Elisabeth Shue

Elisabeth Judson Shue (born October 6, 1963) is an American actress, best known for her starring roles in the films The Karate Kid (1984), Adventures in Babysitting (1987), Cocktail (1988), Back to the Future Part II (1989), Back to the Future Part III (1990), Soapdish (1991), Leaving Las Vegas (1995), The Saint (1997), Hollow Man (2000), and Piranha 3D (2010). She has won several acting awards and has been nominated for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and a BAFTA. She starred as Julie Finlay in the CBS procedural forensics crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation from 2012 to 2015.[1] More recently she had supporting roles in Battle of the Sexes (2017) and Death Wish (2018). She was also a series regular in the first season of the Amazon series The Boys (2019). Her latest film role was in the war film, Greyhound (2020)

Elisabeth Shue
Shue at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival
Born	Elisabeth Judson Shue (1963-10-06) October 6, 1963 Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.
Other names	Lisa Shue
Education	Wellesley College Harvard University (BA)
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1982–present
Spouse(s)	Davis Guggenheim ( m. 1994)
Children	3
Relatives	Andrew Shue (brother)

Early life

Shue was born in Wilmington, Delaware, the daughter of Anne Brewster (née Wells; b. 1938), and James William Shue (1936–2013),[2] a one-time congressional candidate, lawyer, and real estate developer, who was president of the International Food and Beverage Corporation. Her mother was a vice president in the private banking division of the Chemical Banking Corporation.[3][4][5] Shue grew up in South Orange, New Jersey. Her parents divorced when she was nine.[6][7] Shue's mother is a descendant of Pilgrim leader William Brewster, while her father's family emigrated from Germany to Pennsylvania in the early 19th century.[8][9] Shue was raised with her three brothers (William, Andrew and John) and was very close to them. Her younger brother, Andrew, is also an actor, best known for his role as Billy Campbell in the Fox series Melrose Place. Shue graduated from Columbia High School, in 1982 in Maplewood, New Jersey, where she and Andrew were inducted into the school's Hall of Fame in 1994. She has two half-siblings from her father's remarriage, Jenna and Harvey Shue.[10][11]

After graduating from high school, Shue attended Wellesley College. She then transferred to Harvard University in 1985, from which she withdrew to pursue her acting career (she was inspired by a friend to work in television commercials as a way to pay for college) one semester short of earning her degree. Over a decade later, she returned to Harvard and completed her B.A. in political science in 2000.[12]

Career

1980s and early 1990s

During her studies at Columbia High School and after her parents' divorce, Shue began acting in television commercials, becoming a common sight in advertisements for Burger King, also featuring future stars Sarah Michelle Gellar and Lea Thompson (whom Elisabeth would later co-star with in both television and film), DeBeers diamonds, and Best Foods/Hellmann's mayonnaise.[13] She had small parts, credited as Lisa Shue, in The Royal Romance of Charles and Diana (1982) and Somewhere, Tomorrow (1983) which provided an early starring role for Sarah Jessica Parker.

Shue made her feature film debut in 1984, when she co-starred opposite Ralph Macchio in The Karate Kid as Ali Mills, the love interest of Macchio's main character.

She was a series regular as the teenage daughter of a military family in the short-lived television series Call to Glory between 1984–1985, which she followed in 1986 starring alongside Terence Stamp in the British horror film Link. In 1987 Shue appeared in the television movie Double Switch (part of the Wonderful World of Color series) co-starring with George Newbern, who would go on to support her in her first star vehicle, the hugely popular Adventures in Babysitting in the same year.

