Adrienne Levine (June 24, 1966 – November 1, 2006), better known by the stage name Adrienne Shelly (sometimes credited as Adrienne Shelley), was an American actress, director and screenwriter. Making her name in independent films such as 1989's The Unbelievable Truth and 1990's Trust, Shelly later took up writing and directing and wrote, co-starred and directed the 2007 film Waitress, which won five awards and numerous film festival accolades.On November 1, 2006, Shelly was found dead in her Greenwich Village work studio. Although her death was initially thought a suicide, police later arrested a construction worker who confessed to murdering Shelly when she caught him robbing her apartment. 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 gives an annual Adrienne Shelly Award to the film that it finds "most passionately opposes violence against women."
Waitress, The Unbelievable Truth, Trust, Serious Moonlight, Factotum, Hexed, Sudden Manhattan, Big Girls Don't Cry... They Get Even, Sleep with Me, Roadflower, Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Teresa's Tattoo, I'll Take You There, Grind, Sleeping with Strangers, Wrestling with Alligators, The Atlantis C...
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Fact
1
The particulars of her murder are re-imagined and dramatized in an episode of Law & Order (1990) (1990-2010). The episode is Law & Order: Melting Pot (2007) (16 Feb 2007) Season #17, Episode #15.
2
Adrienne's killer pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Diego Pillco, an illegal immigrant, admitted strangling her after she caught him trying to rob her apartment. He also confessed to hanging her and stage it as a suicide. At the time he was helping to renovate an apartment in the same West Village building where she had an office. He said he panicked when Shelly discovered him stealing from her purse and threatened to call the police.
3
Wrote the script to Waitress (2007) while expecting her daughter, Sophie Ostroy, who also appears in the movie.
4
Her professional surname was the first name of her father, who died when she was only 12.
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Shelly's husband, Andy Ostroy, is the chairman and CEO of Belardi/Ostroy ALC LLC, a list-services firm.
6
Shelly's death was first considered a suicide. Days later, a 19-year-old Ecuadorian illegal immigrant and construction worker confessed to slaying the actress, whom he left hanging by a bedsheet from a shower rod in the bathroom of her Manhattan office/apartment. She was found by her husband.
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Best known for her association with independent filmmaker Hal Hartley.
8
Was working on the film Waitress (2007), starring Keri Russell, at the time of her death. Shelly was the film's writer and director.
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Of Russian Jewish descent, she made her professional debut in the stage production of "Annie" while a student at Jericho High School (New York).
10
In order to honor the memory of his wife, Andy Ostroy decided to create www.adrienneshellyfoundation.org, a nonprofit foundation that will benefit female filmmakers. Ostroy announced his intention to create this foundation 13 days after Shelly's murder.
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Used a Greenwich Village fourth-floor apartment as her office, located at 15 Abingdon Square, New York, New York, USA.
$700,000
