Date of Birth

10 December 1978, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

Birth Name

Shannon Bruce Snaith

Height

6' (1.83 m)

Mini Biography

Shane West was born Shannon Bruce Snaith in 1978 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the son of Leah (Launey), a lawyer, and Don Snaith, a drugstore owner. Shane began to pursue an acting career at the age of fifteen, gaining bit parts on various television shows, but it was not until 1999 when West appeared in ABC's Once and Again (1999) that he got his major breakthrough. Aside from catapulting to teen heart-throb status with the success of the show, West has made his mark on the screen within such films as Liberty Heights (1999) and Whatever It Takes (2000). He starred opposite Mandy Moore in the hit teen romance A Walk to Remember (2002), played Tom Sawyer in the action film The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003), and then depicted the short life of musician Darby Crash in the biopic What We Do Is Secret (2007). From 2010 to 2013, he starred as Michael on the show "Nikita" (2010)_, and since 2014, has played John Alden on the show "Salem" (2014)_.

Aside from acting, West continues the musical traditions of his family (his parents were both were musicians when he was young) with his band, Average Jo, for which he writes and plays guitar.

Shane's father was born in Jamaica, of mostly English and Sephardi Jewish descent. Shane's mother is from a Cajun (French) family from Louisiana.

Trivia

• Is in a band called "Jonny Was", formerly known as "Average Jo". "Jonny Was" performs in clubs in LA and the OC.
• Has a song on the soundtrack of A Walk to Remember (2002) with "Average Jo".
• Shane's father and mother are Don & Catherine West. He has two sisters. Simone is 19 and his half sister, Marli Ann, is less than a year old.
• He was so in love with the 1968 Camaro his character drove in A Walk to Remember (2002) that he bought it for $5000.
• Got into acting when he was forced to take Drama class in high school because he needed one more credit to graduate.
• He dedicated a song to the late actor Jonathan Brandis of SeaQuest 2032 (1993) fame.
• He was nearly cast as "John Connor" in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003). The role went to Nick Stahl instead.
• At the end of A Walk to Remember (2002), his character had gone off to and was accepted to medical school. Two years later, he played a doctor on ER (1994).
• Attended Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies.
• Is replacing Darby Crash in legendary punk band The Germs.
• Is good friends with his Nikita (2010) co-star Maggie Q.
• Los Angeles, CA [May 2013]
• Toronto, On, Canada: Filming Nikita season 1 finale [April 2011]
• Shane's father was born in Jamaica, of English, Sephardi Jewish (from Spain and Portugal), and distant Scottish, ancestry. Shane's mother is from a Cajun family long resident in Louisiana (she is of French, and distant Spanish, descent).
• In 2015 he formed the band "Twilight Creeps" with some of his former Jonny Was band members. They have played shows in and around the Los Angeles Area. The debut album is due out in October 2016 with two singles; "Bedroom Eyes" and "Oz" being released prior on iTunes.

Quotes

• (On girls) " The first thing I notice is their eyes and smile. I'm not a big make-up fan; I like them to be natural."
• (On moving when he was younger) " My sister and I were the only white people in school. It was the nicest group of kids I've ever run into."
• While watching the New Orleans Saints (on television), I got angry and punched my bed, and then my remote control flew up and hit me in the head. My girlfriend didn't stop laughing for an hour.
• What's not to love about Maggie? I mean, she's the consummate professional, and she can kick some serious butt. She has something that's real- she's very caring. And she brings those emotions to her character.