Shannon Elizabeth: Biography

Shannon Elizabeth Fadal was born on September 7, 1976, in Houston, Texas. Her exotic look can be attributed to the fact that her father is part Syrian and Lebanese, while her mother is of English, French and Cherokee Indian decent. Shannon's parents decided to move to Waco, Texas when Shannon was a young child. Claiming to not be part of the popular group in what she described as a cliquey high school, Shannon was very much involved in most after school activities. Part of the student council executive, Shannon was active in volleyball and cheerleading (which probably came easy to her thanks to her tap and ballet lessons as a child). Her biggest interest during high school, however, was tennis, which she considered doing professionally. Her life took an unexpected twist in Shannon's senior year when she starred in video that a local band was shooting. The producer thought that Shannon had what it took to become a model, and convinced her and her parents to go to New York to get some photos done. Once Shannon graduated from high school in 1991, she moved to New York where a modeling agency was waiting for Shannon to graduate and begin her modeling career. While doing some modeling work in New York (where she lived in the NYU dorms), Shannon also worked in countries such as France, Japan, Hong Kong, and Milan. Although working abroad was an excellent experience, Shannon admits to having been homesick. When she returned to the U.S., she spent a few months in South Beach, Miami before moving to Los Angeles. Ready to start her pursuit of an acting career, she hesitated going to L.A. immediately, recognizing the amount of competition among young budding actresses. When she finally did go to L.A., Shannon signed with the Ford Modeling Agency, figuring that getting some of her pictures done would help her get into acting. She later signed with Elite Model Management. It didn't take long for Shannon to get her first commercial -for Taco Bell - and she decided to stay in L.A. and joined an acting class. Soon after, the roles came in, both on television and film. She appeared in the television series Hang Time, Pacific Blue, My Generation, Step By Step, Blade Squad, USA High and My Generation. In 1997, Shannon had a role in the film Jack Frost (where she appeared nude), as well as Dish Dogs soon after. It was her role in last year's summer hit American Pie as Czech foreign exchange student Nadia, that launched Shannon's fame and career. Shannon presently lives with her lucky boyfriend Joe Reitman, along with her six dogs. In her free time, she enjoys playing with her dogs, going to the gym and doing yoga. A huge fan of Garth Brooks and Prodigy, her favorite actors are Michelle Pfeiffer and Gary Oldman. A recent cover girl for Maxim and Details, Shannon is Enrique Iglesias' love interest in the video for his song, "Be With You". She can soon be seen in this summer's horror movie spoof, Scary Movie, co-starring Carmen Electra. You can catch Shannon later this year in the film Tom Cats, which will certainly not be the last we'll see of Shannon.

