Biography for
Shannon Elizabeth (I) More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

7 September 1973, Houston, Texas, USA

Birth Name

Shannon Elizabeth Fadal

Height

5' 8½" (1.74 m)

Mini Biography

Shannon Elizabeth was born in Houston, Texas, the daughter of a Syrian/Lebanese father and a mother who's English, Irish and German. When Shannon was in 3rd grade, her family moved to Waco, Texas, where most of her relatives already lived. As a child, 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. Also during high school, she was active in cheer-leading, dance team and the student council. As a senior, Shannon was in a music video shot in Waco. The music artists were locals named Hi-5 and the director of that video just happened to be Antoine Fuqua. After graduating, Shannon moved to N.Y. to model. She then traveled all over the world with her new-found career to places that included Japan, Italy, France and Australia. After moving to L.A. many years later, she signed 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 the acting. About a year after moving to L.A., she started taking acting classes with many different coaches. She eventually got an agent and, in 1999, laded the iconic role of "Nadia" in American Pie (1999).

She has definitely succeeded in the acting industry and is now adding directing and producing to her resume. She just finished (2010) directing and producing the music video, "More Than Friends", by rapper Tha Vill and British sensation Kele Le Roc. Shannon has also recently started her production company, called Ganesh Productions, and already has 3 films on her production slate. Her focus is on the film Fated (2012), which she will also direct and hopes to go into production in early 2011.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Shannon

Spouse

Joseph D. Reitman

(15 June 2002 - 2007) (divorced)

Trivia

Starred as singer Enrique Iglesias's love interest in the video for his third American single, "Be With You".

Grew up in Waco, Texas.

Shannon is part Syrian.

Is an huge animal lover, starting her own animal rescue in 2001 called Animal Avengers. She has recently shut down Animal Avengers to start a new non-profit for animals with a focus to help in a much bigger, national capacity.

Shannon Elizabeth 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.

Voted the 8th Sexiest Female Movie Star in the Australian Empire Magazine [September 2002].

Mentioned in Bowling For Soup's extended version of "Ohio (Come Back To Texas)".

A big fan of the Boston Red Sox.

Posed for Playboy magazine in 1997 & 1998 and says it's one of her "...biggest regrets!".

Appeared in two movies in 2001, that featured the song "Want You Bad" by The Offspring. American Pie 2 (2001) and Tomcats (2001).

Is a vegetarian.

An only child

Cousin is a TV news reporter for CBS station in New York.

Finished in 3rd 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 Angelil in the first round. She lost in the semi-finals to eventual winner Paul Wasicka. Her finish earned her $125,000.

Her favorite actor is Gary Oldman and her favorite actress is Michelle Pfeiffer.

Ranked #29 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2008 list.

Broke up with Derek Hough. They met when they were partnered together on "Dancing with the Stars" (2005/I) in Spring 2008 [August 8, 2009].