Lin Shaye

ActorProducerProduction Oct 12 (age 82) Detroit, Michigan, USA 1975–2026 (51 year career)

5.5 avg rating

Biography

Lin Shaye (born October 12, 1943) is an American actress. In a career spanning over fifty years, Shaye has appeared in more than a hundred feature films. She is regarded as a scream queen due to her roles in various horror productions, which include the films Alone in the Dark (1982), A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), Critters (1986) and its sequel Critters 2: The Main Course (1988), Amityville: A New Generation (1993), Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994), Dead End (2003), 2001 Maniacs (2005) and …

Known For

Film

A Nightmare on Elm Street

Teacher

Film

Insidious

Elise Rainier

Film

Dumb and Dumber

Mrs. Neugeboren

Film

My Sister's Keeper

Nurse Adele

Film

There's Something About Mary

Magda

Film

Insidious: Chapter 2

Elise Rainier

Film

Me, Myself & Irene

Mrs. Caleron

Film

A Cinderella Story

Mrs. Wells

Filmography

Acting (208)

Movies (185)

Insidious: The Bleeding World

2026 Upcoming

as Elise Rainier

Aug 19

Scared to Death

2026

as Max

1000 Women in Horror

as Self

House of Abraham

Legacy of Screams: The Evolution of Horror Movies

2025

as Self - (archive footage)

The Last Stand of Ellen Cole

2024

as Ellen

7.9

Insidious: The Red Door

as Elise Rainier

Frank and Penelope

as Ophelia

Living with Chucky

as Self

Pines

as Julie (voice)

The Quarry

as Constance Hackett

We Are Gathered Here Today

2022

as Jean Cole

6.0

Hollywood Dreams & Nightmares: The Robert Englund Story

2022

as Self

6.4

Remote

2022

as Kane

Ted Bundy: American Boogeyman

as Mrs. Bundy

Dreamkatcher

as Ruth

Darkness Falls

as Angela Anderson

The Call

as Edith Cranston

Max Reload and the Nether Blasters

as Mrs. Wylder

The Horror Crowd

as Self

The Voices

as The Vagabond

The Grudge

as Faith Matheson

Gothic Harvest

as Griselda

The Final Wish

as Kate Hammond

Room for Rent

as Joyce

Ambition

as Lady Bum

Get Gone

as Mama

They Bite!: The Making of Critters

2018

as Self

Insidious: The Last Key

2018

as Elise Rainier

6.3

Los Angeles Overnight

2018

as Cousins

4.2

The Main Course: The Making of Critters 2

2018

as Self

Herbert West: Reanimator

as Meredith

Mountain Top

as Muriel Miller

The Black Room

as Miss Black

All About the Money

as Mrs. Womack

Grow House

as Mrs. Gilliam

Buster's Mal Heart

as Pauline

Abattoir

as Allie

Texas Heart

as Mrs. Smith

Ouija: Origin of Evil

2016

as Old Paulina Zander

The Midnight Man

as Anna

Jack Goes Home

as Teresa

Director's Cut

as Captain Wheeler

Insidious: Chapter 3

as Elise Rainier

Tales of Halloween

as Lynn's Mother

Helen Keller vs. Nightwolves

2015

as Helen Keller

5.1

Don Quixote: The Ingenious Gentleman of La Mancha

as The Grand Lady

Ouija

as Paulina Zander

The Signal

as Mirabelle

Grace

as Helen

Lost Time

as Mysterious Woman

Insidious: Chapter 2

as Elise Rainier

Crazy Kind of Love

as Denise Mack

Big Ass Spider!

as Mrs. Jefferson

Noobz

as Mrs. Theodore

All American Christmas Carol

2013

as Barbara Belnap

4.2

FDR: American Badass!

as Eleanor Roosevelt

The Three Stooges

as Nurse Crotchet

Jewtopia

as Dr. Sutton

3 Days of Normal

as May

Waffle Hut

as Jerrie Wolf

Matchmaker Santa

as Debbie

Life's an Itch

as Gloria

Insidious

as Elise Rainier

Sedona

as Claire

Take Me Home

as Jill

Chillerama

as Baglady / Nurse Maleva

5.7

A Good Old Fashioned Orgy

as Dody

Rosewood Lane

as Mrs. Hawthorne

I Was a Teenage Werebear

2011

5.8

Goldberg - P.I.

2011

as Violet

Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy

2010

as Self

7.8

The Accidental Death of Joey by Sue

2010

as Mrs. Rawlings

1.0

Small Town Saturday Night

as Phyllis Ryan

The Penthouse

as Frances

2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams

as Granny Boone

Pickin' and Grinnin'

as Bonnie Johnson

VideoDome Rent-O-Rama

2010

as The Lush

Farewell Mr. Kringle

as Zelda

Killer by Nature

as Leona

Next Stop Murder

as Detective Reeson

The Land of the Astronauts

My Sister's Keeper

as Nurse Adele

Dark Moon Rising

as Sunny

American Cowslip

as Lou Anne

Stuntmen

as Bumble Jackson

Starz Inside: In the Gutter

as Self

Doggie Heaven

as Woman

Asylum

as String's Mother

Killer Pad

as Marge

Chronic Town

as Nurse

Homo Erectus

as Museum Guide

Chasing Robert

as Martha the Bookie

Pledge This!

