Adrienne Shelly

Adrienne Shelly (née Levine; June 24, 1966 – November 1, 2006) was an American actress, film director, and screenwriter. She gained recognition for her roles in independent films, particularly Hal Hartley's The Unbelievable Truth (1989) and Trust (1990). She later wrote, directed, and co-starred in Waitress (2007), which was released posthumously and later adapted into a Broadway musical.

On November 1, 2006, Shelly was found dead in her Manhattan office. Though initially ruled a suicide, her husband, Andy Ostroy, pushed for further investigation. This led to the arrest of Diego Pillco, a 19-year-old construction worker, who confessed to the murder. Pillco was sentenced to 25 years in prison without parole.

Following her death, Ostroy established the Adrienne Shelly Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting women filmmakers. The foundation provides scholarships, production grants, finishing funds, and living stipends in collaboration with institutions such as NYU, Columbia University, and the Sundance Institute. One notable grant recipient, Cynthia Wade, won an Academy Award in 2008 for her documentary Freeheld, which the foundation helped fund.

Shelly's legacy is also honored by the Women Film Critics Circle, which presents the annual Adrienne Shelly Award to the film that "most passionately opposes violence against women." In 2021, Ostroy directed the HBO documentary Adrienne, which examines Shelly's life, career, and the impact of her death.

Shelly was born Adrienne Levine in Queens, New York City to Jewish parents Sheldon Levine and Elaine (née Langbaum). She had two brothers and grew up on Long Island. She began performing when she was about 10 at Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Training Center. Shelly made her professional debut in a summer stock production of the musical Annie while a student at Jericho High School in Jericho, New York. She enrolled in Boston University, majoring in film production, but dropped out after her junior year and moved to Manhattan.

Shelly's breakthrough came when she was cast by independent filmmaker Hal Hartley as the lead in The Unbelievable Truth (1989) and Trust (1990). Trust was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, where Hartley's script tied for the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award. Shelly guest-starred in a number of television series including Law & Order, Oz, and Homicide: Life on the Street, and played major roles in over two dozen off-Broadway plays, often at Manhattan's Workhouse Theater. In 2005, she appeared in the film Factotum starring Matt Dillon.

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. 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. Her final work was writing, directing, co-set- and costume-designing, and acting in the film Waitress, starring Keri Russell and Nathan Fillion, which premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. Shelly's daughter, Sophie, has a cameo at the end of the film.

Shelly was also active in the theatre scene in New York. She wrote and directed plays for Naked Angels and Alice’s 4th floor, acted in off-Broadway shows, served as the creative director of the Missing Children Theater company for five years, taught acting at One on One Productions in Manhattan, and led a workshop at NYU in acting, directing, and writing.