Early life

Tweed was born in St John's, Newfoundland and Labrador to Donald Keith Tweed, a mink rancher, and Louise (Wall) Tweed She was raised on a mink ranch in Markland. She is one of seven children and has three sisters, including actress Tracy Tweed.

After her father fell into a coma after a car crash, Tweed moved the family to her mother's home in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, studying nursing while the family survived on welfare. She became involved in beauty pageants following breast enhancement surgery at age 20. In 1978, she was third runner-up in the Miss Ottawa event and won the Miss Canada talent competition for her singing.

Career

After the Canadian wish-fulfilment TV series Thrill of a Lifetime arranged for her to pose for Playboy magazine, Tweed was chosen to be the Playmate of the Month for the November 1981 issue and eventually the Playmate of the Year for 1982. Tweed and her sister Tracy appeared together in a Playboy spread.

Tweed resided at the Playboy Mansion for around 14 months as Hefner's partner. The Mansion was the location of her first meeting with her future musician husband, Gene Simmons.

Tweed primarily acted in TV series such as the HBO comedy 1st and Ten, the prime-time soap opera Falcon Crest, and appeared as a guest on Frasier, as well as B movies. She also appeared in an episode of The Dukes of Hazzard as well as Married With Children. In 1985, she landed a year-long role on Days of Our Lives as Savannah Wilder.

Her first major theatrical film appearance was in the teen sex comedy Hot Dog... The Movie in 1984. Since then, Tweed has appeared in more than 60 films including Detroit Rock City, produced by Simmons, in 1999. Tweed and her sister Tracy co-starred in the film Night Eyes 3.

Tweed was featured along with her family on the television reality show Gene Simmons Family Jewels from 2006 until 2012. One of the highlights of the series was Simmons' proposal to her and their subsequent marriage at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, US. Her sister Tracy occasionally made appearances on Gene Simmons Family Jewels and in one episode she offered her sister her frozen embryo, as Tweed had been considering adoption.

In 2010, an episode of the series was taped in Tweed's former hometown of Saskatoon. During the visit, she was presented with an honorary street sign denoting the (nonexistent) "Tweed Lane". Tourism Saskatoon subsequently requested Saskatoon City Council approve the naming of a real Tweed Lane in her honor. The Council approved the request and the street is located in the neighborhood of Rosewood.

She has a video game featuring her voice and appearance called Shannon Tweed's Attack Of The Groupies.

Tweed is the narrator of the reality TV show, Ex-Wives of Rock.

Personal life

Early in her life, Tweed was in a relationship with the CFL linebacker Ron Foxx, who then played for the Ottawa Rough Riders. After a brief relationship with Hugh Hefner (which coincided with her Playmate appearances and being named 1982 Playmate of the Year), Tweed has been in a relationship with Gene Simmons since 1983. Simmons explained in a 2011 interview, "I need Shannon in my life. Not just because of love and family but because she holds me accountable." After 28 years together, the couple wed in an outdoor evening ceremony on the crystal lawn of the Beverly Hills Hotel on October 1, 2011.

Selected filmography

• Of Unknown Origin (1983)
• Hot Dog…The Movie (1984)
• The Surrogate (1984)
• Meatballs III: Summer Job (1986)
• Steele Justice (1987)
• Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death (1988)
• The Firing Line (1988)
• Last Call (1991)
• In the Cold of the Night (1991)
• The Naked Truth (1992)
• Night Eyes 2 (1992)
• Sexual Response (1992)
• Night Rhythms (1992)
• Cold Sweat (1993)
• Night Eyes 3 (1993)
• Indecent Behavior (1993)
• No Contest (1994)
• Possessed by the Night (1994)
• A Woman Scorned (1994)
• Hard Vice (1994)
• Night Fire (1994)
• Indecent Behavior 2 (1994)
• The Dark Dancer (1995)
• Victim of Desire (1995)
• Illicit Dreams (1995)
• Body Chemistry 4: Full Exposure (1995)
• Indecent Behavior 3 (1995)
• Stormy Nights (1996)
• Electra (1996)
• White Cargo (1996)
• Human Desires (1997) as Alicia Royale
• Shadow Warriors: Assault on Devil's Island (1997)
• Bimbo Bash Movie (1997)
• Dead by Dawn (1998)
• Naked Lies (1998)
• No Contest II
• Forbidden Sins (1999)
• Powerplay (1999)
• Detroit Rock City (1999)
• The Rowdy Girls (2000)
• Scandalous Behavior (AKA Singapore Sling) (2000)
• Dead Sexy (2001)

Selected television appearances

• The Hitchhiker (Season 2, Episode 6, entitled "Videodate," 1984)
• Days of Our Lives (as Savannah Wilder - 142 episodes, 1985-1986)
• Cagney & Lacey (Season 6, Episode 5 "Role Call")
• 21 Jump Street (Episode "You Oughta Be in Prison", 1987)
• Dear John (1989)
• Baywatch (Episode "If Looks Could Kill", 1991)
• Married… with Children (Episode "The Two That Got Away", 1995)
• Frasier (episodes "You Scratch My Book...", 1995; and "Don Juan in Hell: Part 2", 2001)
• Murder, She Wrote (Episode "Twice Dead", 1995)
• Wings (Episode "Oedipus Wrecks", 1997)
• The Parkers (Episodes "Out with the Old, in with the New", 2003; "Mother's Day Blues", 2002; and "Moving on Out", 2000)
• Gene Simmons Family Jewels (All Episodes, 2006-2012)
• SpongeBob SquarePants (Episode "20,000 Patties Under The Sea", 2007)
• United States of Tara (Episode "Dept. of F'd Up Family Services", 2010)
• Republic of Doyle (Season 3, Episode 2 "Head Over Heals", 2012) (Season 5, Episode 7 "Hook, Line and Sinker", 2013)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]