.
Ostroy insisted that his wife was happy in her personal and professional life, and would never have committed suicide leaving her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter motherless. His protests over the following days prompted further examination of the bathroom, which revealed a sneaker print in gypsum dust on the toilet beside where her body had been found. The print was matched to other shoe prints in the building where construction work had been done the day of Shelly's death.
Diego Pillco, a 19-year-old construction worker from Ecuador, was arrested on November 6, and confessed on tape to attacking Shelly and staging the fake suicide.
Pillco's original version claimed that when Shelly demanded the construction noise be kept down, he threw a hammer at her. Afraid she might make a complaint that could result in his deportation, since he had
immigrated into the United States illegally, he followed her back to her apartment. Pillco said Shelly slapped him when he grabbed her at her apartment door and he retaliated by punching her in the face, knocking her to the ground where she hit her head and fell unconscious. Believing he had killed her, he then hanged her to make it appear a suicide. This version of events was not supported by the lack of head trauma and the presence of neck compression as the cause of death.
Pillco gave a different account during trial in 2008. He said he was returning to work after lunch when he noticed Shelly returning to her apartment in the elevator, and decided to follow and rob her. He said he waited on the landing of Shelly's apartment as she entered and left the door open, and intended to steal from her purse. When Shelly caught him and threatened to call police, he grabbed the phone and covered her mouth to quiet her screaming.
After rendering Shelly unconscious, Pillco bound a bed sheet around her neck and strangled her. He then dragged her to the bathroom where he hung her body from the shower rod to make her death look like suicide.
The second version was consistent with the lack of dust on Shelly's shoes which she was not wearing when found, and was apparently a confession to murder. Prosecutors thought if charged with murder Pillco might return to his original account and a jury trial could find him guilty of a lesser charge.
The medical examiner determined that Shelly was still alive when hanged. Pillco pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and was sentenced to 25 years in prison without parole. Since he is an illegal immigrant, he is scheduled to be deported to Ecuador upon release.
At Pillco's sentencing on March 13, 2008, Shelly's husband and family members said that they would never forgive him. Andy Ostroy said of Pillco "...you are nothing more than a cold-blooded killer" and that he hoped he would "rot in jail."
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."
Lawsuit
According to an acquaintance, Pillco said after eight months he still owed a debt on the $12,000 he had paid to be smuggled into the US, and he lived in the basement of a building owned by his employer. One of Shelly's neighbors told reporters that Pillco's stare had made the neighbor feel uncomfortable when she walked past him. Shelly's husband sued contractor Bradford General Contractors, which had hired Pillco. The complaint alleged that Shelly would still be alive if the contracting firm had not hired him.
Ostroy also sought to hold the owners and management of the building liable for Shelly's murder.
According to a ''New York Post'' article, among other allegations, the complaint stated that Pillco was an undocumented immigrant...' as were his co-workers,
and that "it was in Bradford General Contractors' interest not to have 'police and immigration officials
alledto the job site' because that would have ground their work to a halt."
On July 7, 2011, the lawsuit was dismissed by Judge Louis York. The court determined that Ostroy had not established legal grounds to hold the contractor liable, writing "While this court sympathizes with
stroy'sloss, plaintiffs have not presented sufficient legal grounds upon which to hold Bradford ... liable for Pillco's vicious crime,"
and that there was likewise insufficient evidence presented to find that either the building's management agents or its owners "had reason to believe that Pillco was a dangerous person who should not have been allowed to work at the premises"
in order to find them
vicariously liable
Vicarious liability is a form of a strict, secondary liability that arises under the common law doctrine of agency, ''respondeat superior'', the responsibility of the superior for the acts of their subordinate or, in a broader sense, the respo ...
. Ostroy was said to be considering an appeal.
Legacy
![Adrienne Shelly as Dannie and Max Parish as Eli Bud Fritz](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Adrienne_Shelly_as_Dannie_and_Max_Parish_as_Eli_Bud_Fritz.jpg)
Following his wife's death, Ostroy established the Adrienne Shelly Foundation, a nonprofit organization that awards scholarships, production grants, finishing funds, and living stipends through its partnerships with academic and filmmaking institutions
NYU
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, the ...
,
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, Women in Film, IFP,
AFI
AFI may refer to:
* ''Address-family identifier'', a 16 bit field of the Routing Information Protocol
* Ashton Fletcher Irwin, an Australian drummer
* AFI (band), an American rock band
** ''AFI'' (2004 album), a retrospective album by AFI rele ...
,
Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute is a non-profit organization founded by Robert Redford committed to the growth of independent artists. The institute is driven by its programs that discover and support independent filmmakers, theatre artists and composers f ...
