Adrienne Shelly
Adrienne Levine (June 24, 1966 – November 1, 2006), better known by the stage name Adrienne Shelly (sometimes credited as Adrienne Shelley), was an American actress, director and screenwriter. Making her name in independent films such as 1989's The Unbelievable Truth and 1990's Trust, Shelly later took up writing and directing and wrote, co-starred and directed the 2007 film Waitress, which won five awards and numerous film festival accolades. On November 1, 2006, Shelly was found dead in her Greenwich Village work studio. Although her death was initially thought a suicide, police later arrested a construction worker who confessed to murdering Shelly when she caught him robbing her apartment. Shelly's husband established the Adrienne Shelly Foundation, which awards scholarships, production grants, finishing funds and living stipends to artists. In her honor, the Women Film Critics Circle gives an annual Adrienne Shelly Award to the film that it finds "most passionately opposes violence against women."