Director was known for intimate dramas
Lynn Shelton, the acclaimed director of “Humpday,” “Sword of Trust” and numerous other films, died Friday at Keck Medical Center in Los Angeles. She was 54.
She suffered from a previously unidentified blood disorder, said a spokesperson, Adam Kersh.
Shelton was best known for her work as a writer and director of independent films, intimate seriocomic dramas focused on relationships and family, often with complicated women at their centre.
She worked in a shaggy, freewheeling style, encouraging actors to improvise and contribute, drawing freely from their own experiences to craft their characters and tell her stories.
Shelton subsidized her smallscale film efforts with copious work as a director-for-hire in television, overseeing episodes of “Fresh Off the Boat,” “Mad Men” and “Little Fires Everywhere,” among others.
Shelton is survived by her son, Milo Seal; her ex-husband, Kevin Seal; and her parents, Wendy and Alan Roedell and David “Mac” Shelton and Frauke Rynd.
She is also survived by her brothers, David Shelton and Robert Rynd, and sister, Tanya Rynd, as well as the comedian and podcaster Marc Maron, with whom she spent the last year of her life.
“She was a beautiful, kind, loving, charismatic artist,” Maron said in a statement. “Her spirit was pure joy. She made me happy. I made her happy. We were happy. I made her laugh all the time. We laughed a lot. We were starting a life together. I really can’t believe what is happening.
“This is a horrendous, sad loss.”