Jump to content

Elisabeth Shue

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 87.83.67.74 (talk) at 11:14, 24 June 2010 (→‎Early life). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Elisabeth Shue
Shue at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival
Born
Elisabeth Judson Shue
OccupationActress
Years active1984–present
SpouseDavis Guggenheim (1994-present)

Elisabeth Judson Shue (born October 6, 1963) is an American film actress.

Early life

Shue was born in Wilmington, Delaware. Her mother, Anne Harms (née Wells), was a bank executive who was the vice president of the private division of the Chemical Banking Corporation. Her father, James Shue, is a lawyer and real estate developer who was the president of the International Food and Beverage Corporation and was active in Republican politics, having once unsuccessfully run for the U.S. Senate in New Jersey.[1][2][3] Her younger brother, Andrew, is also an actor.

Shue grew up in Bergen and Essex counties in New Jersey. Her parents divorced while she was in the fourth grade. [4] Shue graduated from Columbia High School, in Maplewood, New Jersey, and attended Wellesley College and Harvard University, from which she withdrew to pursue her acting career. She returned to Harvard to finish her degree in Government in 2000.[5] Shue was awarded entrance into Columbia High School's Wall of Fame in 1994, along with her brother Andrew.[6]

Career

1980s

During her studies at Columbia and after her parents' divorce, she found a way to make extra money by acting in television commercials. Shue became a common sight in ads for Burger King, DeBeers diamonds, and Hellman's mayonnaise.

After having turned down the role of Deborah Gelly in Sergio Leone's final film, Once Upon a Time in America, her first movie role happened in 1984, when she co-starred in The Karate Kid as the onscreen girlfriend of Ralph Macchio and had a role as the teenage daughter of a military family in the short-lived series Call to Glory. She continued with Adventures in Babysitting (her first starring role), Cocktail as the love interest of Tom Cruise and the comedies Soapdish and The Marrying Man. She also appeared in Back to the Future Part II and Back to the Future Part III as Jennifer Parker, replacing original actress Claudia Wells, who declined to reprise the role from Back to the Future due to a family illness.

1990s–present

Elisabeth Shue, 2007.

Although often typecast as a girl next door,[7] Shue starred as a prostitute in the 1995 film Leaving Las Vegas with Nicolas Cage. The role earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. She was also nominated for a BAFTA, Golden Globe and SAG Award for Best Actress, and won Best Actress at the Independent Spirit Awards, Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards and the National Society of Film Critics Awards. Since then, she has starred in The Trigger Effect, The Saint, Woody Allen's Deconstructing Harry, Palmetto, and Hollow Man.

In 1999, Shue starred in Molly as an autistic young woman who undergoes an operation that allows her to become more "normal." She had strong supporting roles in Hide and Seek, opposite Robert De Niro, and Mysterious Skin. Shue reportedly was set to co-star with Jim Carrey in The Number 23 but became pregnant just weeks before filming and ended up losing the part to Virginia Madsen.[citation needed]

In 2007, Shue and her two brothers produced Gracie. She had a role in the film loosely based on her own experiences as the only girl on a boys' soccer team.

In 2008, Shue starred in Hamlet 2 as a fictionalized version of herself. In the film, she has quit acting to become a nurse and is the favorite actress of Dana Marschz (Steve Coogan).

In 2009, Shue appeared on the seventh season of HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm as an actress competing with Cheryl Hines's character for–and winning–the part of George's ex-wife for the Seinfeld reunion.

In 2010, Shue portrayed Sheriff Julie Forester in the natural horror flick Piranha 3-D.[8]

Personal life

Known to her friends and family as "Lisa", Shue is married to Davis Guggenheim, director of the HBO TV series Deadwood as well as the movies An Inconvenient Truth and Gracie.[9] Their son, Miles William, was born on November 11, 1997. She gave birth to her first daughter, Stella Street, on March 19, 2001. Her third child, Agnes Charles, was born on June 18, 2006. Her son's middle name is in honor of her second brother, William, who died in 1988 at the age of 26 in a swimming accident while on family vacation.[10]

Filmography

Year Film Role Notes
1984 The Karate Kid Ali Mills
1986 Link Jane Chase Nominated — Saturn Award for Best Actress
1987 Double Switch Kathy Shelton TV movie (ABC)
Adventures in Babysitting Chris Parker
1988 Cocktail Jordan Mooney
1989 Back to the Future Part II Jennifer Parker/McFly
1990 Back to the Future Part III Jennifer Parker
1991 Soapdish Lori Craven
The Marrying Man Adele Horner
1993 Twenty Bucks Emily Adams
Heart and Souls Anne
1994 Radio Inside Natalie
Blind Justice Caroline TV film
1995 Leaving Las Vegas Sera Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Female
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress
Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Nominated — Chlotrudis Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Underneath Susan Crenshaw
1996 The Trigger Effect Annie Kay
1997 The Saint Dr. Emma Russell
Deconstructing Harry Fay
1998 Cousin Bette Jenny Cadine
Palmetto Mrs. Donnelly/Rhea Malroux
1999 Molly Molly McKay
2000 Hollow Man Linda McKay
2001 Amy & Isabelle Isabelle Goodrow
2002 Tuck Everlasting Narrator voice only
2004 Mysterious Skin Mrs. McCormick
2005 Hide and Seek Elizabeth
Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story Lilly Crane
2007 First Born Laura
Gracie Lindsay Bowen
2008 Hamlet 2 Herself
2009 Waking Madison Dr. Elizabeth Barnes
Don McKay Sonny
2010 Piranha 3-D Sheriff Julie Forester

References