- Born
- Birth nameShannon Bruce Snaith
- Height1.83 m
- 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 Deuxième chance (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 Dangereuse séduction (2000). He starred opposite Mandy Moore in the hit teen romance Le temps d'un automne (2002), played Tom Sawyer in the action film La Ligue des gentlemen extraordinaires (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.- IMDb mini biography by: Kim Hannigan
- ParentsCatherine WestDon West
- He was so in love with the 1968 Camaro his character drove in Le temps d'un automne (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.
- Has a song on the soundtrack of Le temps d'un automne (2002) with "Average Jo".
- Is good friends with his Nikita (2010) co-star Maggie Q.
- 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).
- (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.
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