In general, the actors who leave a mark in Hollywood have a project on their resume that becomes their best letter of introduction: that role that earned them a success, an award or simply -and for nothing less-, a memory in the collective unconscious. That work that, just by naming it, immediately transports us to the character, to his fictional name or to some scene. And this is the case of Elizabeth Shuea legendary actress who found her splendor in the 80s, and not only has one of those pivotal and unforgettable roles to treasure, but two: karate Kid Y Return to the future.
play the girlfriend of Daniel Larusso in the saga of karate and the love of Marty McFly in the time travel trilogy, they put it on everyone’s lips. But not only was she “the girlfriend of”, she also had her own merits. She transmitted magnetism from the screen and it became the magic wand of directors, because every project he embarked on turned it into gold, still without becoming the absolute protagonist. And with all that on her side, during the last two decades of the 20th century, a Elisabeth never lacked work.
Shue was born on October 6, 1963 in Wilmington, United States. From an early age she was destined to be a part of great things. Her destiny had prepared an artistic career for her that, at first, she had not imagined. As for her early years, she was from a wealthy middle-class family. Her father was a real estate agent and even entered politics, presenting himself as a candidate for Congress as a senator, but in the end he did not enter. On her side, her mother was the vice president of a private bank.
Beyond the fact that she did not lack material things, her first sadness came when she was 9 years old, when her parents divorced and she went with her mother and her three brothers to live on the outskirts of New Jersey. At that time, sport was part of her life, she practiced it with the school and she was not interested in anything other than that. She became her refuge. According to her, she told on some occasion, He played soccer and tennis very well.. He continues to dedicate himself to this last sport to this day, in an amateur way. In his adolescence, in fact, he thought of dedicating himself fully and venturing professionally into one of these disciplines. But he ultimately didn’t. He preferred to go the other way, perhaps following the wishes of his father.
Just finished high school at Wellsley College, one of the most prestigious American schools, enrolled at Harvard University to pursue political science. At the same time, she had her first approaches to the artistic world as an advertising model. That universe began to attract her attention and she was getting more and more into the world of acting.
His debut was in 1982, with a small participation in the television movie The Royal Romance of Charles and Diana. That was the kick for him and the possibility of quitting studying, although years later, already a recognized figure, he returned to finish his degree. He never practiced, he always knew that his passion was acting, but it was a way to please his parents, who always dreamed of the title.
The great leap was made in 1984, when she was only 21 years old, when she was called to be one of the protagonists of karate Kid. There she put herself in the shoes of the girlfriend of Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio). Her outstanding work led her to have continuity. In 1987 she starred Adventures in Babysitting and a year later Cocktail next to the gallant of the moment, Tom Cruise.
In 1989 he joined back to the future II, also with a prominent role. In this film it was Jennifer Parker, the girlfriend of Marty McFly (Michael J Fox). She arrived almost by chance, but they did not hesitate to summon her for what she was worth as an actress. It happens that in the first delivery that place was occupied by the actress claudia wells, but he dropped out of the second installment because his mother had been diagnosed with cancer and decided to move away to spend much more time with her. This unfortunate fact left the place vacant for Elisabeth.
And as expected, after the premiere of the film, his exposure exploded again. It was the big push to position himself. Without going further, in 1990 he was part of back to the future III, but one painful episode was a direct blow to the heart. As happened to the protagonist of the original film, she too He went through a family sadness that affected his career: the death of William Shue, his brother. Elisabeth had already started recording when the man was killed in a traffic accident.
For this reason, his incursion in that installment was minor. He took a few days after that outcome, and when he came back he did it sporadically. All this while filming was running its course. In a way, that was a before and after: abruptly his exhibition ended, despite the fact that he continued to work tirelessly. What she did avoid was going to events and showing herself as splendid as she was up to then. Some critics of the time assured that her career was on the decline: the similar roles in both films, being the girlfriend of the protagonists, pigeonholed her. Elisabeth didn’t stop there and kept trying.
From then on came movies like soapdish (1991) and heart and souls (1993), as his main projects, to show that the magic was still intact. On the other hand, there were times when he sought refuge in the theater, being a figure on Broadway in works such as Some American Abroad Y Birth and After Birth.
In 1994 she married the director Davis Guggenheim, his current partner and with whom he had three children. A year later she was nominated for an Oscar thanks to her work on Leaving Las Vegas, a film with which he returned to the podium, in 1995. But after that step, he surprisingly entered a nebula. The highlight, also at the turn of the millennium, was in The man Without a shadowbeside kevin bacon.
In 2010 he starred piranhas, typical commercial film, but that helped him to be in force again. Already more here, she also got on the horse of cobra kai, the series of Netflix with which all those actors who marked an era reappeared, with a few more years, but with the same strength as always.
