Lin Shaye

Lin Shaye (also credited as Linda Shaye) is an American screen actress born October 12, 1943, in Detroit, Michigan. With a career stretching across five decades and well over 100 feature films, she has become one of Hollywood’s most recognizable character performers.

Shaye is widely celebrated as a modern “scream queen,” thanks to a long run of horror favorites. Early genre turns in A Nightmare on Elm Street (as the Teacher) and Critters (as Sally) and Critters 2 (as Sal) helped define her cult status, later reinforced by titles such as 2001 Maniacs (as Granny Boone), Ouija, and the long-running Insidious film series.

Just as notable is her knack for comedy and scene-stealing supporting roles. She appeared in Farrelly brothers hits including There’s Something About Mary (as Magda), and she pops up in mainstream crowd-pleasers like Snakes on a Plane (as Grace), proving her range beyond horror.

Whether anchoring a fright sequence or landing a perfectly timed laugh, Lin Shaye remains a durable, beloved presence—an actor whose filmography maps the intersection of cult cinema and major studio entertainment.