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Chloe Webb (born June 25, 1956, in Greenwich Village, Manhattan) is an American actress best known for her breakthrough performance as Nancy Spungen in Alex Cox's punk-era drama Sid and Nancy (1986).1 She appeared in Ghostbusters II (1989) in the uncredited role of Elaine, a guest on Peter Venkman's television program "The World of the Psychic," a connection that came directly through her prior collaboration with director Ivan Reitman on Twins (1988).1
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Webb was born in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, and grew up primarily in Syracuse, New York, where she attended Bishop Grimes High School.1 Her father worked as a bridge and road designer, which required the family to relocate frequently along the East Coast during her childhood.1
At age sixteen she enrolled at The Boston Conservatory, later also attending Berklee College of Music.1 She initially pursued singing, performing in bars while underage, before recognizing her stronger aptitude for acting. Her stage career began formally in April 1982 when she joined Forbidden Broadway, the long-running Off-Broadway revue parodying musical theater.1
Webb made her film debut in Alex Cox's Sid and Nancy (1986), playing Nancy Spungen, the heroin-addicted girlfriend of Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious, opposite Gary Oldman.1 The performance drew immediate critical attention: she received Best Actress recognition from the National Society of Film Critics, the Boston Society of Film Critics, and the San Francisco Film Critics Circle.1
Her follow-up work demonstrated considerable range. She appeared in Peter Greenaway's art-house drama The Belly of an Architect (1987), then transitioned into mainstream Hollywood comedy with a supporting role in Ivan Reitman's Twins (1988) alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito.1 She co-starred with Denzel Washington and Bob Hoskins in Heart Condition (1990) and appeared in the ensemble comedy Queens Logic (1991).1
The early 1990s brought a productive stretch of film work: Tales of the City (1993, as Mona Ramsey), Twenty Bucks (1993), Heart and Souls (1993), A Dangerous Woman (1993), and Love Affair (1994).1 Later credits include She's So Lovely (1997), The Newton Boys (1998), Practical Magic (1998), and Alex Cox's Repo Chick (2009).1
Her television work is equally substantial. She earned a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Laurette Barber in the ABC drama China Beach (1988-1991), a series set during the Vietnam War.1 She continued to take guest roles across decades of American television, including appearances on Remington Steele, Judging Amy, House, Medium, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Two and a Half Men, Hey Arnold!, and Law & Order: SVU (2019).2
Her most prominent television role came when she joined the Showtime comedy-drama Shameless (2011-2016) as Monica Gallagher, the bipolar, frequently absent matriarch of the Gallagher family.1 The recurring role earned her a Critics' Choice Television Award nomination for Best Guest Performer in a Drama Series.1 She also appeared in Wish Upon a Unicorn (2020) as Rose.2
Webb has sustained a parallel stage career throughout. She won Drama-Logue Awards for her performances in The House of Blue Leaves and The Model Apartment, as well as a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award.1
Webb's appearance in Ghostbusters II grew directly from her work with Ivan Reitman on Twins the previous year. Reitman cast her in the uncredited role of Elaine, a call-in guest on Episode 32 of "The World of the Psychic," Peter Venkman's public-access television program. Elaine claims to have been abducted by aliens and offers her prediction that the world will end on February 14, 2016.3
In the August 5, 1988 draft of the script, the character appeared in a very different form: Elaine was one of three women claiming to have had sexual relations with an alien.4 The role was substantially revised before principal photography. Notably, a different, uncredited actress portrays Elaine in the separately filmed deleted scene also titled "World of the Psychic."
In the NOW Comics adaptation The Real Ghostbusters Starring in Ghostbusters II, Elaine is depicted with red hair and square glasses. The character has subsequently appeared in IDW Publishing's ongoing Ghostbusters comics continuity.
Webb married J. Thomas Gelder in 1975.1
Some content on this page was researched using the Ghostbusters Wiki on Fandom.
"Chloe Webb," Wikipedia, accessed 2026-06-13, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chloe_Webb. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14 ↩15 ↩16 ↩17
"Chloe Webb," IMDb, accessed 2026-06-13, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0916050/. ↩ ↩2
Ghostbusters II (1989), Columbia Pictures. Directed by Ivan Reitman. ↩
Ghostbusters II script draft (August 5, 1988), p. 6. ↩