Sexy Shannon was born the daughter of a mink rancher in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada, on 10 March 1957, one of seven kids. Her younger sister Tracy Tweed also later became an actress. A pretty girl, Shannon was entered in beauty pageants from a young age. She represented the Ottawa Valley in the 1978 Miss Canada Pageant, placing fourth. A couple of years later and she turned up on the Canadian wish-fulfillment TV series Thrill Of A Lifetime, which arranged her dream to pose for Playboy magazine. She became Playboy Playmate of the Month in November 1981, and went on to be selected Playboy Playmate of the Year 1982. Shannon has always loved her Playboy work and returned to shoot a celebrity video for them, posing nude and hotter than ever when she was well past 40.
She had a brief fling with Playboy boss Hugh Hefner and her acting career began with a part in the TV show Falcon's Crest shortly after becoming Playmate Of The Year. She's done plenty of other TV work down the years too, appearing in shows like Frasier, The Dukes of Hazzard and My Guide To Becoming A Rock Star. There have been the tough gal in figure-hugging outfit roles also in movies like Electra and No Contest, plus the offbeat B-movie classic roles in the likes of Cannibal Women In The Avocado Jungle Of Death. But it will always be those steamy, naked, late night erotic thriller romps which hold Shannon Tweed most firmly in the memory of one-time teenage and older guys everywhere. She bossed that mainstream erotica genre in ways few have come even close to matching since.