In 1988 Shue starred in Cocktail as the love interest of Tom Cruise's lead character. The following year she starred in the short "Body Wars" which was used at Epcot in an ATLAS Simulator attraction in the Wonders Of Life Pavilion until 2007. Other roles followed, appearing as Jennifer Parker in Back to the Future Part II (1989) and Back to the Future Part III (1990), replacing Claudia Wells who declined to reprise the role from Back to the Future because of a family illness. It was around this time her older brother, William, died in an accident on a family holiday.[14] Although her career was on the rise with her playing lead roles, Shue elected to take on the smaller supporting role of Jennifer in these sequels to allow her to deal with her family loss. The sequels were filmed back to back, and she featured prominently in Part II, appearing in bookend pieces in the third part of the trilogy.

In May 1990, Shue made her Broadway debut in Some American Abroad at the Lincoln Center.[15] The following year she returned to cinema where she appeared in the comedies The Marrying Man with Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin, and Soapdish with Sally Field, Robert Downey Jr., Kevin Kline and Whoopi Goldberg.

Between 1992 and 1994 she appeared in a variety of supporting roles in both film and television. These included the comedy Twenty Bucks reuniting with Christopher Lloyd from Back to the Future, noir thriller The Underneath, a guest appearance in Dream On, and the romantic comedy Heart and Souls reuniting with Robert Downey Jr.. She also returned to Broadway in 1993, performing in Tina Howe's production of Birth and After Birth.[16]

1995–present

Although often cast as a girl-next-door type, in a career-defining role she 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.

Her career flourished after her Oscar nomination, landing her diverse roles. She starred in The Trigger Effect in 1996. Woody Allen's Deconstructing Harry (1996) showcased her comedic abilities amongst heavyweight co-stars Billy Crystal, Demi Moore, Robin Williams and Stanley Tucci. Shue also displayed some action movie skills in the 1997 spy remake The Saint opposite Val Kilmer. The thriller Palmetto (1998) afforded her the chance to play a film noir-ish femme fatale opposite Woody Harrelson; she co-starred in Cousin Bette (1998) with Jessica Lange, and Paul Verhoeven's Hollow Man (2000) with Kevin Bacon proved another summer blockbuster.

In 1999, Shue starred as the titular Molly as an autistic young woman placed into the care of her unwilling bachelor brother, played by Aaron Eckhart. She played a mother that reveals her dark past to her teenaged daughter in the 2001 ABC movie Oprah Winfrey Presents: Amy and Isabelle. She has since stated she was "extremely proud of that film, which no one ever saw, so it's a good lesson that you do work for yourself and not necessarily for the end result".

Shue starred in Leo (2002) with Joseph Fiennes and Dennis Hopper, Mysterious Skin (2004) opposite Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Hide and Seek (2005) opposite Robert De Niro and Dakota Fanning, and Dreamer (2005) again opposite Dakota Fanning and Kurt Russell.

In 2007, Shue and her two brothers, Andrew Shue and John Shue, produced Gracie. Her husband Davis Guggenheim also produced and directed. She played the mother of the main character who was loosely based on her own experiences as the only girl on a boys' soccer team. Andrew also appeared as the soccer coach, and her previous co-star from The Trigger Effect Dermot Mulroney played the father of the main character. Andrew Shue initially conceived of it as a story about their late brother William, the oldest Shue sibling, who was the captain of the high school soccer team; he died in a freak accident while the family was on a vacation in 1988. The older brother character of Johnny was based on Will.[17][18] She also starred in the little seen First Born (2007) with British actor Steven Mackintosh.

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 the part of George's ex-wife for the Seinfeld reunion. In 2009 she starred alongside Thomas Haden Church in Don McKay.

In 2010, Shue starred in Piranha 3D as Sheriff Julie Forester. In addition she played the former groupie mother of Abigail Breslin in Janie Jones and a psychologist in Waking Madison alongside Sarah Roemer and Imogen Poots.

In 2012, Shue appeared in three wide-release theatrical films: the thriller House at the End of the Street with Jennifer Lawrence; Curtis Hanson's Chasing Mavericks opposite Gerard Butler; and David Frankel's Hope Springs as Karen the bartender in a cameo scene with Meryl Streep.

