Remembering Adrienne Shelly
Adriennne Shelly, the indpendent film actress, director and writer best known for her leading roles in the Hal Hartley films TRUST and the THE UNBELIEVABLE TRUTH, was found dead in her New York City office on Wednesday evening, her agent said. She was forty years old. Shelly is survived by her husband, Andy Ostroy and their three year old daughter Sophie.
Anthony Kaufman of Indiewire, who'd interviewed Shelly at several festivals, has a tribute to her on his blog. Several people have posted their remembrances of working with her--reading that, you get a sense of how well loved she was in the New York indie film scene
According to the New York Post, Shelly had recently learned that her feature film WAITRESS, which she'd written and directed, had been accepted by Sundance Film Festival. Earlier this year, she'd acted in FACTOTUM, directed by Matt Dillon.
She wrote, directed and starred in the movie SUDDEN MANHATTAN (1997). Her second feature film, I'LL TAKE YOU THERE, won her best director award at the 2000 U.S. Comedy Festival.
UPDATED Nov. 7th, morning
Police arrested a 19 year old construction worker in connection with Shelly's death, which her husband Andy Ostroy, had never believed was a suicide. According to police sources, Diego Pillco of Brooklyn, who was working in the West Village building where Shelly kept an office, gave statements implicating himself. saying that he killed her and then attempted to make her death look like a suicide. Despite earlier reports and speculation, the medical examiner's office had not, as of Nov. 6th, issued a report on the cause of death.
Updated Nov. 7th, Tuesday evening
A link to the New York Times evening edition which has a more detailed report on the arrest.