Shannon Whirry is a talented actress with a girl-next-door look that captured the imagination of a generation of men and teenage boys. Born in Green Lake County, Wisconsin, Whirry graduated from high school and moved to New York to pursue her acting career.
She trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts during the 1980s and began her career in Off-Broadway productions, as well as appearances on Saturday Night Live and the popular daytime soap One Life to Live.
Whirry's big break came when she won the role of Terry Malloy in Steven Seagal's 1991 movie Out for Justice. She then moved to Los Angeles and auditioned for and won the part of Joanna Coles in the erotic thriller Animal Instincts in 1992.
Directed by Gregory Dark, Animal Instincts capitalized on the direct-to-video market and the popularity of steamy movies in the early 1990s. The film was a hit, and Whirry went on to work with Dark on several more films in the same vein, including Animal Instincts II and Body of Influence.
Over the years, Whirry has appeared in numerous films and TV shows, including Exit, Ringer, Mirror Images II, and Private Obsession. She is widely regarded as an icon of the erotic thriller genre, and is often compared to Shannon Tweed.
In the mid-1990s, Whirry began to branch out from the erotic thriller genre, appearing in movies with more focus on action and adventure, as well as guest spots on TV shows such as Murder One, Nash Bridges, V.I.P., and ER.
Whirry was also a regular on the TV show Mike Hammer, Private Eye, and made a cameo appearance in the Jim Carrey vehicle Me, Myself & Irene in 2000. However, she eventually felt that roles were drying up in LA, where the focus was on youth, and left the city in 2004.
Today, Whirry lives in the Phoenix area of Arizona and can be seen in challenging roles on the stage with iTheatre Collaborative or Nearly Naked Theatre. She has also appeared in TV commercials and continues to work in front of the camera, mostly filming locally.
In recent years, Whirry has appeared in productions such as "Bug" at the Herberger Theatre Center in Phoenix and "Raising Buchanan" in a supporting role. Fans are sure to be pleased that her career is continuing and flourishing, and some may even be hoping for another Animal Instincts sequel.
