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Shannon Whirry | |
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| Born | Shannon Meta Whirry 1964or1965(age 59–60) [1] Green Lake, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1991–present |
Shannon Meta Whirry (born 1964/1965) [1] is an American actress.
Shannon Meta Whirry [1] was born in Green Lake, Wisconsin, United States, the daughter of Sherril Jean "Sherry" ( née Kemnitz; [2] 1944–2016) [3] and Russell Clyde Whirry [4] (1943–1988). [5]
A native of Green Lake, Wisconsin, where she was the salutatorian of her 1983 high school graduating class, [6] in 1985 Whirry was accepted to study at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, one of only 365 accepted out of 3,000 applicants and one of only 65 to graduate the 2-year program. [7] While attempting to establish her career in New York, Whirry worked as a bartender, took a number of small bit roles and appeared in a commercial for FedEx; the latter work finally allowed her to join the Screen Actors Guild. [4] Her first film role was in the action film Out for Justice starring Steven Seagal. [7]
She thereafter began to work in a number of direct-to-video erotic B-movies and unrated thrillers, [4] concurrent with Tanya Roberts, Maria Ford, and Shannon Tweed, who appeared in the same kinds of films at the time. She starred in Gregory Hippolyte's productions of Animal Instincts I and II, Body of Influence, and Mirror Images II. [4] Entertainment Weekly referred to Whirry and Hippolyte as "the Dietrich and Von Sternberg of the soft-core set". [8] Other films at the time included Private Obsession and Playback, a Playboy production.
In the late 1990s, she transitioned from erotic thrillers into a series of roles on mainstream network television and films, including action, sci-fi and horror genres. She had a recurring role as Mike Hammer's secretary Velda in the television series Mike Hammer, Private Eye and made guest appearances on such shows as ER , Felicity , Seinfeld , V.I.P. , Murphy Brown , Malcolm in the Middle and Nash Bridges . She also had a small role in the Jim Carrey film Me, Myself & Irene (2000).
In 2007, she appeared on a BBC TV miniseries, Nuclear Secrets , playing Kitty Oppenheimer, the wife of Robert Oppenheimer.
She occasionally performs with theater companies in Arizona, where she lives [9] and has continued appearing in small roles in films, including independent film Raising Buchanan in 2019.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Out for Justice | Terry Malloy | |
| 1992 | Animal Instincts | Joanna Cole | Video |
| 1993 | Body of Influence | Laura/Lana | Video |
| Sliver | Woman Looking In Mirror | ||
| Mirror Images 2 | Carrie/Terrie | Video | |
| 1994 | Animal Instincts 2 | Joanna Cole | Video |
| The Gift | Sitting Woman | TV movie | |
| Lady in Waiting | Lori | ||
| 1995 | Texas Justice | Rebecca | TV movie |
| Private Obsession | Emmanuelle Griffith | Video | |
| The Granny | Kelly Gargoli | Video | |
| Dangerous Prey | Robin | ||
| Fatal Pursuit | Jill | ||
| 1996 | Playback | Karen | |
| Exit | Diane | Video | |
| Omega Doom | Zed, Droid Leader | Video | |
| Ringer | Kristin / Tracy | ||
| 1997 | Retroactive | Rayanne Lloyd | |
| 1999 | Active Stealth | Gina Murphy | Video |
| 2000 | The Prophet's Game | Barbara "Barb" | |
| Me, Myself & Irene | Beautiful Mom | ||
| 2001 | Mach 2 | Shannon Carpenter | |
| Lying in Wait | Lori | ||
| Outlaw | Liz | ||
| 2008 | Jolene | Teacher | |
| 2009 | Ingenious | Lydia | |
| Middle Men | Screaming Mother | ||
| 2010 | Everything Must Go | Nurse | |
| Dead West | Sarah Dust | ||
| 2012 | Out of Focus | Detective Jessie Johnston | Short |
| 2019 | Raising Buchanan | Parnella Monroe |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Santa Barbara | Lola | Episode: "Episode #1.2094" |
| 1993 | Down the Shore | Sue | Episode: "The Last Temptation of Eddie: Part 1 & 2" |
| Eden | Lauren's Friend | Episode: "Eden 6" | |
| Silk Stalkings | Karen Daniels | Episode: "Look the Other Way" | |
| 1997 | Murder One | Deborah Cummings | Episode: "Chapter Ten, Year Two" |
| Murphy Brown | Amber | Episode: "Blind Date" | |
| Nash Bridges | Suzanne | Episode: "Moving Target" | |
| Pacific Blue | Kay McNeil | Episode: "Ties That Bind" | |
| Seinfeld | Cute Girl | Episode: "The Butter Shave" | |
| 1997-1998 | Mike Hammer, Private Eye | Velda | Main Cast |
| 1998 | Silk Stalkings | Victoria Tremain | Episode: "Passion and the Palm Beach Detectives" |
| 1999 | Air America | Dr. Veronica Brady | Episode: "Fear of Flying" |
| Sons of Thunder | Sabrina | Episode: "Daddy's Girl" | |
| V.I.P. | Katherine Johnson | Episode: "Why 2 Kay" | |
| 2000 | City of Angels | Gina | Recurring Cast: Season 2 |
| 2001 | Malcolm in the Middle | Beautiful Woman | Episode: "Evacuation" |
| Black Scorpion | Vox Populi | Episode: "Face the Music" | |
| Felicity | Barbara "Barb" Jones | Episode: "Boooz" | |
| 2002 | Flatland | Gina | Episode: "Aurora" & "Triptych" |
| 2003 | ER | Doreen Brant | Episode: "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished" |
| 2007 | Nuclear Secrets | Kitty Oppenheimer | Episode: "Superspy" & "Superbomb" |
Whirry and Hippolyte are fast becoming the Dietrich and Von Sternberg of the soft-core set, with four titles — Animal Instincts, Body of Influence, Mirror Images II, and the latest, Animal Instincts II, due out next week — under their belts.
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