as Miss Prin

The Election

as The Wife

Snakes on a Plane

as Grace

Unbeatable Harold

as Jeannie

Driftwood

as Nancy Forrester

Bachelor Party Vegas

as Cassandra

Down the P.C.H.

as Wendy O'Hara

Surf School

as Larry's mom

Hoboken Hollow

as Mrs. Brodrick

Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror

as Clara

2001 Maniacs

as Granny Boone

Drop Dead Sexy

as Ma Muzzy

Confessions of an Action Star

as Samantha Jones

Hate Crime

as Kathleen Slansky

Born Killers

as Willow

A Cinderella Story

as Mrs. Wells

Cellular

as Exotic Car Driver

Who's Your Daddy?

as Ms. Harding

The Almost Guys

as Repo Boss

The Hillside Strangler

as Jenny Buono

Dead End

as Laura Harrington

Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd

as Margie

Barely Legal

as Tequlia

Stuck on You

as Makeup Babe

ManFast

as Marge

Wish You Were Dead

as Jinny Macintosh

Boat Trip

as Sonya the Coach

Contagion

as Laura Crowley

Without Charlie

Say It Isn't So

as Nurse Bautista

A Letter from My Father

2001

as Elise

Me, Myself & Irene

as Mrs. Caleron

Attention Shoppers

as Libby

Detroit Rock City

as Mrs. Bruce

There's Something About Mary

1998

as Magda

6.6

Breakfast with Einstein

as Miss Desmond

Living Out Loud

as Lisa's Nurse

Trading Favors

as Darla

Last Man Standing

as The Madame

Kingpin

as Landlady

Project: ALF

as Waitress

Nature of the Beast

as Carol Powell

Trial by Fire

as Phyliis Cardell

Sketch Artist II: Hands That See

as Bonnie

Dumb and Dumber

as Mrs. Neugeboren

Wes Craven's New Nightmare

as Nurse with Pills

Corrina, Corrina

as Repeat Nanny

Her Final Fury: Betty Broderick, the Last Chapter

1994

as Inmate

6.2

Even Cowgirls Get the Blues

1994

as Rubber Rose Maid

4.4

In the Line of Duty: The Price of Vengeance

1994

as Foreman #2

5.7

National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1

1993

as Witness

6.0

Amityville: A New Generation

as Nurse Turner

The Temp

as Rosemary

Brain Smasher... A Love Story

as Make up Artist

Three of Hearts

as Operator

Roadside Prophets

as Celeste

Critters 3

as Sal (archive footage)

Pump Up the Volume

as PTA Parent #3

Book of Love

as Mrs. Flynn

Critters 2

as Sal

Lucky Stiff

as Bratty Kid's Mom

The Running Man

as Propaganda Officer

The Hidden

as Carol Miller

Extreme Prejudice

as Employment Office Clerk

Slam Dance

as Librarian

Mistress

as Woman Customer

Stillwatch

My Demon Lover

as Anemic Counter Girl

Critters

as Sally

Brewster's Millions

as Journalist at Rally

6.6

A Nightmare on Elm Street

as Teacher

Summer Fantasy

as Woman on Beach

Why Me?

Jekyll and Hyde... Together Again

1982

as Nurse with Telegram

4.8

Alone in the Dark

1982

as Receptionist at Haven

The Long Riders

as Kate

A Cry for Love

The Seeding of Sarah Burns

1979

as 2nd Nurse

6.0

The Triangle Factory Fire Scandal

as Freida

Goin' South

as Parasol Lady

Sex and the Married Woman

1977

as Sandra

2.3

A Secret Space

1977

as Amy

Hester Street

1975

as Whore

6.2

Devoted

as Aunt Dottie

Dead of Nowhere 3D

as Meemaw

The Bench

The Old World

as The Aunt (voice)

The Possession at Gladstone Manor

as Nurse

Carrier

as Joan Pierson

Mascotland

Before Memory

1.0

Jackson's Hole

as Netter

Television (23)

Common Side Effects

as Sonia (voice)

Behind the Monsters

as Self

Penny Dreadful: City of Angels

as Dottie Minter

Dead Talk Live

as Self - Guest

Eli Roth's History of Horror

as Self

EastSiders

as Diane

Private Practice

as Mrs. Taylor

My Name Is Earl

as Paul's Mom

Made in Hollywood

as Self

Crossing Jordan

as Leather Lauren

Becker

as Mrs. Cooper

Perversions of Science

as Nurse

Arli$$

as Shurja

as Margaret

My So-Called Life

as Parent #2

Frasier

as Anne

Life Goes On

as Parent #2

The Twilight Zone

as Kate Simmons (segment "Chameleon")

Highway to Heaven

as Lila Barnes

Who's the Boss?

as Mrs. Padnick

Cagney & Lacey

as Secretary

Falcon Crest

as Smoking Female Prisoner

5.5

Eight Is Enough

1977

as Band Member

6.1

Crew (5)

Movies (5)

Scared to Death

2026

Executive Producer

House of Abraham

2025

Executive Producer

10.0

The Last Stand of Ellen Cole

Executive Producer

Dreamkatcher

Executive Producer

Room for Rent

Co-Producer