Early life

Born Shannon Elizabeth Fadal, Elizabeth's father is an Arab Christian of Syrian origin and Lebanese and her mother is of German, English and Irish ancestry. She was born in Houston, Texas, and raised in Waco, Texas. In high school, she was very much interested in tennis and at one point even considered a professional tennis career. She worked as a model for Ford & Elite models before she began a career in film.

Career

Acting and modeling

Elizabeth appeared in several films and television shows before being cast in 1999's American Pie in the now iconic role of Nadia. It was a major box office success. Elizabeth subsequently appeared in several Hollywood films, including Scary Movie, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and Tomcats. Elizabeth starred in the UPN series Cuts until the show was canceled in May 2006. Cuts and its parent show, One on One, were two of the many shows not to be picked up by The CW. Elizabeth recurred in That '70s Show for a number of episodes.

In 2000 and 2003, she was featured in Maxim. In June 2008 she was Maxim's cover girl. She provided the likeness and voice for Serena St. Germaine in the 2004 video game, James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing. Elizabeth was one of the celebrities on an episode of NBC's Thank God You're Here along with Tom Green, Chelsea Handler, and George Takei. Elizabeth was among the cast of the sixth season of Dancing with the Stars, partnered with Derek Hough. Elizabeth was the seventh star eliminated from the competition. Elizabeth was the host of the comedy/burlesque series "Live Nude Comedy" in 2009. Shannon also featured in Chris Brown's "Next to You" music video as Brown's girlfriend in 2011.

Poker

Elizabeth describes poker as her "second career" and has been called "one of the leading celebrity poker players." She visits the Las Vegas Valley up to three times each month to participate in poker games with the top players of the United States. Elizabeth played in the Main Event of the 2005 World Series of Poker under the guidance of Daniel Negreanu, and won a special tournament celebrating the opening of a new poker room at Caesars Palace hotel in January 2006, beating out 83 celebrities and poker professionals to win $55,000.

She has also cashed four times in the World Series of Poker in 2006 and 2007, but again busted out of the Main Event early. In 2007, she advanced to the semi-finals of the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship in a field consisting of the top poker professionals before losing to eventual champion Paul Wasicka. Among the four opponents she defeated were three World Series of Poker multiple bracelet winners: Jeff Madsen, Barry Greenstein, and Humberto Brenes.

Personal life

After the September 11 attacks, Elizabeth recorded a public service announcement in which she said, "I'm half Arabic, but I am 100 percent American. What is going on affects me the same as everyone else."

Elizabeth was married to actor Joseph Reitman from 2002-2005. After being eliminated from Dancing with the Stars in April 2008, Elizabeth began dating Derek Hough, her dancing partner on the show. Their relationship reportedly lasted until August 2009. She is an environmentalist and vegan. Elizabeth has been dating fellow vegan and environmentalist Russell Simmons since early 2014. Elizabeth is the cousin of the TV host and relationship coach Tamsen Fadal.

Charity work

Animal Avengers, a non-profit animal rescue organization founded by Elizabeth and her then-husband Reitman, 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 fundraising 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. Over the past year Shannon Elizabeth has participated in numerous other Bodog-sponsored charity events as well.

Elizabeth has served as the spokesperson for Farm Sanctuary's Adopt a Turkey program, urging people to adopt a turkey instead of eating one for Thanksgiving.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	Jack Frost	Jill Metzner	Credited as Shannon Elizabeth Fadal
1997	Blast	Hostage
1998	Blade Squad	Nurse	TV film
1999	Seamless: Kidz Rule	Nicole
1999	Dying to Live	Vanessa Canningham	TV film
1999	American Pie	Nadia	movie film
2000	Scary Movie	Buffy Gilmore
2000	Evicted	Princess
2000	Dish Dogs	Anne	Shot and completed in 1998, Direct-to-DVD release
2001	Tomcats	Natalie Parker
2001	American Pie 2	Nadia
2001	Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back	Justice
2001	Thir13en Ghosts	Kathy Kriticos
2002	Survivin' the Island	Office worker	Uncredited
2003	The Crooked E: The Unshredded Truth About Enron	Courtney	TV film
2003	Love Actually	Harriet, the sexy one
2004	Johnson Family Vacation	Chrishelle Rene Boudreau
2005	Cursed	Becky Morton	Cameo
2005	Confessions of an American Bride	Sam	TV film
2005	The Kid & I	Shelby Roman
2007	The Grand	Toni
2008	Deal	Michelle
2008	You Belong to Me	Alex Wilson	TV film
2009	Night of the Demons	Angela Feld
2011	A Novel Romance	Adi Schwartz
2012	American Reunion	Nadia	Cameo
2012	A Green Story	Kelly
2012	Golden Winter	Jessica Richmond
2013	In the Dark	Linda	TV film
2013	Catch a Christmas Star	Nikki Crandon	TV film
2014	The Outsider	Margo
2015	Marshall the Miracle Dog	Cynthia Willenbrock	Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996	Arliss	Anya Slovachek	Episode: "Crossing the Line"
1996	Hang Time	Nicole Barrett	Episode: "Green-Eyed Julie"
1997	USA High	Melanie	Episode: "Internet Love Story"
1997	Step by Step	Cindi	Episode: "Can't Buy Me Love"
1998	Pacific Blue	Jo	Episode: "Damaged Goods"
1999	G vs E	Cherry Valence	Episode: "Men Are from Mars, Women Are Evil"
2002	Just Shoot Me!	Karen	Episode: "About a Boy"
2002	Off Centre	Dawn	Episode: "Addicted to Love"
2002	The Twilight Zone	Sondra Lomax	Episode: "Dream Lover"
2003-2005	That '70s Show	Brooke	9 episodes
2004	One on One	Tiffany Sherwood	Episode: "Splitting Hairs"
2004	Punk'd	Herself	Episode: "Carmelo Anthony, Shannon Elizabeth and Jena Malone"
2005-2006	Cuts	Tiffany Sherwood	31 episodes
2005	MADtv	Herself	Episode: "OK Go"
2005	King of the Hill	Candee (Voice)	Episode: "Harlottown"
2008	Dancing with the Stars	Herself	Season 6 contestant; finished 6th
2009	Live Nude Comedy	Host	6 episodes
2013	What Not to Wear	Herself	Episode: "Shannon Elizabeth"
2013	Melissa & Joey	Anita	Episode: "The Unfriending"

Video Games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2003	James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing	Serena St. Germaine (voice)
2009	Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust	Amy Loveheart (voice)

Charities

Shannon Elizabeth supports the following charitable causes: Animals, Environment.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]