The year 2012 also marked Shue's return to television in a series regular role when she joined the cast of Season 12's CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as Julie Finlay opposite Ted Danson, and replacing Marg Helgenberger. Finlay is the newest CSI, who just finished anger-management classes.[19] She continued in the role until the end of Season 15 where her character's fate was left hanging in the balance, later revealed in the two-part 2015 TV movie wrap-up finale of the entire series to have died (Shue did not appear). During her time on the series, being a massive tennis fan as well as regular tennis player, she jokingly suggested to the producers they have an episode centered around a murder at a tennis tournament. In Season 13 her wish was granted, and her friends and former pros-turned commentators, 18-time Grand Slam champion Chris Evert, three-time Grand Slam winner Lindsay Davenport and two-time mixed doubles Slam champ Justin Gimelstob appeared in an episode as themselves. She also re-united with Back to the Future alumna Lea Thompson, who guest starred in an episode of Season 14.

In 2014 she appeared as a cougar in Behaving Badly along with Selena Gomez, Nat Wolff and Heather Graham. In 2015 she guest-starred in an episode of the Patrick Stewart series Blunt Talk.

In 2017, she provided a strong supporting role in Battle of the Sexes, opposite Steve Carell and Emma Stone. She had originally signed on as a tennis adviser for the film which recounts the 1973 showdown between female player Billie Jean King and former men's champ Bobby Riggs.

In 2018 she co-starred in Eli Roth's remake of Death Wish opposite Bruce Willis as his ill-fated wife. In the movie, Shue was also re-united with Vincent D'Onofrio, who appeared in Adventures in Babysitting with her.

In 2019, Shue took a leading role in the American superhero drama television series, The Boys, with Karl Urban and Jack Quaid, and will be playing the lead role in the TNT television pilot Constance, playing a corrupt former beauty queen. In the latter she will also be one of the executive producers along with Robert Downey Jr. (whom she previously co-starred with in Soapdish and Heart and Souls) and his wife Susan Downey among others. Constance is not going forward to series so remains to be seen it the pilot will air as a television movie.[20]

She has already appeared in Greyhound opposite Tom Hanks, released in 2020.

Roles auditioned/considered for or dropped out of

She auditioned for the Ione Skye role in Say Anything... (1989), being a runner-up along with Jennifer Connelly.[21]

She was one of several Hollywood actresses considered for the role of Vivian Ward in Pretty Woman (1990), portrayed by Julia Roberts.[22]

She auditioned for the Sherilyn Fenn role in Of Mice and Men (1992).[23]

She was slated for the Adrienne Shelly role in Teresa's Tattoo (1994). (read in edition of Film Review magazine in 1994)

She was considered for the Anne Heche role in The Third Miracle (1999).[23]

She was originally cast in The Number 23 (2007) but was let go due to her third pregnancy and replaced by Virginia Madsen.[24]

She was tapped to reunite with Val Kilmer in The Hard Ride in 2007. The film was also to star Karl Urban whom she would later star alongside in The Boys (2019 TV series).[25]

She was offered the lead role in The Good Wife (2009-2016) with the role finally going to Julianna Margulies.[26]

She was slated as series regular for TV series Pitch (2016) but departed and was replaced by Ali Larter.[27]

She has expressed ambivalence appearing in Cobra Kai, reprising her role, Ali, from the original 1984 film The Karate Kid. The series serves as a continuation of the original films.[28][29][30]

