Vinessa Shaw

Vinessa Shaw is one of those actresses who lodged herself in your brain before you even knew her name — if you grew up in the early 90s, you absolutely remember her as Allison in Hocus Pocus, the cool older girl who actually believed in witches before it was too late. She started out as a child actress, which is a rough road for anyone, and somehow came out the other side with real range and a Barnard College degree to boot. Her career has been a long, steady slow-burn rather than a flash-in-the-pan — popping up in Eyes Wide Shut, Two Lovers, and a memorable run on Ray Donovan — and there's something genuinely refreshing about a talent who just keeps working without chasing celebrity. She's never been loud about herself, which is probably why she's underrated, but her instincts on screen are always sharp.

This take was written by generative AI, one per person, from publicly reported facts (editorial policy). It is a reading of the record, not reporting.

Name (English)

Vinessa Shaw

Name (Japanese)

ヴィネッサ・ショウ

Reading

ゔぃねっさ・しょう

Born

July 19, 1976 (age 50)

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Cancer / Dragon

Origin

Los Angeles, California, United States

Occupation

actor / television actor / model / film actor / film director

University

Barnard College

• Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/vinessaofficial/
• Xhttps://x.com/VinessaShaw
• Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinessa%20Shaw
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%B4%E3%82%A3%E3%83%8D%E3%83%83%E3%82%B5%E3%83%BB%E3%82%B7%E3%83%A7%E3%82%A6
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q266888

Tags

• California
• actor
• television actor
• model

Last updated

2026-06-02

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.