Azizi Johari, The Shining and the Mystery of Hallorann’s Bedroom

A small mystery, among many, in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, the mother film of conspiracy theories.

When Dick Hallorann receives Danny’s psychic call from the Overlook, he is lying barefoot in his bedroom in warm Miami. Around him are two striking photographs of Black women with enormous Afros: one above his television, the other directly behind his bed.

One of them has been identified

The woman above the television is Azizi Johari, photographed in the early 1970s for an image later released as a poster entitled Supernatural Dream by The Old School Inc. around 1973. The poster eventually found its way onto Hallorann’s wall in The Shining.

Johari had an interesting connection to music too. As a teenager in Seattle, she formed a singing group called The Marvelles, before moving into theatre, acting and modelling. In June 1975, she became Playboy’s Playmate of the Month.

In 1976, she also appeared as Rachel in John Cassavetes’s The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, alongside Ben Gazzara.

That same year, she appeared on the cover of Leon Ware’s Musical Massage, released on Motown’s Gordy label, one of the great cult soul records of the decade.

She also appeared on the redesigned cover of funk group Sun’s 1976 debut album. The record had originally been released as Live On, Dream On with a generic sunburst sleeve, but after “Wanna Make Love (Come Flick My BIC)” became a hit, the album was renamed Wanna Make Love and given a new cover featuring Johari.

And then there is the other woman

The photograph hanging directly above Hallorann's bed shows another naked black woman with an afro, this time against a deep red background. The resemblance between the two images has led to speculation that she might also be Johari. One collector site attributes this photo to photographer Cheyco Leidmann, dated 1979, but I can't find a primary source.

Specialist research into the artwork seen throughout The Shining has also been unable to identify the woman or the photograph conclusively. More than forty-five years after the film was released, her identity remains unknown.

If you are reading this and you know, please get in touch.

Two photographs. One room. One identified woman and one small piece of Kubrick’s world that remains a mystery.

The Shining, Stanley Kubrick, 1980.

Sources and further reading

Research for this article drew on the following sources:

• Film and Furniture: “#FFFind: The picture of woman with afro in The Shining”
  Research into the two photographs in Hallorann’s apartment and the identification of Azizi Johari’s Supernatural Dream poster.
• Eye Scream: “Supernatural Dream – 1973”
  Detailed research into the artwork seen in The Shining, including the location of Johari’s poster and the still-unresolved identity of the woman above Hallorann’s bed.
• Playboy: Azizi Johari
  Biographical information on Johari, including The Marvelles and her appearance as Playmate of the Month in June 1975.
• Leon Ware, Musical Massage – album credits
  Original album credits listing Azizi Johari as cover model, Sam Emerson as photographer and Frank Mulvey as art director.
• Sun: Official History
  The band’s account of how Live On, Dream On was renamed Wanna Make Love and given a new cover featuring Azizi Johari.
• AFI Catalog: The Shining
  Production and art department credits for Stanley Kubrick’s film.
• Cheyco Leidmann — Artsy biography
• Cheyco Leidmann: 80s Foxy Lady — L'Oeil de la Photographie
• KEEP SHINING — Pulp International