Shining, The (1980)/Character list

Bertha Lynn
Bertha Lynn is a television news reporter based out of Denver, Colorado. The film representation of Bertha Lynn is a fictionalized version of the actual person. She appears in both the original 1980 film version of The Shining as well as in the 1997 television miniseries remake, Stephen King's The Shining. In both films she can be seen on a television talking about the dangerous winter snowfall cutting through the Rocky Mountains.

Bill Watson
Bill Watson was the regular caretaker of the Overlook Hotel during the 1970s. Like the rest of the staff, Watson took time off during the winter season when the hotel was closed down. During these months, the position of caretaker was taken up by Jack Torrance. Bill Watson was present in hotel manager Stuart Ullman's office when Ullman described Jack's job duties. He attended Ullman and Torrance as they walked through the lobby of the hotel towards the kitchen. Bill Watson was aware of the tragedy concerning a previous caretaker, Delbert Grady, who hacked up his wife and daughters with an axe and then shot himself in the head.

Danny Torrance
Danny Torrance was the six-year-old son of Jack and Wendy Torrance. He possessed strong psychokinetic talents, which manifested itself in the form of an imaginary friend named Tony. Danny met Dick Hallorann - the chef of the Overlook Hotel, who possessed a similar gift, which he calls "shining". During his stay at the Overlook, Danny's power enabled him to perceive the ghosts of a naked woman in room 237 and the Grady daughters. When Jack Torrance went insane and tried to kill his family, Danny and Wendy managed to escape.

Delbert Grady
Delbert Grady was the caretaker of the Overlook Hotel during the winter of 1970-1971. The isolation drove him mad and he butchered his wife and two young daughters with an axe before committing suicide by putting a shotgun in his mouth. He was succeeded as caretaker of the Overlook first by Bill Watson, and then by Jack Torrance. The ghost of Delbert Grady remained at the hotel. It encountered Jack Torrance in the men's washroom and encouraged him to "correct" his wife and child, in much the same way that he had "corrected" his own family.

Dick Hallorann
Dick Halloran was the head chef at the Overlook Hotel during the late 1970s. He possessed strong extrasensory perception, which he referred to as "shining". Dick Hallorann greeted the Torrance family in the winter after Jack Torrance accepted the position as the Overlook's new caretaker. Dick met Jack's son Danny, who also possessed the shining. Dick later received a psychic distress call from Danny after Jack went insane and tried to kill his family with an axe. Dick came back to the hotel to help out, but Jack ambushed him in the lobby and killed him by plunging the axe into his chest.

Dog man
The dog man is an unidentified guest from the Overlook's past. Danny Torrance sees the ghost of this man dressed in a dog costume performing fellatio on another guest in one of the hotel rooms at the Overlook.

Grady daughters
The Grady daughters are the siblings of former caretaker Delbert A. Grady. Though they dress similarly and look like one another, they are not twins, though they are often mistaken for twins. In the winter of 1970-1971, Delbert Grady went insane and butchered his daughters with an axe. Their ghosts remained behind at the Overlook Hotel. Danny Torrance saw them on the second floor of the hotel where they beckoned him to come play with them. Danny also saw a visual of the girls' bodies hacked to pieces and stuffed inside of an elevator.

Jack Torrance
Jack Torrance was an alcoholic teacher and writer. He was the husband of Wendy Torrance and the father of six-year-old Danny Torrance. After losing his job, Jack was able to gain employment as the new caretaker of the Overlook Hotel near Sidewinder, Colorado. He was to manage the upkeep of the hotel during the winter months when the place was closed down and the staff was away. Before handing over the keys, hotel manager Stuart Ullman warned Jack about the dangers of isolation and cabin fever, and even told him about a previous tragedy wherein a former caretaker, Delbert Grady, murdered his wife and daughters with an axe before taking his own life. Jack reassured him that "that is not going to happen to me". Almost immediately however, Jack began to succumb to the dark, malevolent forces inside the hotel. Like his son, Jack possessed some degree of extrasensory perception and was able to see the various ghosts that still inhabited the hotel, such as the mysterious seductress in Room 237, Lloyd the bartender and even Delbert Grady himself. Grady encouraged Jack to do away with his wife and son, warning him that they were bringing in outside help, which could endanger the hotel. Jack's mind quickly deteriorated into madness and he began stalking Wendy and Danny throughout the hotel with an axe. Wendy tried to ward him off with a baseball bat, and ultimately succeeded in knocking him out. She put him in a deep freezer, but Jack escaped and chased after her. She tried to lock herself inside of a bathroom, but Jack broke through, forcing Wendy to escape out the window. Jack followed his wife and child out into the snow. Catching sight of Danny, he pursued him into a topiary maze. Danny managed to get away, but Jack got lost in the maze. Eventually exhaustion and injury caused him to collapse and he froze to death.

Larry Durkin
Larry Durkin was a resident of Sidewinder, Colorado and the owner of a Conoco service station. Dick Hallorann met him while gassing up on a return trip to the Overlook Hotel and complained about having to come back because the new caretakers were "assholes".

Lloyd
Lloyd was once a bartender who worked in the lounge at the Overlook Hotel. Through unrevealed circumstances, Lloyd died and his ghost remained behind, cleaning glasses and serving drinks at the hotel. During the busy season, nobody was aware of Lloyd's presence, but the haunting power of the hotel allowed him to present himself to its new caretaker, Jack Torrance. Jack found Lloyd in the lounge after he had already begun to succumb to the affects of the malevolent forces governing the hotel. He had forgotten that the building was empty but for he and his family. A recovering alcoholic, Jack ordered up a bit of the "hair o' the dog that bit me", which Lloyd gladly accommodated.

Lorraine Massey
Lorraine Massey was a guest at the Overlook Hotel who stayed in Room 237. She was known for seducing young men, usually bellhops, into her room and having sex with them. She eventually committed suicide in the bathtub of her room by slitting her wrists. Danny Torrance saw the ghost of an aged and rotting Lorraine Massey creeping after him in Room 237. Jack Torrance later saw a younger, more attractive version of Massey in the same room and was seduced by her.

Stuart Ullman
Stuart Ullman was the manager of the Overlook Hotel in the late 1970s. He had hired Jack Torrance as the winter caretaker of the hotel, and charged him with the upkeep of the entire estate while the rest of the staff were away on holiday. Ullman warned Jack about the dangers of isolation and cabin fever, and even told him about a previous tragedy wherein a former caretaker, Delbert Grady, murdered his wife and daughters with an axe before taking his own life. Jack reassured him that "that is not going to happen to me".

Tony
Tony was Danny Torrance's imaginary friend. Danny described him as a little boy who lived inside of his mouth. Tony was Danny's child-like way of interpreting information he gained via his innate extrasensory perception. Danny communicated as Tony by using a raspy voice and by bending his index finger in time with his words. Through Tony, Danny was able to perceive the various ghosts that haunted the Overlook Hotel. It was in Tony's voice that Danny first invoked the phrase, "Redrum".

Wendy Torrance
Wendy Torrance was the wife of Jack Torrance. She was completely supportive of her husband and was forgiving of his past transgressions, such as when he broke Danny's arm in a drunken rage. She accompanied him to the Overlook Hotel, but became the target of Jack's rage after he was driven insane by the malevolent forces governing the building. She tried to ward him off with a baseball bat, and ultimately succeeded in knocking him out. She put him in a deep freezer, but Jack escaped and ran after her with an axe. She tried to lock herself inside a bathroom, but Jack broke through, forcing Wendy to escape out the window. Wendy and Danny managed to evade Jack by going through the topiary maze outside the hotel.