, Tribeca Film Institute, and the
Nantucket Film Festival
The Nantucket Film Festival is a film festival founded in 1996 which focuses on screenwriting. Board members include Donick Cary, Nancy Dubac, Chris Matthews, Kathleen Matthews, Ben Stiller, and Tom Scott.
History
The Nantucket Film Festival ...
. One of its grant recipients,
Cynthia Wade
Cynthia Wade is an American television, commercial and film director, producer and cinematographer based in New York City. She has directed documentaries on social issues including '' Shelter Dogs'' in 2003 about animal welfare and ''Freeheld'' i ...
, won an Academy Award in 2008 for ''
Freeheld
''Freeheld'' is a 2015 American drama film directed by Peter Sollett and written by Ron Nyswaner. The film stars Julianne Moore, Elliot Page, Michael Shannon, Steve Carell, and Luke Grimes. It is based on the 2007 documentary short film of the ...
'', a short-subject documentary that the Foundation had helped fund. The foundation gave an early short film grant to
Chloé Zhao, who eight years later became the second woman in history to win the
Academy Award for Best Director
The Academy Award for Best Director (officially known as the Academy Award of Merit for Directing) is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given in honor of a film director who has exhibi ...
. As part of its annual awards, the
Women Film Critics Circle
The Women Film Critics Circle (WFCC) is a film critics
Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: journalistic criticism that appears regularly in ...
gives the Adrienne Shelly Award to the film that "most passionately opposes violence against women."
On February 16, 2007, the
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
crime drama series ''
Law & Order
''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment, launching the '' Law & Order'' franchise.
''Law & Order'' aired its entire run on NBC, premiering on ...
'' broadcast a season 17 episode titled,
"Melting Pot", which was a loose dramatization of Shelly's murder.
Shelly herself had guest starred on the show in the 2000 episode "
High & Low". The plot of "Melting Pot" contains an alteration of the events wherein the murder is committed by the employer of the undocumented construction worker in an attempt to protect his lucrative business.
Shelly's film ''
Waitress
Waiting staff (British English), waitstaff (North American English), waiters (male) / waitresses (female), or servers (North American English), are those who work at a restaurant, a diner, or a bar and sometimes in private homes, attending ...
'' was accepted into the
2007 Sundance Film Festival
The 2007 Sundance Film Festival ran from January 18 until January 28, 2007, in Park City, Utah with screenings in Salt Lake City, Utah and Ogden, Utah. It was the 23-rd iteration of the Sundance Film Festival. The opening night film was '' Chica ...
before her murder. The film, starring
Keri Russell
Keri Lynn Russell (born March 23, 1976) is an American actress. She portrayed the titular character on the drama series ''Felicity (TV series), Felicity'' (1998–2002), which won her a Golden Globe Award, and Elizabeth Jennings (The Americans), ...
,
Nathan Fillion
Nathan Fillion (; born March 27, 1971) is a Canadian-American actor. He played the leading roles of Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds on '' Firefly'' and its film continuation '' Serenity'', and Richard Castle on '' Castle''. , he was starring as J ...
,
Cheryl Hines
Cheryl Ruth Hines (born September 21, 1965) is an American actress and director, best known for playing the role of Larry David's wife, Cheryl, on HBO's ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'', for which she has been nominated for two Emmy Awards. She also s ...
,
Jeremy Sisto
Jeremy Merton Sisto (born October 6, 1974) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Billy Chenowith in HBO's '' Six Feet Under'', NYPD Detective Cyrus Lupo in NBC's '' Law & Order'', George Altman in the ABC sitcom ''Suburgatory'', fo ...
,
Andy Griffith
Andy Samuel Griffith (June 1, 1926 – July 3, 2012) was an American actor, comedian, television producer, southern gospel singer and writer whose career spanned seven decades in music and television. Known for his Southern drawl, his characte ...
, and Shelly herself, was bought during the festival by
Fox Searchlight Pictures
Searchlight Pictures, Inc. is an American film production company and a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is part of the Walt Disney Company. Founded in 1994 as Fox Searchlight Pictures, Inc. for 20th Century Fox (later 20th Century St ...
for an amount between $4 million and $5 million (news accounts on the actual amount vary), and the film realized a final box-office draw of more than $19 million. ''Waitress'' maintains a 90% "fresh" rating on
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
.
''Waitress'' and its cast have together won five film awards and received other nominations in various categories, including an Audience award for a feature film at the
Newport Beach Film Festival
The Newport Beach Film Festival (NBFF) is an annual film festival in Newport Beach, California, typically held in late April. In 2022, it was announced that the festival have permanently changed its date to be held in October, as the festival beg ...
