the unbelievable truth Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Just a few days ago, we reported on the tragic death of indie actress Adrienne Shelly, best known for her roles in Hal Hartley's films The Unbelievable Truth and Trust. Shelly was found hanging from a shower curtain rod in the bathroom of her New York City office, and initial reports indicated police suspected it was a suicide. Now WCBS-TV in New York City reports that police are calling Shelly's death a murder, and that they have a suspect in custody. We heard from a tipper earlier this morning that police had found sneaker prints not matching Shelly's in the bathtub, and that they were investigating angles other that suicide. No suicide note was found, and Shelly had just wrapped directing the film Waitress, which she had reportedly submitted to the Sundance Film Festival.

According to WCBS sources, police have in custody a construction worker who allegedly punched the 5'2" actress after she complained about the noise he was making, killing her. He then allegedly dragged Shelly's body back to her office and hung it from the shower rod in an attempt to make it look like a suicide. Shelly, who has a three-year-old daughter, Sophie, was found by her husband, Andy Ostoy. The medical examiner's office has yet to officiallly rule on the cause of death. We'll keep you posted.

[Thanks to Hot Tipper "NS", who pointed us to the WCBS story in the comments of our previous story about Shelly.]

It is going to be tough for awhile, looking up at the Trust poster on my wall. For as big a fan of Hal Hartley's films as I am, I was taken aback by the news this morning that actress Adrienne Shelley, who starred in Hartley's films The Unbelievable Truth and, of course, Trust, was found dead in her office on Wednesday evening. The cause of death is still unknown, even after an autopsy was performed Thursday, though police are awaiting more results from that autopsy.

I always thought of Shelly as an important part of the New York independent film scene, not just for her Hartley roles, which were her first, but also because she never really broke into Hollywood despite all the buzz she received in the early '90s. She called New York home and even titled her first directorial feature Sudden Manhattan. Her second film, I'll Take You There won her a best director award at the U.S. Comedy Festival, and her third, Waitress, which stars Keri Russell and Nathan Fillion, just recently finished shooting. As far as acting, she'd recently appeared in Factotum, but she was more interested in focusing on writing and directing, and taking care of her 3-year-old daughter. It is unfortunate that we'll never get to see how successful her filmmaking career could have been.

Shelly was waiting to hear whether or not Waitress would screen at Sundance in January when she died. I'd like to suggest that the festival not only give the film a slot, but also give her a special tribute of some kind as well.

UPDATE: Shelly was reportedly murdered.