Paula Shaw, a veteran character actress who appeared in Hallmark Channel movies and the 2003 slasher film Freddy vs. Jason, died Sept. 10, 2025. She was 84.
Her passing was announced on the website of The Max, a personal-development workshop Shaw taught for more than three decades. "It is with heavy hearts that we announce Paula passed away peacefully on Wednesday Sept. 10, 2025 morning at 9:00 am," the statement said. "Paula touched countless lives through The MAX, the Mastery, and her transformational work. Her legacy lives on in the communities she created and the lives she changed." The Esalen Institute, where she taught The Max, posted a tribute noting she led the course at Esalen for more than 32 years and that the program "became a rite of passage for Esalen staff and seminarians."
Born July 17, 1941, in New York City, Shaw began her performing career on stage after moving to Los Angeles to star in Gus Weill's play Geese. She became a member of the Actors Studio and worked steadily on television in the 1970s and 1980s with appearances on programs including The Bob Newhart Show, Three's Company, Lou Grant, Ironside and Barney Miller. In film, she appeared in the 1982 musical comedy The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas alongside Burt Reynolds and Dolly Parton.
In the 2000s Shaw had small roles in mainstream studio features such as Reindeer Games and Insomnia, and in 2003 she played Pamela Voorhees in Freddy vs. Jason, taking on a role previously associated with Betsy Palmer. From 2011 to 2013 she had a recurring role as Mrs. Byrne on the Canadian sitcom Mr. Young.
Shaw became a familiar face to Hallmark Channel viewers beginning with the network's first season of Cedar Cove in 2013, in which she played Charlotte Jeffers, the mother of Andie MacDowell's character. She went on to appear in a string of Hallmark holiday and family films, including Five Star Christmas, It Was Always You, Debbie Macomber’s A Mrs. Miracle Christmas, Hanukkah on Rye and Round and Round.
Colleagues and former students remembered Shaw for both her screen work and her teaching. The Esalen post described her course, THE MAX, as one of the institute's "most edgy offerings" and noted its long-standing role in staff training. Hallmark co-star Julie Sherman Wolfe wrote on her Instagram Stories that the actors often spoke by FaceTime after filming and that Shaw had become an "honorary bubbie."
Shaw's career spanned stage, television and film across more than five decades. She moved between character roles on network sitcoms and dramas, supporting parts in studio films and lead roles in made-for-television movies, building a reputation for dependable work in both dramatic and comedic roles. Her students and colleagues credited her with shaping a generation of performers and workshop participants through her work at The Max and Esalen.
No funeral or memorial details were included in The Max announcement. The statement and tributes from Esalen and colleagues emphasized Shaw's influence as a teacher and the communities she helped create, noting that her work extended beyond acting into long-term transformational instruction.