Wallace Shawn's Real Name: Wallace Shawn

Quick answer: Wallace Shawn's real name is Wallace Shawn. He is an American playwright and actor, born November 12, 1943, in New York, New York, later known for My Dinner with André and The Princess Bride.

Real name and early life

He is known professionally as Wallace Shawn. Independent publishers used here record that public name rather than a longer legal form, so the public name is used in the title. Britannica and TV Insider independently date the birth to November 12, 1943, in New York, New York. TV Insider, alone among the sources cited here, also lists the fuller form Wallace Michael Shawn; because that form is not independently confirmed in the other source used here, it is not used in the title. Britannica says he was exposed to New York City's literary culture from a young age, as his father, William Shawn, was the editor of The New Yorker from 1952 to 1987, and that he studied history at Harvard University and later at Magdalen College, Oxford, before turning to playwriting after returning to New York.

Career highlights

Britannica says his first produced work was Our Late Night, which premiered in 1975 and won an Obie Award for playwriting. TV Insider independently says he announced his arrival with that Obie-winning play in 1975. Both sources say he made his on-screen acting debut with a small role in Woody Allen's Manhattan (1979). Britannica and TV Insider independently highlight My Dinner with André (1981), which both describe as an art-house success that Shawn starred in with André Gregory.

TV Insider identifies his most remembered film character as Vizzini in The Princess Bride (1987). Britannica independently lists that film among memorable later roles, along with Vanya on 42nd Street (1994) and Clueless (1995). Britannica also says his voice work includes four Toy Story films (1995, 1999, 2010, and 2019) and The Incredibles (2004), and that his television work has included a recurring role on the 1996–97 Clueless spin-off and guest roles including Young Sheldon. TV Insider independently lists voice work as Rex in the Toy Story films.

Britannica says later plays include Aunt Dan and Lemon (1985), which won him a second Obie Award, and The Fever (1991), which won a third.

Name notes for searchers

People looking up Wallace Shawn are looking for the American playwright and actor described here. Independent sources support the public name used in the title.