Early life

Shaye was born in Detroit, Michigan, the daughter of Dorothy (née Katz), a homemaker, and Max Mendle Shaye, a painter and supermarket owner. Her brother is film executive Robert Shaye. Her family is Jewish; her mother was born in Russia, and her paternal grandparents were from Romania. Shaye studied acting at the University of Michigan before she moved to New York to appear in Off Broadway productions. In 1977, she moved to Los Angeles to further pursue her acting career.

Career

In 1975, she made her film debut with a small role in Hester Street, followed by small roles in several movies and television shows. In 1978, she appeared in the Jack Nicholson-directed Western Goin' South. "I got a call saying, 'Mr Nicholson wants you in Mexico for two weeks for this small role called The Parasol Lady. It was so much fun." She has since appeared in a large number of character roles.

From 1980 to 1996, she has appeared in four films by director Walter Hill: The Long Riders, Brewster's Millions, Extreme Prejudice and Last Man Standing. While back In 1984, Shaye played a teacher in A Nightmare On Elm Street. The film was distributed by New Line Cinema, the company founded by the actress' older brother Robert Shaye. She has admitted the family connection helped her a little. "My brother said, 'Put my sister in your movie!'"

An In 1994, she had Her breakout comedy role of Mrs. Nuegeboren in the Farrelly Brothers' Dumb and Dumber. The film was released on December 16, 1994. Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, it was a commercial success and developed a cult following in the years since its release. The Farrellys then subsequently cast her as Woody Harrelson's gruesome landlady in Kingpin. Later, again giving her a role as Cameron Diaz's character's overtanned neighbor Magda in the 1998 hit There's Something About Mary. "The Farrellys said, 'We want her to look like an old leather bag,' " recalled Shaye. "It was four hours every time they put on the makeup." The film was a sleeper hit, and was the highest-grossing comedy of 1998 in North America as well as the fourth-highest-grossing film of the year. The film made $369 million worldwide. For her performance, Shaye was nominated for a Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Supporting Actress - Comedy. She followed this with 1999's Detroit Rock City as an uptight mother waging a personal war against the band Kiss.

In 2003, Shaye appeared alongside Cuba Gooding Jr. and Horatio Sanz in Boat Trip as Sonya, a horny tanning coach who begins stalking Sanz's character. That same year she co-starred with Ray Wise and Alexandra Holden in the cult horror film Dead End as Laura Harrington, and as Jenny Buono, the mother of 1970s Los Angeles serial killer Angelo Buono in The Hillside Strangler. For her role in Dead End Shaye received positive reviews and was nominated for a Fangoria Chainsaw Award for Best Supporting Actress.

In 2005, Shaye appeared in the film 2001 Maniacs as Granny Boone and again in the sequel 2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams. The next year she had a supporting role in the thriller Snakes on a Plane, playing Grace, the senior flight attendant who acts as the flight's purser. The film gained a considerable amount of attention before its release, forming large fanbases online and becoming an Internet phenomenon, due to the film's title, casting, and premise. Released in the United States and United Kingdom on August 18, 2006, the film received mixed to positive reviews with 68% of reviews positive and an average normalized score of 58%, according to the review aggregation websites Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic, respectively. In 2007, she appeared in the short films Sponsored By, Under The Gun, Midnight Snack, Time Upon a Once, Old Home Boyz, Backseat Driving Test, and The Yes Men which were directed by contestants on the reality show On the Lot.

In 2011, Shaye played medium Elise, a supporting role, in the horror film Insidious. "It scared the daylights out of me," said Shaye. "I read it in bed and, when I finished, I took it downstairs and locked it in the closet. I really was chilled to the bone by the story." The film was released on April 1, 2011, and received positive reviews. It went on an grossed a total $97,009,150 worldwide. It was the most profitable film of 2011. Shaye received positive reviews and was nominated for a Fangoria Chainsaw Award for Best Supporting Actress, a Fright Meter Award for Best Supporting Actress, and A Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress.

On November 19, 2012, it was officially announced that Shaye, Patrick Wilson, and Rose Byrne would reprise their roles from the first film. The film was released September 13, 2013. It received mixed reviews and was a box office success.

