Shue was born on October 6, 1963,[2] inWilmington, Delaware, the daughter of Anne Brewster (née Wells), and James William Shue,[3] 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 theChemical Bank.[4][5]
Shue grew up inSouth Orange, New Jersey. Her parents divorced when she was nine.[6][7] Shue's mother is a descendant ofPilgrim leaderWilliam Brewster, while her father's family emigrated from Germany toPennsylvania 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 theFox seriesMelrose Place. Shue graduated fromColumbia High School in 1981 inMaplewood, New Jersey, where Andrew and she were inducted into the school's hall of fame in 1994. Shue has two half-siblings from her father's remarriage, Jenna and Harvey Shue.[10][11]
After graduating from high school, Shue attendedWellesley College. She then transferred toHarvard University in 1985, from which she withdrew in her senior year to pursue her acting career, a few credits shy of earning her degree. Over a decade later, in 2000, Shue returned to Harvard and completed her bachelor of arts in government.[12][13]
During her studies at Columbia High School and after her parents' divorce, Shue began acting in television commercials, becoming a common sight in advertisements forBurger King, also featuring future starsSarah Michelle Gellar andLea Thompson (with whom Elisabeth would later co-star in both television and film),DeBeers diamonds, Chewels bubble gum, andBest Foods/Hellmann's mayonnaise.[14] She had small parts, credited as Lisa Shue, inThe Royal Romance of Charles and Diana (1982) andSomewhere, Tomorrow (1983), which provided an early starring role forSarah Jessica Parker.
Shue made her feature-film debut in 1984, when she co-starred oppositeRalph Macchio inThe Karate Kid asAli Mills, a high-school cheerleader and the love interest of Macchio's main character. Shue was a series regular as the teenaged daughter of a military family in the short-lived television seriesCall to Glory between 1984 and 1985, which she followed in 1986 starring alongsideTerence Stamp in the British horror filmLink. In 1987, Shue appeared in the television movieDouble Switch (part of theDisney Sunday Movie series), co-starring withGeorge Newbern, who went on to support her in her first star vehicle, the hugely popularAdventures in Babysitting, in the same year.
In 1988, Shue starred inCocktail as the love interest ofTom Cruise's lead character. The following year, she starred in the short film "Body Wars", which was used atEpcot in anATLAS Simulator attraction in theWonders of Life Pavilion until 2007. Other roles followed, including appearing asJennifer Parker inBack to the Future Part II (1989) andBack to the Future Part III (1990), where Shue replacedClaudia Wells, who declined to reprise the role fromBack to the Future due to her mother's illness. Around this time, her older brother, William, died in an accident on a family holiday.[15] 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 Shue featured prominently in Part II, appearing in bookend pieces in the third part of the trilogy.
Between 1992 and 1994, Shue appeared in a variety of supporting roles in both film and television. These included the comedyTwenty Bucks (reuniting withChristopher Lloyd fromBack to the Future), noir thrillerThe Underneath, a guest appearance inDream On, and the romantic comedyHeart and Souls (reuniting with Robert Downey, Jr.). She also returned to Broadway in 1993, performing in Tina Howe's production ofBirth and After Birth.[18]
In 1999, Shue starred as the titularMolly as anautistic young woman placed into the care of her unwilling bachelor brother, played byAaron Eckhart. Shue played a mother who reveals her dark past to her teenaged daughter in the 2001 ABC movieOprah Winfrey Presents: Amy and Isabelle. Shue 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".
In 2007, Shue and her brothers, Andrew and John, producedGracie. Her husband,Davis Guggenheim, also produced and directed. Shue 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 fromThe Trigger Effect,Dermot Mulroney, played the father of the main character. Andrew initially conceived of it as a story about their late brother William, who was the captain of the high school soccer team; he died in afreak accident while the family was on a vacation in 1988. The older brother character of Johnny was based on Will.[19][20] Shue also starred in the little-seenFirst Born (2007) with British actorSteven Mackintosh.
In 2008, Shue starred inHamlet 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 ofHBO'sCurb Your Enthusiasm as an actress competing withCheryl Hines's character for the part ofGeorge's ex-wife for theSeinfeld reunion. That same year, she starred alongsideThomas Haden Church inDon McKay.
In 2012, Shue returned to television in a series regular role when she joined the cast of season 12'sCSI: Crime Scene Investigation asJulie Finlay oppositeTed Danson, and replacingMarg Helgenberger. Finlay is the newest CSI, who just finished anger-management classes.[21] Shue continued in the role until the end of season 15, when 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, Shue 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 championChris Evert, three-time Grand Slam winnerLindsay Davenport, and two-time mixed doubles Slam champJustin Gimelstob, appeared in an episode as themselves. Shue also reunited withBack to the Future alumnaLea Thompson, who guest-starred in an episode of season 14.
In 2017, Shue provided a strong supporting role inBattle of the Sexes, oppositeSteve Carell andEmma Stone. She had originally signed on as a tennis adviser for the film, which recounts the 1973 showdown between female playerBillie Jean King and former men's champBobby Riggs.
In 2018, Shue co-starred inEli Roth's remake ofDeath Wish oppositeBruce Willis as his ill-fated wife. In the movie, she was also reunited withVincent D'Onofrio, who appeared inAdventures in Babysitting with her.
In 2019, Shue took leading roles, asMadelyn Stillwell in the American superhero drama television series,The Boys, withKarl Urban andJack Quaid, and theTNT television pilotConstance, playing a corrupt former beauty queen. In the latter, she was one of the executive producers along with Robert Downey, Jr. (with whom she previously co-starred inSoapdish andHeart and Souls) and his wifeSusan Downey, among others.Constance was not going forward to series, so whether the pilot will air as a television movie is unknown.[22]
Shue starred inGreyhound oppositeTom Hanks, released in 2020. That same year, she reprised herKarate Kid role as Ali Mills for a guest appearance in the sequel series,Cobra Kai, alongside her original co-starsRalph Macchio andWilliam Zabka.
Shue married film directorDavis Guggenheim in 1994;[23] they have three children together. Shue gave birth to their first child, a son named Miles, on November 11, 1997.[24] Their first daughter Stella followed on March 19, 2001.[25] Their second daughter, third and final child, Agnes Charles, was born on July 2, 2006.[26] In 2004, Shue and Guggenheim sold theirSunset Strip house for $1.3 million.[27]
.jpg)
.jpg)
