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Dr Phil slammed for exploiting actress Shelley Duvall's mental illness

Rob Moran
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Talk show psychologist Dr Phil has been slammed by viewers for "exploiting" former Hollywood actress Shelley Duvall's mental illness in an upcoming episode.

A short promo from an episode due to air in the US tomorrow shows the now 67-year-old actress - nearly unrecognisable from the distinctive presence that graced '70s and '80s classics including Annie Hall and, most famously, Stanley Kubrick's The Shining – telling the host, "I'm very sick and I need help."    

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Dr Phil's Shelley Duvall interview slammed

Talk show host Dr Phil has been excused of exploiting actress Shelley Duvall's mental illness in a upcoming episode of his show.

In the unsettling 30-second clip, she also tells Dr Phil that she's being threatened by "the sheriff of Nottingham" and that late actor Robin Williams, her co-star in Robert Altman's 1980 blockbuster Popeye, isn't dead.

"Where do you think he is?" asks Dr Phil.

Actress Shelley Duvall on Dr Phil.
Actress Shelley Duvall on Dr Phil. Photo: Dr Phil

"Shapeshifting," she replies.

Viewers online were quick to slam the episode as "exploitative" and "disgusting".

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"Shame on you, Dr Phil," wrote one commenter. "She is clearly ill and deserves real help and love away from the cameras!"

"Can someone who is not just trying to exploit a woman's illness for ratings check on Shelley Duvall?," asked another.

Dr Phil interviews JonBenet Ramsey's brother Burke earlier this year.
Dr Phil interviews JonBenet Ramsey's brother Burke earlier this year. Photo: Peteski Productions / CBS Television Distribution

Vivian Kubrick, the daughter of filmmaker Stanley, who's long been blamed by cinema-truthers for Duvall's mental decline due to the mythically harrowing shoot he put the actress through while filming The Shining (at the film's wrap, she allegedly handed the director clumps of her hair that had fallen out from the stressful experience), posted an open letter to Twitter condemning McGraw's "lurid entertainment" and called for a boycott of the episode.

Shelley Duvall in 1980's The Shining.
Shelley Duvall in 1980's The Shining. 

"You are putting Shelley Duvall 'on show' while she is suffering from a pitiable state of ill health," she wrote in the letter.

"It's appallingly cruel... I recoil in complete disgust. I hope others will join me in boycotting your utterly heartless form of entertainment, because it has nothing to do with compassionate healing."

Duvall, an immense talent who came to prominence in the '70s as part of director Robert Altman's regular troupe, renowned for her doe-eyed look and magnetically off-kilter performances, has kept out of the public eye for much of the past two decades.

Her last credited role was a bit part in Gabrielle Burton's little seen indie project Manna From Heaven, released in 2002.

Dr Phil, real name Phil McGraw, has had his share of similar scandals in the past, which have seen him labelled a "charlatan" and accused of using past credentials - he retired his licence to practice psychology in 2006 - to perform a "crass pantomime of psychology".

Most infamously, he drew criticism from mental health professionals in 2008 after he visited pop star Britney Spears in hospital following her nervous breakdown and attempted to stage an "intervention", despite protestations from her family.

Earlier this year, the TV host was named #4 on Forbes' list of highest-earning celebrities of 2016, just behind Taylor Swift, One Direction and author James Patterson, with earnings of $US88 million ($119 million) from his TV show, apps, and pharmaceutical promotions.  

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