On March 11, 2014, It was announced that Shaye would be returning as Elise, this time as a major role, in the third installment of the Insidious franchise. Speaking of the role in the film, Shaye said "Elise has become this sort of bad ass in this installment, I can't even tell you how much fun that was for me. I'm not taking names!" Insidious: Chapter 3 received a mixed response from critics, while Shaye's performance was widely received by film critics an audience members. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes lists a 59% approval rating, with the site's critical consensus reading, "Insidious: Chapter 3 isn't as terrifying as the original, although it boasts surprising thematic depth and is enlivened by another fine performance from Lin Shaye." A writer from The Wrap opined that Shaye Shined in the film. The Oakland post online positively said "Shaye is able to give the film most of its heart. Many of the horror scenes rely on her to be either the calming voice or the badass heroine, and Shaye plays both of those roles perfectly." Also saying "Insidious: Chapter 3 could have been a disaster, but thanks to some genuinely scary moments and veteran acting from Lin Shaye, the film is able to be mostly enjoyable."

Personal life

Shaye has been married twice. Her first husband died in 1968. In 1988, she married actor Clayton Landey, with whom she appeared in 2002's Wish You Were Dead. The couple had one child before divorcing in 2003.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1975	Hester Street	Whore
1977	Sex and the Married Woman	Sandra	Television film
1978	Goin' South	Parasol Lady
1979	The Triangle Factory Fire Scandal	Freida	Television film
1979	The Seeding of Sarah Burns	2nd Nurse	Television film
1980	The Long Riders	Kate
1980	A Cry for Love	N/A	Television film
1982	Alone in the Dark	Receptionist at Haven
1982	Jekyll and Hyde... Together Again	Nurse with Telegram
1984	Summer Fantasy	Woman on beach	Television film
1984	A Nightmare on Elm Street	Teacher
1985	Brewster's Millions	Journalist at Rally
1986	Critters	Sally
1987	Extreme Prejudice	Employment Office Clerk
1987	Slam Dance	Librarian
1987	The Hidden	Carol Miller
1987	The Running Man	Propaganda Officer
1988	Critters 2: The Main Course	Sal
1988	Lucky Stiff	Bratty Kid's Mom
1990	Book of Love	Mrs. Flynn
1990	Pump Up the Volume	PTA Parent #3
1992	Roadside Prophets	Celeste
1993	Loaded Weapon 1	Witness
1993	The Temp	Rosemary
1993	Three of Hearts	Operator
1993	Amityville: A New Generation	Nurse Turner
1993	Even Cowgirls Get the Blues	Rubber Rose Maid
1994	Corrina, Corrina	Repeat Nanny
1994	Wes Craven's New Nightmare	Nurse
1994	Dumb & Dumber	Mrs. Neugeboren
1995	The Nature of the Beast	Carol Powell
1996	Kingpin	Landlady
1996	Last Man Standing	The Madame
1998	Living Out Loud	Lisa's Nurse
1998	There's Something About Mary	Magda	Nominated—Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Supporting Actress - Comedy
1999	Detroit Rock City	Mrs. Bruce
2001	Say It Isn't So	Nurse Bautista
2002	Wish You Were Dead	Jinny Macintosh
2002	Boat Trip	Coach Sonya
2003	Who's Your Daddy?	Ms. Harding
2003	National Lampoon's Barely Legal	Tequila
2003	Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd	Margie
2003	Dead End	Laura Harrington	Nominated—Fangoria Chainsaw Award for Best Supporting Actress
2003	Stuck on You	Makeup Babe
2004	The Hillside Strangler	Jenny Buono
2004	The Latin Lover	Emilia	Short film
2004	A Cinderella Story	Mrs. Wells
2004	Cellular	Exotic Car Driver
2005	Hate Crime	Kathleen Slansky
2005	Confessions of an Action Star	Samantha Jones
2005	2001 Maniacs	Granny Boon
2005	Drop Dead Sexy	Ma Muzzy
2006	Unbeatable Harold	Jeannie
2006	Bachelor Party Vegas	Cassandra
2006	Hood of Horror	Clara
2006	Snakes on a Plane	Grace
2006	Driftwood	Nancy Forrester
2006	Pledge This!	Miss Prin
2006	Hoboken Hollow	Mrs. Brodrick
2007	Homo Erectus	Museum Guide
2007	Kush	Susan
2008	Killer Pad	Marge
2008	Asylum	String's Mother
2009	My Sister's Keeper	Nurse Adele
2009	American Cowslip	Lou Anne
2010	Small Town Saturday Night	Phyllis
2010	2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams	Granny Boone
2010	Killer by Nature	Leona Whitmore
2011	Insidious	Elise Reiner	Fangoria Chainsaw Award for Best Supporting Actress Fright Meter Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress
2011	Sedona: The Motion Picture	Claire
2011	A Good Old Fashioned Orgy	Dody
2011	Chillerama	Nurse Maleva
2011	Take Me Home	Jill
2011	Rosewood Lane	Mrs. Hawthorne
2012	The Three Stooges	Nursery Nurse
2012	Jewtopia	Dr. Sutton
2013	Insidious: Chapter 2	Elise Reiner
2013	Crazy Kind of Love	Denise Mack	also known as Long Time Gone
2013	Big Ass Spider!	Mrs. Jefferson
2014	The Signal	Mirabelle
2014	Ouija	Paulina Zander
2015	Insidious: Chapter 3	Elise Reiner
2015	Tales of Halloween	Lynn's Mother
2015	Helen Keller vs. Nightwolves	Helen Keller
2016	Abattoir	Allie

