Born in Kingston, Ontario, Polly Shannon grew up in Aylmer, Québec. Her mother wrote for children’s television so Shannon’s interest in acting started early. Her parents gave her a deadline of 25 to make it or break it as an actress. After acting in theatre as a child and getting through school, her career began when she was 19 when she landed a part in Catwalk, a YTV series about a struggling rock band. She went on to appear in a number of series including the Canadian horror series The Hunger (1999). Her most notable role was playing Margaret Trudeau in the 2002 mini-series Trudeau. More recently, Shannon starred opposite Tom Selleck as his girlfriend Abby Taylor in two Jesse Stone made-for-television movies. Polly Shannon was nominated for a Gemini Award in 1999 for Actress in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series for The Girl Next Door (1999) and again in 2000 for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series for The Sheldon Kennedy Story. In 2003, she was nominated for a Canadian Comedy Award for Pretty Funny Female Performance for Men with Brooms.
Features & TV Movies:
VR indicates Direct-to-Video Release
Love & Human Remains (1993)
No Contest (1994)
A Young Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1995)
Fight for Justice: The Nancy Conn Story (TV-1995)
Snowboard Academy (1996)
No Greater Love (TV-1996)
Frankenstein and Me (1996)
End of Summer (TV-1996)
Devil’s Food (TV-1996)
Hard to Forget (TV-1998)
My Date with the President’s Daughter (TV-1998)
Dirty Work (1998)
The Girl Next Door (TV-1999)
The Sheldon Kennedy Story (TV-1999)
Daydream Believers: The Monkees Story (TV-2000)
The Stalking of Laurie Show (TV-2000)
Harvard Man (2001)
The Triangle (TV-2001)
Men with Brooms (2002)
TrueSexLies (2003)
Do or Die (TV-2003)
Ham & Cheese (2004)
Direct Action (2004)
Stone Cold (TV-2005)
Lie with Me (2005)
Miranda & Gordon (2006)
Jesse Stone: Night Passage (TV-2006)
Victor (TV-2007)
Hide (2007)
Hydra (TV-2008)
One Love (2009, short)
Concrete Canyons (TV-2010)
The Performance (2018)
Defining Moments (2018)
TV Series – Cast:
Catwalk (1992-1994)
Trudeau (2002, mini-series)
Street Time (2002)
TV Series – Guest appearances:
Are You Afraid of the Dark (1992)
The Hidden Room (1993)
Sirens (1994)
Forever Knight (1995)
Ready or Not (1996)
Side Effects(1996)
Due South (1997)
Eerie, Indiana: The Other Dimension (1998)
Highlander: The Raven (1998)
Earth: Final Conflict (1999)
The Outer Limits (1999)
PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal (1999)
The Hunger (1999)
Twice in a Lifetime (1999, 2000)
Code Name: Eternity (2000)
La Femme Nikita (2001)
Doc (2001)
Leap Years (2001)
Zoe Busiek: Wild Card (2003)
Sue Thomas F.B. Eye (2003, 2004)
Puppets Who Kill (2004)
The Jane Show (2004)
CSI: Miami (2006)
Cold Case (2006)
Shattered (2010)
Rookie Blue (2010)
Less Than Kind (2012)
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and Digital Media Association – A nonprofit corporation.
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First published as Northernstars.net February 1, 1998
ISSN 2563 4895