Personal life

Shue married film director Davis Guggenheim in 1994.[31] The couple have three children, Miles William (1997), Stella Street (2001), and Agnes Charles (2006).[32][33][34]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1983	Somewhere, Tomorrow	Margie
1984	The Karate Kid	Ali Mills
1986	Link	Jane Chase
1987	Adventures in Babysitting	Chris Parker
1988	Cocktail	Jordan Mooney
1989	Body Wars	Dr. Cynthia Lair	Disney attraction
1989	Back to the Future Part II	Jennifer Parker
1990	Back to the Future Part III
1991	The Marrying Man	Adele Horner
1991	Soapdish	Lori Craven / "Angelique"
1993	Twenty Bucks	Emily Adams
1993	Heart and Souls	Anne
1994	Radio Inside	Natalie
1995	The Underneath	Susan Crenshaw
1995	Leaving Las Vegas	Sera	Nominated for Academy Award for Best Actress
1996	The Trigger Effect	Annie Kay
1997	The Saint	Dr. Emma Russell
1997	Deconstructing Harry	Fay
1998	Palmetto	Mrs. Donnelly / Rhea Malroux
1998	City of Angels	Pregnant woman	Uncredited Cameo
1998	Cousin Bette	Jenny Cadine
1999	Molly	Molly McKay
2000	Hollow Man	Linda McKay
2002	Leo	Mary Bloom
2002	Tuck Everlasting	Narrator
2004	Mysterious Skin	Mrs. McCormick
2005	Hide and Seek	Elizabeth Young
2005	Dreamer	Lilly Crane
2007	Gracie	Lindsay Bowen
2007	First Born	Laura
2008	Hamlet 2	Herself
2009	Don McKay	Sonny
2010	Piranha 3D	Julie Forester
2010	Janie Jones	Mary Ann Jones
2010	Waking Madison	Dr. Elizabeth Barnes
2012	Hope Springs	Karen, The Bartender
2012	House at the End of the Street	Sarah Cassidy
2012	Chasing Mavericks	Kristy Moriarity
2014	Behaving Badly	Pamela Bender
2017	Battle of the Sexes	Priscilla Wheelan
2018	Death Wish	Lucy Kersey
2020	Greyhound	Eva Krause

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1982	The Royal Romance of Charles and Diana	Lynn Osborne	Television film
1984–1985	Call to Glory	Jackie Sarnac	Main role (23 episodes)
1987	Wonderful World of Color	Kathy Shelton	Episode: "Double Switch"
1992	The General Motors Playwrights Theater	Alice Adams	Episode: "Hale the Hero"
1993	Dream On	Maura Barish	Episode: "Oral Sex, Lies and Videotape"
1994	Blind Justice	Caroline	Television film
2001	Amy & Isabelle	Isabelle Goodrow	Movie
2009	Curb Your Enthusiasm	Virginia	Episodes: "Officer Krupke", "Seinfeld"
2012	American Dad!	Detective Lacey Sole	Episode: "Less Money, Mo' Problems"
2012–2015	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Julie Finlay	Main role (71 episodes)
2015	Blunt Talk	Suzanne Mayview	Episode: "The Queen of Hearts"
2019	The Boys	Madelyn Stillwell	Main role (8 episodes)
2019	Constance	Constance Young	Pilot

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Nominated work	Result
1984	Young Artist Awards	Best Young Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture, Musical, Comedy, Adventure or Drama	The Karate Kid	Won
1986	Saturn Awards	Best Actress	Link	Nominated
1995	Awards Circuit Community Awards	Best Actress	Leaving Las Vegas	Won
	Independent Spirit Awards	Best Female Lead		Won
	Los Angeles Film Critics Association	Best Actress		Won
	National Society of Film Critics	Best Actress		Won
	Academy Awards	Best Actress		Nominated
	BAFTA Awards	Best Actress in a Leading Role		Nominated
	Golden Globe Awards	Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama		Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role		Nominated

