The daughter of classic movie director William Wyler has been found dead alongside her husband in their parked car.
Judith Sheldon, 84, and Wylie Sheldon, 86, were discovered in their Jeep on California’s Interstate 5 near Redding on 15 June, the same day an extreme heat warning was issued. Temperatures reached 109 degrees Fahrenheit (almost 43C).
The California Highway Patrol said in a statement that both parties were pronounced deceased at the scene. Authorities revealed that their car’s engine was running, and the fan was high, but the air conditioning wasn’t working. There was also no water in the car.
Judith and Wylie, who met at Stanford University, were on their way to meet their friend David Smith in Oregon to attend Ashland’s Shakespeare Festival. Smith told The New York Times: “They didn't crash. They stopped. They both just died there. The entire thing is so bizarre. We're still in a state of shock."
Whether the heat was the cause “may be determined” by an autopsy, with Tim Mapes, Shasta County Sheriff’s Office spokesman, stating: “We’ll just have to wait and see.”
Judith’s father, William Wyler, is the most nominated director in Oscar history, having won three Academy Awards for wartime drama Mrs Miniver (1942), romance The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) and religious epic Ben-Hur, and received a further nine nominations for films including Roman Holiday (1953), starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, and 1958 Western The Big Country.
Judith – one of Wyler’s five children from his marriage to Margaret Tallichet – had a small role in The Best Years of Our Lives and Roman Holiday, appearing alongside Peck in a scene set by Rome’s Trevi Fountain.
During Wyler’s career, he directed 14 actors to Oscar wins, including Bette Davis (Jezebel, 1938), Olivia de Havilland (The Heiress, 1949) and Barbra Streisand (Funny Girl, 1968). Wyler, one of the most versatile filmmakers in Hollywood history, died in 1981, aged 79.
Judith, who chaired the board of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, would often bring her father’s Oscar trophies to parties, where attendees could pose with them. Judith and Wylie, a former lawyer, are survived by their sons.
