Shawnee Smith

A few years later, she made her stage debut in To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday and won a Drama-League Critics Award.

Shawnee Smith (born July 3, 1969) is an American actress.

She is known for playing Linda in the CBS sitcom Becker and Amanda Young in the Saw franchise.

She was part of the country rock band Smith & Pyle.

She hosted season one of the VH1 acting competition Scream Queens.

Smith began her acting career at a young age, making her feature film debut at age 11 in John Huston's Annie, playing one of the orphans.

Smith was born on July 3, 1969, at Orangeburg Regional Hospital in Orangeburg, South Carolina.

She is the second child of Patricia Ann (née Smoak), an oncology nurse, and James H. Smith, a financial planner and former US Air Force pilot.

When she was five months old, her family relocated from South Carolina to West Los Angeles, California.

Her parents divorced when she was two years old and her mother remarried five years later when they moved to San Fernando Valley.

Smith made her television debut in a McDonald's commercial at age eight.

In the late 1980s, she was cast in smaller roles before getting her first starring role in the remake of The Blob (1988) and a supporting role in the film Who's Harry Crumb? (1989).

At age 11, she made her feature film debut in John Huston's 1982 adaptation of the Broadway musical Annie, as one of Annie Bennett Warbucks's fellow orphans.

The next year, she sang on The Merv Griffin Show.

In 1985, she had small parts in, Not My Kid, Cagney & Lacey and Iron Eagle (1986).

In 1987, Smith played a pregnant student Rhonda in Summer School.

The following year, her first starring role came with the remake of The Blob.

In 1988, Smith starred in television film I Saw What You Did, a remake of the 1965 film of the same name.

Smith had a supporting role alongside John Candy and Annie Potts in the 1989 film Who's Harry Crumb?, where Smith plays a teen who helps Harry Crumb locate her kidnapped sister.

That same year, she co-starred with Jennie Garth and Barbara Eden in the short-lived TV series Brand New Life.

The following year, she co-starred in Michael Cimino's remake of the thriller Desperate Hours.

In the 1990s she made guest appearances on Murder, She Wrote and The X-Files before being cast in a main role of the sitcom Becker (1998–2004).

She took a three-year break from acting in the early 1990s, primarily because she had outgrown teenage roles and had a hard time finding work.

She made a guest appearance on the 200th episode of Murder, She Wrote in 1993.

That following year, she played Julie Lawry in the television miniseries The Stand, based on the novel by Stephen King.

Smith made a guest appearance in the 1994 The X-Files episode "Firewalker", playing Jessie O'Neil.

In 1998, Smith was cast as Linda in CBS's sitcom Becker, playing the office's aide of Dr. John Becker (Ted Danson).

After airing three episodes to high ratings, CBS ordered a full season.

In 2003, she lent her voice to an episode of the Disney cartoon Kim Possible as Vivian Porter.

In 2003, she was cast in James Wan's low budget horror film, Saw, as Amanda Young.

A small part, opposite Tobin Bell, she filmed her scene within one day and while battling the flu.

In 2004, she played Amanda in Saw and reprised her role in the sequels, Saw II (2005), Saw III (2006), Saw VI (2009) and Saw X (2023).

She was a main character for all six seasons until its cancellation in 2004.

While initially a direct-to-video release was planned, test screenings in March 2004 turned out positive prompting Lionsgate to release it theatrically that October.

It became a box office success, grossing $103 million worldwide.

She would reprise her role in Saw II (2005), Saw III (2006) and Saw VI (2009).

The Saw franchise went on to become one of the highest-grossing horror franchises of all time, grossing over $1 billion worldwide, as of 2021.

She played Jennifer Goodson in Anger Management from 2012 to 2014 in 100 episodes.

At age 15, Smith won her first stage role in the Los Angeles play, To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday where co-star Richard Dreyfuss noticed in rehearsals her potential and suggested she be given a leading part.

She went on to win the Drama-League Critics Award for her performance.