  • Shannon was ranked #29 in Maxim's "Hot 100 Women 2008."(edit)
  • As of February 2008, Shannon is dating Brett Estrada, who is an algebra tutor at Las Palmas Middle School.(edit)
  • In January of 2007, Shannon's estranged husband sued her for half of everything she made during the time they were together.(edit)
  • Before filing for a divorce from her husband Joe, Shannon asked a psychic for help in saving her marriage.(edit)
  • Shannon Elizabeth's professional partner on the sixth season of Dancing With the Stars is Derek Hough.(edit)
  • Shannon loves cookies & cream ice cream.(edit)
  • Shannon will no longer pose nude in movies. She has a special clause written into her contracts stating that she won't.(edit)
  • Shannon is an only child.(edit)
  • Shannon started taking jazz, tap and ballet lessons when she was only two.(edit)
  • Shannon has eight dogs named Amber, Boomer, Carmen, Jasper, Sacha, Six, Skyler, and Yoda.(edit)
  • Shannon is 5'9" or 1.75 m tall.(edit)
  • In March of 2007, Shannon placed third and won $125,000 when she competed in NBC's National Heads Up Poker Championships.(edit)
  • Shannon is a true vegetarian.(edit)
  • One of Shannon's biggest regrets is posing in Playboy magazine in 1997 and 1998.(edit)
  • Shannon is an avid Red Sox fan.(edit)
  • In 2001, Shannon won the Hollywood Breakthrough Award in the category of Breakthrough Female Performance.(edit)
  • Shannon travelled to Australia in July 2007 to participate in the Victorian Poker Championship held at Crown Casino.(edit)
  • Shannon is now divorced from Joe Reitman, claiming 'irreconcilable differences'. The couple separated in 2004, and finalized their dissolution in late 2005.(edit)
  • Shannon became enraged with husband Joe when he teamed up with Ashton Kutcher to play a prank on her on the MTV reality show, PUNK'd. She felt that the joke was in poor taste, since it was about a sex tape that she was told was stolen from their room.(edit)
  • Shannon and Joe Reitman appeared in a few movies together after they were married on June 2nd, 2003 on the beach in Mexico. They can be seen in American Pie 2, and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.(edit)
  • Shannon appeared in the music video for Enrique Iglesias, as his love interest in 'Be With You'.(edit)
  • Shannon was a cover girl for: Maxim, Playboy, and Details magazines.(edit)
  • Shannon's favorite actors are Gary Oldman and Michelle Pfieffer.(edit)
  • Shannon is a huge fan of the hard rock band Prodigy and the country superstar Garth Brooks.(edit)
  • Shannon enjoys playing with her dogs, going to the gym, practicing Yoga and Krav Maga (the Israeli hand-to-hand combat system).(edit)
  • Shannon was signed to a three picture deal with Miramax after the success of American Pie, setting her up as the star in Keenan Ivory Wayans' comedy, Scary Movie.(edit)
  • Shannon appeared in her first made-for-TV movie role in 1998, in Blade Squad, which was followed by Dying To Live, in 1999.(edit)
  • Shannon landed a few sitcom appearances before being cast in a nude role in the 1997 thriller, Jack Frost.(edit)
  • Shannon decided to stay in Los Angeles and join an acting class after receiving her first television commercial for Taco Bell restaurants.(edit)
  • Shannon enjoyed a great streak of success in her modeling career when she was sent overseas to work. She traveled to Hong Kong, Russia, France, and Italy gaining world-wide exposure.(edit)
  • Shannon moved to New York in 1991, after graduating high school and immediately found work as a model, living in the NYU dorms. (edit)
  • Shannon starred in a music video in her senior year of high school for a local rock band, and her goal of becoming a professional tennis player changed. The videos' producer felt that she had what it takes to be a model, and persuaded her parents to get her a portfolio, in 1991.(edit)
  • Shannon grew homesick from modeling abroad, and returned home to the United States. She ended up in Los Angeles, with hopes of becoming an actress. Figuring that having new photos taken would help break her into acting, she signed on with the Ford and Elite modeling agencies.(edit)
  • While she was in high school she was very interested in tennis and even thought about going pro.(edit)
  • She founded an organization called Animal Avengers, a non-profit animal rescue organization that is dedicated to rescuing and finding a home for homeless pets, reducing pet overpopulation, promoting responsible pet guardianship and preventing animal cruelty. Among the many fund raising events, Team Bodog raised over $50,000 for Animal Avengers in a celebrity poker night on October 8, 2005. The event was hosted by noted tournament director Matt Savage. In 2006 Shannon has participated in numerous other Bodog-sponsored charity events as well.(edit)
  • She is an big animal lover, and supports many charities.(edit)
  • Shannon was in the movie trilogy American Pie.(edit)
  • Shannon: I'm a horrible cook because I always try to do it with oil, no butter - no flavor. Nobody else will ever eat it. My housekeeper now cooks.(edit)
  • Shannon: I think you need to know what the girls are watching so you can use some reverse psychology and kinda like know what not to do, 'cause you know they're watching it.(edit)
  • Shannon: If you know your girl is watching Oprah and you come in and it's this whole show on cheating and the guy's giving away all the secrets of what the signs are, you know not to give off those signs if you're cheating. I think it's very important for a guy.(edit)
  • Shannon: I'm half Arabic, but I am one hundred percent American. What is going on affects me the same as everyone else.(edit)
  • Shannon: I enjoy being on the magazine covers, all frillied up in full hair and makeup, but I prefer to be scaled back, on a beach, with the waves crashing, and the warm sand on my feet.(edit)
  • Shannon: Drugs just have never interested me, I have other ways to achieve a rush. I rock climb, bungee jump, and hike waterfalls for MY excitement...no overdoses, and no hangovers equal no regrets.(edit)
  • Shannon: I fell in love with Joe because he had the whole package. I saw my best friend when I looked to him for support. Unfortunately, we couldn't work through things on a marital level, but he will always be my best friend.(edit)
Person Score 9.4 superb
  • Person Statistics
  • 0 of 5,788 Rating Rank
  • 0 Reviews
  • 28 Tracked by
  • 53 Votes

top contributors

  • Avatar of Brunete20

    Brunete20

    emblem
    • user score: 46
    • last online: Nov 18, 2008
  • Avatar of hoffman9102

    hoffman9102

    emblem
    • user score: 44
    • last online: Jul 10, 2008
  • Avatar of dude6363

    dude6363

    • user score: 10
    • last online: Nov 18, 2008
  • Avatar of bestlaker

    bestlaker

    • user score: 8
    • last online: Sep 30, 2008
  • Avatar of Tapeleg247

    Tapeleg247

    • user score: 5
    • last online: Oct 2, 2008
There are currently no tags for this item
advertisement