| Charles Shaughnessy | |
|---|---|
Charles Shaughnessy in 2007 |
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| Born | Charles George Patrick Shaughnessy 9 February 1955 London, England, UK |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1984–present |
| Spouse | Susan Fallender (1983-present) |
| Website | |
| http://www.charlesshaughnessy.com/ | |
Charles George Patrick Shaughnessy, 5th Baron Shaughnessy (born 9 February 1955), simply known as Charles Shaughnessy, is a British peer, and television, theatre and film actor. He is known for his roles on American television, as Shane Donovan on the soap opera Days of our Lives and as Maxwell Sheffield on the sitcom The Nanny. Along with his brother, David Shaughnessy and Ophelia Soumekh, he is a partner in 3S Media Solutions Inc.
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Shaughnessy was born on 9 February 1955 in London, the son of Alfred Shaughnessy, a television writer who was the scriptwriter for Upstairs, Downstairs, and the actress Jean Lodge. His brother, David Shaughnessy, is also an actor and a television producer and director. Having been born into a show-business family, he started appearing in plays during primary school. After attending Eton College, he read for a law degree at Magdalene College of University of Cambridge where he wrote a thesis on the House of Lords. [1]
While at Cambridge, he joined the Footlights club. After graduating, he decided to return to acting and enrolled in a London drama school, which led to him touring in a repertory company. He moved to the United States to follow actress Susan Fallender, whom he eventually wed.
Shaughnessy first became known for playing Shane Donovan on the soap opera Days of our Lives from 1984 to 1992. His Days of our Lives character’s romance with Patsy Pease's character, Kimberly Brady, made the duo into a soap supercouple and revived interest in Days among teenage viewers in the 1980s.
In 1996, Shaughnessy was reunited with another co-star from DOOL - Charlotte Ross, who portrayed Shane's daughter Eve Donovan - for the TV movie A Kiss So Deadly. This time, Ross portrayed the roommate of Shaughnessy's daughter (Dedee Pfeiffer); Shaughnessy's character, although married, forms an obsessive Lolita-esque relationship with Ross. When she tries to break it off, Shaughnessy murders Ross; gradually, his daughter uncovers the truth.
Shaughnessy is also well known for his portrayal of Maxwell Sheffield opposite Fran Drescher on CBS' The Nanny from 1993 to 1999. He and Drescher resumed acting together on Drescher's next sitcom, Living with Fran, wherein Shaughnessy appeared fairly frequently as her philandering but needy ex-husband, Ted. Living with Fran was canceled on May 17, 2006, after two seasons.
Shaughnessy also appeared in the Disney Channel 2002 made-for-TV movie Get a Clue. He was also seen in the Halloween 2000 made-for-TV movie Mom's Got A Date With A Vampire starring opposite Caroline Rhea (she guest-starred on The Nanny in 1998 as part of a cross-over with Hollywood Squares). That same year, Shaughnessy made two appearances on The WB's Sabrina (this show stars Rhea, Melissa Joan Hart, and Beth Broderick) playing two different characters. He played Alec Colson in the 8th-season episode "Covenant" of Stargate SG-1. He also voiced Dr. Quintaine in the PC game Freelancer.
He has recently appeared on an episode of NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and is also the voice of Dennis the Goldfish on the Disney Channel cartoon series Stanley. On May 11, 2002, Shaughnessy won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program for his portrayal of Dennis the Goldfish on Stanley.
On August 8, 2008, he portrayed the murder victim (Samuel, Guru) in Murder 101: The Locked Room Mystery. As of September 2008, his voice can be heard in a few television commercials for Range Rover cars. In December 2008, he did the voice of Pietro in The Tale of Despereaux. He also portrayed the Cockney-English accent for The Boss in the game Saints Row 2, and more recently has voiced commercials for Land Rover.
On May 5, 2009, he made a guest appearance in the series The Mentalist episode “Miss Red” as the manager of a private club.
As of 2009, his voice has been featured in commercials for Land Rover.
He also appeared on the popular TV show Hannah Montana as a talent show judge modeled after Simon Cowell in the episode "Judge Me Tender".
He returned to Days of our Lives in May 2010, in a story line associated with the funeral of Alice Horton (played by the late Frances Reid), reuniting him with his former co-star Patsy Pease (Kimberly).
In August–September 2010, Shaughnessy appeared as King Arthur in Monty Python's Spamalot! at The Ogunquit Playhouse in Ogunquit, Maine. In January 2011, he won the Broadway World Boston Theater Award for Best Lead Actor in a Musical (Large Theater).
As of September 2010, he took a role in the web soap opera The Bay.
On December 6, 2010, Shaughnessy reunited with Fran Drescher as a guest on her limited-run daytime show, The Fran Drescher Show.
In June 2011, he appeared as Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady at The North Shore Music Theater in Beverly, Massachusetts.
Shaughnessy made a guest appearance on the season finalé of Fran Drescher's new TV Land sitcom, Happily Divorced, airing on August 17, 2011.
Shaughnessy has been married to Susan Fallender since 1983. Together they have two daughters:
He is a great supporter of Chelsea Football Club in the UK.
Shaughnessy is active on the Internet. He maintains his own blog on myspace and in the midst of the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election he started a video blog on YouTube supporting Barack Obama.
In December 2007, he became the fifth Baron Shaughnessy, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, upon the death of his second cousin, Michael James Shaughnessy, 4th Baron Shaughnessy. The heir presumptive to the title is his brother David. The first baron was his great-grandfather, Thomas George Shaughnessy, the president of Canadian Pacific Railway. Although seldom named like that, by his baronial title he is also styled as The Right Honourable The Lord Shaughnessy.
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| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
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| Preceded by Michael Shaughnessy |
Baron Shaughnessy 2007–present |
Incumbent |