Shannon Elizabeth

As part of the amazingly successful American Pie (1999), Shannon Elizabeth went almost overnight from complete obscurity to being a lust object for mammary-obsessed teenage boys everywhere. Before her turn as Nadia, the Czech foreign-exchange student who steals the heart and hormones of the film’s perpetually horny protagonist, Jim (Jason Biggs), Elizabeth did time in a number of forgettable films and TV movies. Born of Syrian, Lebanese, and Cherokee heritage in Houston, TX, on September 7, 1973, the actress made her film debut in 1998’s Dish Dogs. Minor parts in two TV programs, My Generation (1998) and Dying to Live (1999), followed before her role in American Pie. After the success of the blockbuster teen comedy, Elizabeth was signed to a three-picture deal with Miramax, ensuring that her career was off to an auspicious start. In 2000 she could be seen as the star of Keenen Ivory Wayans’ Scary Movie, a teen thriller parody. The following year would find Elizabeth in no less than three films. After headlining the critically lambasted Tomcats, Elizabeth returned to the role of Nadia before a small role as a jewel thief in Kevin Smith’s Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back in 2001. Later that same year, 13 Ghosts found the saucy young actress moving from horror spoof to the real deal. —allmovie guide