Shannen's first professional role was as Drucilla when she guest starred on "Father Murphy". She was just 11 years old at the time, when Micheal Landon viewed this episode and cast her as Jenny Wilder in his series, "Little House, A New Beginning". This was a big break for Shannen, and she then went on to star in the series, "Our House" with Wilford Brimley and Deidre Hall.

Shannen was born April 12, 1971, in Memphis, Tennessee. Shannen always participated in school plays and earned good grades. But, she was also a very solitary child, preferring to be by herself rather than playing with other children. When Shannen was seven, the family moved to Los Angeles, where her father started a West Coast branch of the family transportation business, and Shannen became interested in acting.

Shannen began moving effortlessly between television and film. She starred in the teen comedy, "Girls Just Want to Have Fun", with Helen Hunt and Sarah Jessica Parker. In 1989, Shannen starred with Christian Slater and Winona Ryder in the 1989 black comedy "Heathers", which was a big success. In 1990, Shannen got the part of Brenda Walsh in Aaron Spelling's teen drama, "Beverly Hills, 90210". As 90210 and Shannen became more and more popular, her personal life began to spin out of control, and with the help of the tabloids, it was usually very exaggerated.

After four years with "90210", Shannen decided to leave the show, and the tabloids had a field day when they claimed that she was fired. The real truth was that it was a mutual decision between Shannen and Aaron Spelling. After leaving "90210", Shannen kept a low personal profile, but kept on working on other projects such as "Almost Dead" and "Mall Rats".