The descendent of a blue-blooded, Mayflower-imported East Coast family, Shue was born in Wilmington, Delaware, on October 6, 1963.

Having journeyed from fresh-scrubbed teen stardom to virtual nonentity and then into a full-bodied critical embrace with her portrayal of a hooker with a heart of gold, the blonde, blue-eyed and impossibly wholesome-looking Elisabeth Shue can truly be said to have had one of Hollywood's more unpredictable careers.

In 1984, she won a role on the TV series Call to Glory, and that same year, she made her film debut as Ralph Macchio's girlfriend in the blockbuster The Karate Kid. Starring roles in Adventures in Babysitting (1987) and Cocktail (1988) followed, but Shue quickly found herself being relegated to playing the disposable girlfriend in any number of films. Things went from bad to worse to just flat-out embarrassing, and by the time she was in her late 20s, the actress was in what could charitably be described as the career doldrums.

Fortunately, with her casting in Mike Figgis' 1995 Leaving Las Vegas, Shue's fortunes did a complete about-face. The actress earned a Best Actress Oscar nomination -- as well as a host of other honors -- for her portrayal, and almost overnight she found herself on Hollywood's A-list. However, Shue's newfound adulation did not guarantee that her subsequent films would be worthy of her talents, something that was demonstrated all too well with her next three films, The Underneath (1995), The Trigger Effect (1996), and Cousin Bette (1997), which were consecutive flops. The actress fared somewhat better in Woody Allen's Deconstructing Harry (1997), garnering a positive reception for her performance as one of Allen's unfortunate conquests.

Following another triple round of potential career disembowelment that assumed the form of The Saint (1997), Palmetto (1998), and Molly (1999), Shue re-emerged with The Hollow Man (2000), a thriller that cast the actress as a scientist who teams up with Kevin Bacon and Josh Brolin to fight an invisible killer.

Credits by Rebecca Flint, All Movie Guide

Filmography

• First Born (2007)
• Gracie (2007)
• Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story (2005)
• Hide and Seek (2005)
• Mysterious Skin (2004)
• Leo (2002)
• Tuck Everlasting (2002)
• Amy & Isabelle (2001)
• Hollow Man (2000)
• Molly (1999)
• Cousin Bette (1998)
• City of Angels (1998)
• Palmetto (1998)
• Deconstructing Harry (1997)
• The Saint (1997)
• The Trigger Effect (1996)
• Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
• Underneath (1995)
• Blind Justice (1994)
• Radio Inside (1994)
• Heart and Souls (1993)
• "Dream On" (1 episode, 1993)
• Twenty Bucks (1993)
• Hale the Hero (1992)
• Soapdish (1991)
• The Marrying Man (1991)
• Back to the Future Part III (1990)
• Back to the Future Part II (1989)
• Body Wars (1989)
• Cocktail (1988)
• Adventures in Babysitting (1987)
• Double Switch (1987)
• Link (1986)
• "Call to Glory" (3 episodes, 1984)
• Call to Glory (1984)
• The Karate Kid (1984)

Awards

• Independent Spirit Award Best Actress "Leaving Las Vegas" 1996
• Chicago Film Critics Award Best Actress "Leaving Las Vegas" 1995
• Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award Best Actress "Leaving Las Vegas" 1995
• National Society of Film Critics Award Best Actress "Leaving Las Vegas" 1995