, where cast member
Nathan Fillion
Nathan Fillion (; born March 27, 1971) is a Canadian-American actor. He played the leading roles of Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds on '' Firefly'' and its film continuation '' Serenity'', and Richard Castle on '' Castle''. , he was starring as J ...
received a Feature Film award for his role in the film; the Jury Prize at the
Sarasota Film Festival
The Sarasota Film Festival is a film festival located in Sarasota, Florida and is held in April. Its mission is "to celebrate the art of filmmaking and the contribution of filmmakers by hosting an international film festival and developing year-lo ...
for narrative feature; the Wyatt Award by the Southeastern Film Critics Association Awards; and nominations for a
Humanitas Prize
The Humanitas Prize is an award for film and television writing, and is given to writers whose work explores the human condition in a nuanced and meaningful way. It began in 1974 with Father Ellwood "Bud" Kieser—also the founder of Paulist P ...
and an
Independent Spirit Award
The Independent Spirit Awards (abbreviated Spirit Awards and originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards), founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic glas ...
for best screenplay.
Ostroy produced ''
Serious Moonlight'', a film written by Shelly and directed by Hines. The film stars
Meg Ryan
Meg Ryan (born Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra; November 19, 1961) is an American actress. She began her acting career in 1981 when she made her acting debut in the drama film ''Rich and Famous''. She later joined the cast of the CBS soap opera ...
,
Timothy Hutton
Timothy Tarquin Hutton (born August 16, 1960) is an American actor and film director. He is the youngest recipient of the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, which he won at age 20 for his performance as Conrad Jarrett in ''Ordinary People ...
,
Kristen Bell
Kristen Anne Bell (born July 18, 1980) is an American actress. Beginning her acting career by starring in stage productions while attending the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, she made her Broadway stage debut as Becky That ...
, and
Justin Long
Justin Jacob Long (born June 2, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, director and screenwriter. Long is known for his film roles, notably appearing in '' Jeepers Creepers'' (2001), ''Dodgeball'' (2004), ''Accepted'' (2006), ''Idiocracy'' (20 ...
. It premiered at the
Tribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by TriBeCa Productions, Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive progra ...
in April 2009 and was released later that year in December.
Ostroy spearheaded the establishment of a memorial to his wife. On August 3, 2009, the Adrienne Shelly Garden was dedicated on the Southeast side of
Abingdon Square Park
Abingdon Square Park is located in the New York City borough of Manhattan in Greenwich Village. The park is bordered by Eighth Avenue, Bank Street, Hudson Street and West 12th Street.
Abingdon Square Park is one of New York City's oldest pa ...
at 8th Avenue and West 12th Street. It faces 15 Abingdon Square, the building where Shelly died.
The musical ''
Waitress
Waiting staff (British English), waitstaff (North American English), waiters (male) / waitresses (female), or servers (North American English), are those who work at a restaurant, a diner, or a bar and sometimes in private homes, attending ...
'', based on the motion picture written by Shelly, opened on August 1, 2015, at the
American Repertory Theater
The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) is a professional not-for-profit theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1979 by Robert Brustein, the A.R.T. is known for its commitment to new American plays and music–theater explorations; to ne ...
at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
. It was directed by Diane Paulus and featured a book by Jessie Nelson and music and lyrics by
Sara Bareilles
Sara Beth Bareilles (, ; born December 7, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She has sold over three million albums and over 15 million singles in the United States. She has earned various awards and nominations including nin ...
. It starred
Jessie Mueller
Jessica Ruth Mueller (born February 20, 1983) is an American actress and singer. She started her acting career in Chicago and won two Joseph Jefferson Awards in 2008 and 2011 for her roles as Carrie Pipperidge in ''Carousel'' and Amalia Balash in ...
, winner of a Tony Award for her portrayal of
Carole King
Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who has been active since 1958, initially as one of the staff songwriters at 1650 Broadway and later as a solo artist. Regarded as one ...
in the musical ''Beautiful''. After a sold-out limited engagement, the show moved to Broadway, starting in previews March 25, 2016, and officially opening April 24, 2016. The production closed on January 5, 2020, after 33 previews and 1,544 performances.
Shelly's murder and police investigation is dramatized in season 4, episode 2 of the
Investigation Discovery
Investigation Discovery (stylized and branded on-air as ID since 2008) is an American multinational pay television network dedicated to true crime documentaries owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. As of February 2015, approximately 86 million Ameri ...
television series, ''
The Perfect Murder''. She is portrayed by actress Emily Stokes.
Ostroy directed a documentary about Shelly's life, titled ''Adrienne'' in which he meets and has a conversation with Diego Pillco in prison. It premiered on December 1, 2021, on
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
.
Filmography
References
External links
*
The Adrienne Shelly FoundationJones, Malcolm; "Murder Victim Was A Great Actress" ''
Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...
''; November 10, 2006.
Beyond Belief (TCM Movie Morlocks)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shelly, Adrienne
1966 births
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