Lin Shaye Movies and Career Information

Linda "Lin" Shaye (born 1944) is an American film, theatre and television actress. Born in Detroit, Michigan, Shaye is the daughter of Dorothy (née Katz), a homemaker, and Max Mendle Shaye, a painter and supermarket owner. Her brother is film executive Robert Shaye. Shaye, who is Jewish, 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. 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. She has since appeared in a large number of character roles. Many were for her brother, Robert Shaye, co-founder and former co-CEO of New Line Cinema, such as her role as Mrs. Flynn in the 1990 film Book of Love, which Robert Shaye directed. Her breakout comedy role was the part of Mrs. Nuegeboren in the Farrelly Brothers' Dumb and Dumber (1994). Shaye also appeared in the Farrelly's 1996 comedy Kingpin, and then got a role as Cameron Diaz's overtanned neighbor Magda in their 1998 hit There's Something About Mary.