Celebrity Movie Blog

Who is Elisabeth Shue?

Elisabeth Shue was born in Wilmington, Delaware in 1963. She is an academy award nominated actress, Wellesley College and Harvard graduate (returning 15 years after starting her degree to complete it), and her brother Andrew Shue is well known as one of the lead characters in the Aaron Spelling 1990s hit night-time drama, Melrose Place. A fun fact is one will find brother Andrew as a background character in three of Elizabeth’s first 1980s leading roles in Karate Kid, Adventures in Babysitting (her first leading role) and her appearance as Tom Cruises love interest in Cocktail. These early roles gave Elisabeth the likeable image of a pretty blonde not far from her own wealthy, suburban upbringing. In an attempt to remove herself from this perfect mould, Shue took the type of role the Academy that hands out the Oscar nominations seems to love, especially for women. In the 1995 film Leaving Las Vegas, Nicolas Cage played the down and out alcoholic bent on destruction, Shue took the street hooker with the heart of gold part and won a nomination. Cage received both a nomination and the Oscar. The gamble paid off long term as well, for Shue has been involved in numerous projects since albeit with nowhere near the same degree of box office and critical acclaim she’s achieved in the past.