Shue was born in Wilmington, Delaware. Her mother, Anne Harms (née Wells), was a bank executive who was the vice president of the private division of the Chemical Banking Corporation. Her father, James Shue, is a lawyer and real estate developer who was the president of the International Food and Beverage Corporation and was active in Republican politics, having once unsuccessfully run for the Read more...

During her studies at Columbia and after her parents' divorce, she found a way to make extra money by acting in television commercials. Shue became a common sight in ads for Burger King, DeBeers diamonds, and Hellman's mayonnaise.

In 1984, she co-starred in The Karate Kid as the onscreen girlfriend of Ralph Macchio and had a role as the teenage daughter of a military family in the short-lived Read more...

Although often recognized for her girl next door image, Shue starred as a prostitute in the 1995 film Leaving Las Vegas with Nicolas Cage. The role earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. She was also nominated for a BAFTA, Golden Globe and SAG Award for Best Actress, and won the Best Actress awards at the Independent Spirit Awards, Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards and the Read more...