The husband of actress Adrienne Shelly, best known for writing the movie Waitress, has made a documentary to preserve his late wife’s memory.
Adrienne wrote, directed, and starred the movie. It was made into a Broadway musical featuring Katharine MacPhee. This story is about a young woman who finds herself in an abusive relationship in small-town America.
Adrienne, 40 years old, was killed by Diego Pillco (then 19, a construction worker) in New York just months prior to the film’s release. Her body was staged to look like she had committed suicide by Pillco.
Andy Ostry of New York is now releasing a documentary that Adrienne has made about her life, and her passing, in order to honor her memory.
Adrienne Shelly is pictured. She wrote, directed and star in Waitress. Later, the movie was made into a Broadway musical featuring Katharine MacPhee. This story follows a young woman caught in an abusive marriage. Her murder took place in 2006.
Andy Ostry, the husband of the actress, is 62 and lives in New York. A documentary was recently made about Adrienne. The film, which was released last week in America, will also air in the UK.
After watching Waitress perform onstage, he was inspired by the idea and realized how few people know his wife’s story.
Speaking to Jezebel, he said: ‘That got me thinking, as I looked around the theatre at well over a thousand people, how many of these people know who Adrienne is and the story of her life and her death.’
This movie, which was originally released in America last week, will soon air in the UK.
Adrienne was raised in Queens and studied film production at Boston University. After graduating, Adrienne moved to Manhattan to become a screenwriter, director and writer.
She was given a breakthrough role in 1989 independent film The Unbelievable Truth, and appeared in 1990’s Trust, which was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.
A musical called Waitress with Sara Bareilles’ music and lyrics was created. It debuted on Broadway on 2016 and West End on 2019. Pictured Katharine McPhee as Jennifer in London, 2019
Shelly created Waitress while pregnant with Sophie. Kerri Russell was the star of Waitress, playing Jenna Hunterson. She is a waitress in America’s South who finds herself in a abusive marriage. Shelly (left) and Russell with Cheryl Hines, co-star
Shelly also guest-starred in a number of television series including Law & Order, Oz and Homicide: Life on the Street, and counted Paul Rudd among her friends.
Shelly was pregnant with Sophie in 2003 and wrote Waitress.
It starred Kerri Russell star as Jenna Hunterson, a waitress living in the American South trapped in a marriage with an abusive husband.
Desperate to leave her husband after discovering she’s pregnant, Jenna enters a pie contest offering a $25,000 grand prize with the help of co-workers, Becky (Cheryl Hines) and Dawn (Shelley). It premiered in Sundance Film Festival, January 2007.
Adrienne had complained to Pillco about his noise in her apartment, and he strangled her just weeks prior.
Ostry tried to portray Adrienne hanging herself. However, Ostry rejected the theory and stated that his wife had a happy personal life, and that she would not have lost their daughter of two years.
Adrienne, age 40, was found hanged in her West Village apartment’s shower on November 1, 2006. Pictured in New York, in 1996.
The police were suspicious when Pillco’s shoes were found in Shelly’s bathroom. She was also discovered hanging from the shower.
Pillco eventually admitted to having done so Adrienne was convicted of murdering her and sentenced to 25 year imprisonment in 2008.
Ostry is now ready to share her personal story with a wider audience.
He suggested reviewing The process of preserving the historical footage from the past was painful but cathartic. It was painfully obvious.
Paul Rudd gives a speech at one point during the documentary in which he states that actresses’ work keeps her memory alive, even though not everyone who has seen the movie knows her name.
Kerri Russell stars as Jenna Hunterson in Waitress. The movie is a remake of the original film. It was premiered at Sundance Film Festival 2007. Shelley and her co-stars are pictured together on the set.
Andy claims Rudd’s comments have ‘changed his perspective on some things very deeply.
‘When I sort of separate my own personal attachment to the story and just look at things holistically, it’s like, that musical was a success for four years. I mean, wow, that’s incredible. That was her creation. Without her, that Broadway marquee doesn’t exist’, he said.
Rudd is part of the The Adrienne Shelly Foundation, which supports women filmmakers, created by Andy in the wake of his wife’s murder.
Since its founding, the foundation has awarded 60 production grants. Cynthia Wade won the Academy Award in recognition of her film Freeheld which ASF supported.
Adrienne can be viewed on HBO beginning 1 December, and the UK later.