Biography

Shannon Elizabeth

Jump to

Overview

Born
September 7, 1973 · Houston, Texas, USA
Birth name
Shannon Elizabeth Fadal
Height
5′ 8½″ (1.74 m)

Mini bio

Businesswoman, entrepreneur, model, actress, director, producer, activist and poker player. Shannon Elizabeth was born in Houston, Texas, the daughter of a European-American woman. When Shannon was in 3rd grade, her family moved to Waco, Texas, to be close to relatives. As a girl, Shannon took dance lessons, including tap, ballet, and jazz. While attending high school, however, she was very interested in tennis. She even considered going pro and making tennis her life. During high school, she was active in cheerleading, dance team, and the student council. As a senior, Shannon was in a music video shot in Waco. The local music artists were called "Hi-5," and the director of that video just happened to be Antoine Fuqua. After graduating, Shannon moved to New York City to model. She then traveled all over the world with her newfound career to places that included Europe (Italy and France), Latin America (Peru and Brazil), Australia and Japan. After moving to Los Angeles years later, she signed on with Ford Models and, eventually, Elite. Shannon had always wanted to start her acting career and had just modeled in hopes that it could help lead her into acting, which it did. About a year after moving to Los Angeles, she started taking acting classes with several different coaches. She got an agent, started working, and in 1999, she landed the iconic role of "Nadia" in the movie American Pie.

Shannon enjoys wearing even more hats these days. Since cutting her directing chops on music videos, she is now directing documentaries and film projects via her production company, Ganesha Productions. She also co-hosts the podcast The Art of Conservation.

Shannon also splits her time between the USA and South Africa, running programs within her nonprofit, the Shannon Elizabeth Foundation. The mission is to improve this planet for the animals, environment, and indigenous people.
- IMDb mini biography by: king

Family

Spouses
Parents
Relatives

Trivia

Finished in third place in NBC's National Heads-Up Poker Championship (2007) in March 2007. She upset poker pros Jeff Madsen and Barry Greenstein after beating fellow celebrity player René Angélil in the first round. She lost in the semi-finals to eventual winner Paul Wasicka. Her finish earned her $125,000.
She was trained in Krav Maga to help her prepare for her role as a cop in Tomcats (2001). She also did a ride-along with the Beverly Hills Police Department.
Posed for Playboy magazine in 1997 and 1998 and says it's one of her "biggest regrets!".
Her favorite actor is Gary Oldman and her favorite actress is Michelle Pfeiffer.
Is a dedicated animal lover, starting her own animal rescue organization in 2001 called Animal Avengers. She has recently shut down Animal Avengers to start a new non-profit for animals with a focus on helping in a much bigger, national capacity.

Quotes

Most people don't realize turkeys are friendly, they're social, they're loyal, they have emotions.
I'm pretty instinctive. I'm a quick learner.
Things change in different countries as people grow, and as generations change.
Animals have always been a passion of mine, being able to help them because they can't help themselves, and I think that people have treated them so badly over the years and it's just not fair. It's something I feel like I can help make a difference.
We don't live in a world that's black and white.