Shaw was born Fiona Mary Wilson on 10 July 1958 in Cobh, County Cork, Ireland, the daughter of physicist Mary T. Wilson (née Flynn, born 1927) and ophthalmic surgeon Denis Joseph Wilson (1922–2011), who wed in 195… See more

In 1983, she starred as Julia in the National Theatre production of Richard Brinsley Sheridan's The Rivals (1983). Her theatrical roles include Celia in As You Like It (1984), Madame de Volanges in Les Liaisons Dangereuses (1985), … See more

Shaw is a lesbian, although she had been in two long-term relationships with men before realising her sexual orientation, stating "It was a shock. I was full of self-hatred and thought I would come back into the fold sho… See more