The Shining Cast – Then And Now

In 1980, film director Stanley Kubrick released the movie adaptation of Stephen King’s horror novel ‘The Shining’. The Shining follows the story of Jack Torrance and his family as they move into the isolated Overlook Hotel. Jack has taken a job as caretaker at the hotel for the winter months.

While at the hotel his son discovers he has psychic powers, then Jack begins to fall into a murderous depression. All while isolated from the rest of the world at the top of a mountain. Almost four decades since the movie was first released, we take a look at what the The Shining cast are up to now.

Then: Stanley Kubrick’s first choice for the role, Jack Nicholson was already an established actor with an Oscar for his performance in ‘One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest’.

Now: Nicholson went on to win another Best Actor Oscar for his role in ‘As Good As It Gets’. Also starring in many other popular movies including Batman, The Departed, Anger Management, and Mars Attacks!

Jack hasn’t made a movie since 2010 and rumours were going around that he had retired. However, Jack has stated he is not retired, he’s just ”not driven” to make movies like he once was.

Then: In the book, Wendy was described as a blonde, privileged type of woman. However, Kubrick had made some changes to the story for the movie and decided he wanted someone that came across more emotionally fragile. He cast Shelley Duvall against the wishes of Stephen King. Shelley had already been in the industry ten years at this point playing some supporting roles in both TV and movies.

Now: After ‘The Shining’, Shelley went on to appear in movies such as ‘Time Bandits’ and ‘Home Fries’. Also hosting the Showtime series ‘Faerie Tale Theatre’. However the last movie she appeared in was way back in 2002. She now lives in Blanco, Texas where according to an interview she did in 2010, she takes care of several animals and writes a lot of poetry.

Then: At the tender age of six Danny Lloyd was cast in the role of Danny Torrance. Stanley was very protective of Danny, who didn’t know he was starring in a horror movie. He was instead told he was starring in a drama.

To keep him from much of the violence and blood Stanley would often shield him from seeing things in certain scenes.

Now: Lloyd only went on to appear in one more film, a TV movie released in 1982 called ‘Will: The Autobiography of G. Gordon Liddy’. He revealed in an interview with the New York Daily News that he wanted to carry on acting but kept missing out on parts.

Currently Danny Lloyd works as a community college professor in Elizabethtown, Kentucky.

Then: Lisa and Louise Burns were just ten years old when they got their role in ‘The Shining’. The twins starred in one of the most iconic scenes in the entire movie. Before landing this role the British twins only had one minor acting credit each.

Now: Neither sister worked in the movie industry again after The Shining, both went on to excel in academic careers. Lisa went on to become a lawyer while Louise is a published scientist.

Then: Barry Dennen had appeared in a number of TV series before being cast as Bill Watson, the summer caretaker of the Overlook Hotel.

Now: Since his part in The Shining, Barry went on to have many small roles in TV and movies. He even had a small part in the movie ‘Titanic’ as a man praying. These days he does a lot of voice acting for animated series and video games. Working on Fallout: New Vegas, Metal Gear Solid 2 and dozens of other games.

Then: Joe Turkel had appeared in TV and movies for 30 years by the time he got cast in ‘The Shining’ as Lloyd the bartender.  He had previously worked with Kubrick on ‘Paths of Glory’ and ‘The Killing’.

Now: After the shining Joe went on to feature in films such as Blade Runner and TV shows such as Boy Meets World. Boy Meets World was, in fact, his last acting credit in 1998. Now well into his 80’s you can find interviews with Joe on YouTube discussing his part in the movie.

The Shining Cast – The Spooky Hotel

While it may not be human, the Overlook Hotel had arguably the biggest role in the entire movie.

Although the film was shot almost entirely in a studio at Elstree Studios, England, the exterior of the ‘Overlook Hotel’ is that of the Timberline Lodge, located in Clackamas County, Oregon.

The Overlook Hotel, this is a shot taken from the movie.

And how the Timberline Lodge hotel looks today.

Then: The Timberline Lodge hotel was constructed between 1936 and 1938, it was dedicated to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In the decades before The Shining, it was used numerous times as a filming location. Appearing in Bend of the River (1952), All The Young Men (1960) and Lost Horizon (1973).

Now: The hotel is still going strong today, popular with snowboard and ski enthusiasts throughout the winter months. It also happens to have great reviews across the usual hotel review sites. The hotel has also appeared on film again, appearing in Hear No Evil (1993) and most recently in Wild, starring Reese Witherspoon (2014).

However, it hasn’t all been great news for the hotel, in 1981, just a year after The Shining was released, director Boris Sagal (father of Katey Sagal, Married with Children (1986), Sons of Anarchy (2008)) was killed there in an accident.

During the production of the miniseries ‘World War III’, he was partially decapitated when he walked into the tail rotor blades of a helicopter in the parking lot.

An investigation into his death revealed he turned the wrong way after getting out of the helicopter and walked into the tail rotor; he died five hours later in hospital.