Paula Shaw

Born and raised in the Bronx, New York, Paula began acting as a teenager, playing lead roles onstage at NYU's Bronx campus (before women were enrolled there) while still in high school. Upon graduating from prestigious Bard College on full scholarships, earning her B. A. in Dramatic Arts, she entered the revolutionary off- and off-off-Broadway theatre scene of the 1960s. While playing "Lizzie" during an off-off-Broadway production of "The Rainmaker," she met fellow actor James Mendenhall, with whom she partnered and ran the Playhouse-on-the-Mountain, a summer theatre on Mt. Cathalia in Ellenville, NY, for three seasons. There, Paula played leading roles in iconic shows such as "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and "Rain. " After working on and around Broadway, and touring in shows during the late 60s, the highly ground-breaking and controversial play "Geese," written by Gus Weill and produced by Mendenhall, brought her to California for the show's West Coast debut. After relocating to Los Angeles, Paula became a Lifetime Member and Moderator of The Actors Studio, and an acting teacher at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute. Paula was also a member of the iconic improv group Synergy Trust for four years in the early 70s. She made extensive acting appearances in the 70s and 80s on television, including notable appearances on "The Bob Newhart Show," "Barney Miller," and "Three's Company.

"Pursuing her own self-discovery quest, Paula led est Graduate Seminars in Los Angeles for seven years in the 70s and 80s, and co-ran the Actors Institute of Los Angeles in the 1980s. During this era of her life, she appeared in multiple feature films including "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" directed by Peter Masterson, and "Witchfire" starring Shelley Winters.

Best-known for the movie Freddy vs. Jason (2003), playing Jason's mother, "Mrs. Pamela Voorhees". The original actress, Betsy Palmer, turned down the offer to perform her best-known character again, so she was replaced with Paula Shaw.