- Born
- Died
- Height5′ 10½″ (1.79 m)
- Jimmy Shaw was an American actor of film, television and theatre. He was born in Los Angeles and raised in Northern coastal Massachusetts. He went to New York on a journalism scholarship to The School of Visual Arts. It was there that a classmate asked him if he'd be interested in being his scene partner for an audition for Uta Hagen's class at HB Studios. The scene was Lyle Kessler's "Orphans" and Jimmy had no lines. When the call came from Ms. Hagen's class that Jimmy was accepted he was sure there had been a mistake as he had only been helping a friend but was later assured that indeed he had been accepted on his ability to listen and be present.
From that very first class he knew he was in his element and there was no looking back. He then went on to study under the aegis of Warren Robertson, Wynn Handman, Stephen Strimpell, Michael Shurtleff and Alan Miller, among others. Mr. Shaw's legitimate New York theatrical debut was in Charles Busch's hit off-Broadway comedy "The Lady In Question" as Karel (the brainwashed Hitler youth) at the Orpheum Theatre.
On television he appeared in smaller roles in such series as "Major Dad", "Beverly Hills 90210", "Sisters" and "Will and Grace".
In 2001, he went to Spain to study Spanish for three months and was offered a job as an English teacher and stayed. He leaped to international popularity within the Spanish speaking world as Matthew on Spain's prime time hit comedy series "La Que Se Avecina" where he had a recurring role for three seasons. He was Peter Fox in the internationally acclaimed Spanish miniseries "El Tiempo Entre Costuras" (Netflix) and turned his reputation in Spain as a standout comedy performer on its head with a nuanced dramatic performance.
He went on to work in numerous Spanish prime time series and films and balances a career between Madrid and Los Angeles. He returned for his second season to the hit prime time dramatic series "El Ministerio del Tiempo" (Netflix) in a recurring role as Paul Walcott and appeared in Goya winner Alberto Rodriguez's next feature "El Hombre de las Mil Caras" alongside Eduard Fernandez and Jose Coronado, as well as in Doug Spearman's "From Zero To I Love You" and Miguel Angel Jimenez's "The Night Watchman".
In 2008, he received rave reviews for his solo performance as Christopher in James Carroll Pickett's one character play "Dream Man" at The Skylight Theatre in Los Angeles directed by Michael Kearns. He also starred in the Dublin, Edinburgh, and Madrid productions of the same play.
- IMDb mini biography by: Irene Keyes
- Lived in Madrid, Spain.
- The actor's surgery, after his cancer had recurred despite appearing to be in remission. According to his colleague Cristina Castaño, the procedure was "not covered by his insurance or social security" and could only be performed by a "doctor in Lisbon." The campaign, through the Go Fund Me platform, raised more than EUR70,300.
- Fluent in Spanish.
- Grew up in a tiny New England village on the Massachusetts coast.
- The actor underwent in 2023 his initial surgery in Barcelona. The doctors confirmed that the cancer tumor was affecting an artery, making the operation very risky. After the procedure failed, the actor began chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
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