Elisabeth Shue (born October 6, 1963) is an Academy Award-nominated American film actress.Trying to shed her girl-next-door image, Shue took a chance on a low-budget, high-risk project called Leaving Las Vegas. Her portrayal of a prostitute mixed up with a suicidal alcoholic played by Nicolas Cage earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. Since then, she has starred in The Trigger Effect, The Saint, Deconstructing Harry, Palmetto, and Hollow Man.
Shue was going to star across Jim Carrey in The Number 23 but she became pregnant just weeks before filming and she ended up losing the part to Virginia Madsen.
In 2006, Shue and her two brothers produced Gracie, a movie about a teenage girl with an interest in soccer, in part based on Elisabeth's own experience. It is in part filmed on location in areas where she grew up.
Shue has teamed up with Academy Award Winning director James Cameron in the upcoming movie She Works Hard for the Money, where Shue plays high powered business-woman Melinda Mucci working in a "man's world" during the 1980's in New York City, defying the odds and becoming CEO of one of the most successful advertising firms in the country.
Known among her friends and family as "Lisa," Shue is married to Davis Guggenheim, director of the HBO TV series Deadwood and An Inconvenient Truth. They have a son, Miles William (b. November 11, 1997), and two daughters, Stella Street (b. March 19, 2001) and Agnes Charles (b. June 18, 2006).
Her brother is actor Andrew Shue, of Melrose Place fame. Another brother, William, died in 1988 at the age of 26 from a freak swimming accident while on family vacation. Son Miles's second name is in homage to Will.
Shue is the daughter-in-law of Charles and Marion Guggenheim, and sister-in-law to Guggenheim children Jonathan and Grace.
