I watched The Shining for the umpteenth time last night and wondered whatever happened to young Danny. For those who may not know, here ‘tis.
Danny Lloyd was five years old when he became a major child star in the 1980 horror flick The Shining.
He was only four when his railroad worker father heard an announcement on local radio for auditions. Director Stanley Kubrick also placed ads in newspapers, including Danny’s home state of Illinois: ‘Boy wanted for film, 5-7 years old. No previous acting experience necessary.’
Danny auditioned for the role, and a few days later Kubrick’s personal assistant called the Lloyd house. It was Danny’s fifth birthday.
The whole family — father, mother and older brother Mike — were all relocated to London for what they were told would be a 17-week shoot.
Kubrick did most of the filming on sound-stages at Elstree Studios in England, with a second-unit crew filming shots in Glacier National Park, Montana.
With perfectionist Kubrick in charge, the 17-week shoot ran way over schedule to almost a year as Kubrick kept shooting take after take. He made Shelley Duvall redo one scene, where her character Wendy swings a baseball bat at Jack, a record-breaking 127 times.
Kubrick reportedly worked well with Jack, but was was ‘notoriously brutal’ on Shelley.
“Stanley pushed and prodded me further than I’ve ever been pushed before. Going through day after day of excruciating work was almost unbearable,” she said.
ANGRY EXCHANGE BETWEEN KUBRICK AND SHELLEY—
But little Danny Lloyd had fun on the set, playing ball with the crew and even Kubrick himself. But early fame would be short lived.
After playing a young G. Gordon Liddy in the 1982 TV movie Will: G. Gordon Liddy, and a couple of unsuccessful auditions for other roles, Danny quit acting at 10, went back to school and onto teachers college.
Now 50, he is an associate professor at the department of biology at Elizabethtown Community and Technical College in Kentucky.
After being away from acting for 36 years, he briefly ventured back into movies in a cameo role in 2019 as a spectator at a baseball game in The Shining sequel Doctor Sleep.
But THIS is the role—
That movie scared the liver out of me. The scene when the elevator opens and blood rushes out is enough to traumatize any youngster, much less an adult. One of the best horror films ever made. Good to know it didn’t mess the young man up.
✔️