References

1. "Check out the cast for the CSI goodbye special - EW.com". Entertainment Weekly's EW.com.
2. Obituary for James Shue Archived 2015-02-21 at the Wayback Machine retrieved 2/20/2015
3. Elisabeth Shue Biography (1963-), Film Reference
4. "Weddings;Jody Buonanno, John M. Shue". The New York Times. June 4, 1995.
5. "Son to Mrs... W. Shue - Birth Notice". New York Times. September 12, 1961. Retrieved July 26, 2012.
6. Bandler, Michael J. "The Will to Win; Elisabeth Shue and her brother Andrew had a dream to honor their brother's memory with a film about family and soccer. They didn't trust Hollywood to get it right, so they financed and filmed it here at home.", New Jersey Monthly, December 20, 2007. Accessed December 23, 2013.
7. Actress in `Babysitting' takes charge of her life, Author: Bob Strauss, Date: July 12, 1987 Publication: Chicago Sun-Times
8. Carr, Jay (May 26, 1991). "Elisabeth Shue commutes from academe to Tinseltown". Boston Globe. Retrieved July 26, 2010.
9. Rader, Dotson (November 23, 1997). "Let Yourself Feel It All". Lakeland Ledger. Retrieved July 26, 2010.
10. "Elisabeth Shue Biography - Yahoo! Movies". Movies.yahoo.com. Archived from the original on December 16, 2013. Retrieved February 13, 2013.
11. "Columbia High School - Library Information Technology Center". Archived from the original on October 12, 2007.
12. Soman, Chainani (February 2, 2000). "Shue Returns To Complete Degree". Harvard Crimson. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
13. "Elisabeth Shue - You can enjoy the screams and the gore and the fun". The Independent. August 13, 2010. Retrieved January 28, 2011.
14. Piccalo, Gina (May 27, 2007). "Whose life is it anyway?". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 2, 2018.
15. "Internet Broadway Database". The Broadway League. Retrieved August 3, 2012.
16. Surette, Tim. "Elisabeth Shue". TV.com. Retrieved February 13, 2013.
17. Bonelli, Winnie (June 13, 2007). "Elisabeth Shue Revisits Her Past". The Independent. Archived from the original on September 25, 2015. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
18. Stoynoff, Natasha (June 11, 2007). "Catching Up with ... Elisabeth & Andrew Shue". People. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
19. Andreeva, Nellie (November 18, 2011). "'CSI's New Leading Lady: Elisabeth Shue To Replace Marg Helgenberger On CBS Series". Deadline.com. Retrieved July 26, 2012.
20. Andreeva, Nellie (May 6, 2019). "Pilots 'Beast Mode' & 'Constance' Not Going Forward At TNT".
21. Lyttelton, Oliver (April 13, 2012). "5 Things You Might Not Know About 'Say Anything'".
22. "25 Things You Didn't Know About 'Pretty Woman'". Zimbio.
23. "Elisabeth Shue". Crawley's Casting Calls. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
24. "Madsen Is The Magic Number". Empire. January 18, 2006.
25. "Kilmer, Urban, Shue and Wilson Drive 'The Hard Ride'". ComingSoon.net. October 30, 2007.
26. "10 Famous TV Shows And The Actors Originally Cast In The Lead Roles". January 5, 2017.
27. Andreeva, Nellie (March 11, 2016). "Ali Larter To Co-Star In Fox Drama Pilot 'Pitch' After Recasting".
28. "EXCLUSIVE: Will Elisabeth Shue Join 'Cobra Kai' Season 3? "I'm Thinking About It"". Decider. April 30, 2019. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
29. "Elisabeth Shue's skeptical about reprising 'Karate Kid' role on 'Cobra Kai', but psyched 'Endgame' mentions 'Back to the Future'". KWBE. May 8, 2019. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
30. "Elisabeth Shue Teases 'Cobra Kai' Return". Entertainment Tonight Canada. May 10, 2019. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
31. "Elisabeth Shue". womencelebs.com. Archived from the original on May 12, 2008.
32. "Davis Guggenheim". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved July 2, 2017.
33. "Elizabeth Shue". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved July 2, 2017.
34. "Breaking Celeb News, Entertainment News, and Celebrity Gossip". E! News. Archived from the original on December 19, 2007.

External links

• Elisabeth Shue on IMDb
• Elisabeth Shue at the Internet Broadway Database
• Elisabeth Shue at the TCM Movie Database