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1977	Eight Is Enough	N/A	Episode: "The Return of Auntie V"
1985	The New Twilight Zone	Kate Simmons	Episode: "Chameleon"
1986	Cagney & Lacey	Secretary	Episode: "DWI"
1986	Falcon Crest	Smoking Female Prisoner	Episode: "Unholy Alliances"
1987	Who's the Boss?	Mrs. Padnick	Episode: "Mona"
1988	Highway to Heaven	Lila Barnes	Episode: "A Mother's Love"
1991	Life Goes On	Parent #2	Episode: "Life After Death"
1993	Sisters	Nightmare Host #2	Episode: "Sleepless in Winnetka"
1994	My So-Called Life	Parent #2	Episode: "Guns and Gossip"
1996	Frasier	Anne	Episode: "The Focus Group"
1997	Perversions of Science	The Nurse	Episode: "Dream of Doom"
1998	Becker	Mrs. Cooper	Episode: "Take These Pills and Shove 'Em"
2004	Crossing Jordan	Leather Lauren	Episode: "Is That Plutonium in Your Pocket, or Are You Just Happy to See Me?"
2006	My Name Is Earl	Paul's mom	Episode: "Number One"
2007	Dirty Sexy Money	Leslie Donovan	Episode: "The Game"
2009	ER	Margaret	Episode: "And in the End..."
2013	Private Practice	Mrs. Taylor	Episode: "Full Release"
2015	Things You Shouldn't Say Past Midnight	Mrs. Abramson	3 episodes

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
1999	Blockbuster Entertainment Awards	Favorite Supporting Actress - Comedy	There's Something About Mary	Nominated
2002	Method Fest Independent Film Festival	Best Supporting Actress	N/A	Won
2004	Peñíscola Comedy Film Festival	Best Actress	Dead End	Won
2005	Breckenridge Festival Of Film	Best Supporting Actress	Hate Crime	Won
2005	Fangoria Chainsaw Awards	Best Supporting Actress	Dead End	Nominated
2012	Cyber-Horror Awards	Best Supporting Actress	Insidious	Nominated
2012	Fangoria Chainsaw Awards	Best Supporting Actress	Insidious	Won
2012	Fright Meter Awards	Best Supporting Actress	Insidious	Won
2012	Saturn Awards	Best Supporting Actress	Insidious	Nominated
2014	Fright Meter Awards	Best Ensemble Cast	Insidious: Chapter 2	Nominated

[ Source: Wikipedia ]