Early life
The only child of Gerald Edward Fadal and Patricia Dianne Abbott; her father is of Syrian descent and her mother has French, English and Cherokee ancestry. She was raised in Waco, Texas. In high school, she was very much interested in tennis and at one point even considered a professional tennis career. She worked as a model before she began a career in film.
Career
Elizabeth appeared in several low-budget films, including the notorious Jack Frost and Dish Dogs, before being cast in 1999's American Pie (film), which was a major box office success. Elizabeth subsequently appeared in several major Hollywood films, including Scary Movie (2000) and Tomcats. Elizabeth starred in the UPN series Cuts until the show was cancelled in May of 2006.
In August 1999, she appeared nude in Playboy magazine. In 2003, she was featured in Maxim magazine.
She also provided the likeness and voice for Serena St. Germaine in the 2003 video game, James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing.
Personal life
Elizabeth was in a relationship with actor Joseph D. Reitman for ten years, including three years of marriage. The couple separated in March 2005, and Elizabeth filed for divorce in late June 2005.[6] Some media outlets speculated that the cause of their breakup was Reitman assisting in a practical joke on Elizabeth for Ashton Kutcher's MTV television series Punk'd, a year before their divorce, which involved leading Elizabeth to think that she was caught on a sex tape.[7]
Animal Avengers, a non-profit animal rescue organization founded by Elizabeth and her then husband Reitman, is dedicated to rescuing and finding a home for homeless pets, reducing pet overpopulation, promoting responsible pet guardianship and preventing animal cruelty. Among the many fund raising events, Team Bodog raised over $50,000 for Animal Avengers in a celebrity poker night on October 8, 2005. The event was hosted by noted tournament director Matt Savage. Over the past year Shannon Elizabeth has participated in numerous other Bodog-sponsored charity events as well.
Poker
Elizabeth, who describes poker as her "second career" is considered by the media to be "one of the leading celebrity poker players."[8] She visits Las Vegas up to three times each month in order to participate in poker games with the top players of the United States. Elizabeth played in the Main Event of the 2005 World Series of Poker and won a special tournament celebrating the opening of a new poker room at Caesars Palace hotel in January 2006, beating out 83 celebrities and poker professionals to win $55,000. The next year, she cashed three times in preliminary WSOP events,[9] but again busted out of the Main Event early. In 2007 she advanced to the semi-finals of the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship in a field consisting of the top poker professionals before losing to eventual champion Paul Wasicka. Among the four opponents she defeated were three World Series of Poker multiple bracelet winners: Jeff Madsen, Barry Greenstein, and Humberto Brenes.
