Detroit native Lin Shaye studied art history at the University of Michigan before moving to New York to focus on acting. She started landing film and TV roles in the late '70s and early '80s with appearances in movies like The Long Riders, Alone in the Dark, and Brewster's Millions, and began earning a reputation as a memorable character actress. She would become a familiar face for her memorable roles as Mrs. Nuegeboren in 1994's Dumb and Dumber and Magda in 1998's There's Something About Mary, and would continue to take on quirky projects in the years that followed, like in 2006's Snakes on a Plane and 2010's Insidious.
Lin Shaye
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- Performed in productions of Bye Bye Birdie and On The Town while attending the University of Michigan.
- Studied acting with Lee Strasberg, Uta Hagen and Stella Adler.
- Appeared on stage in Tell Veronica! by Tony Jerris at the Hudson Mainstage Theater, Hollywood, California in 2002 and in a production of Jewtopia in Los Angeles, California in 2003.
- Won the Fright Meter Award and the Fangoria Chainsaw Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in the 2010 horror film Insidious.
- Was presented with the “Godmother of Horror” Award at the Wizard World Comic Con in 2015.