Shawn Weatherly Biography

When Shawn Weatherly was studying nursing at Clemson University, she was also a member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority and was encouraged to participate in beauty pageants. She ended up winning the Miss South Carolina USA title in 1980 and proceeded to contest at the Miss USA title. She ended up scoring over 9.0 in her preliminary rounds and eventually won the Miss USA crown. After this, she competed at the Miss Universe pageant for 1980 held at Seoul, South Korea. She managed to win all the initial rounds and eventually clinched the titled after defeating Linda Gallagher and Denyse Nottle.

During her times, Shawn Weatherly was the most successful model in the national pageant circuit. With global success and recognition, Weatherly decided to become an actress. She made her on-screen debut in 1983 with the TV series ‘The Dukes of Hazzard’, where she appeared for an episode as Billie Ann Baxley. In the same year, she was also seen in other TV series like ‘The A-Team’, ‘Happy Days’, and ‘Lottery’ in minor roles. She landed her first recurring role with the TV series ‘T. J. Hooker’ as Claudia toward the end of the year and was seen in four episodes.

In 1984, she played the recurring character of Melissa McDonald in the comedy series ‘Shaping Up’ for five episodes. Later, she made her film debut with the Hal Needham comedy ‘Cannonball Run II’ in the same year. In 1985, she was seen only in two series, playing minor roles: ‘Hunter’ and ‘Amazing Stories’. She returned to the big screen in 1986 when she played the role of Cadet Adams in ‘Police Academy 3: Back in Training’. Her projects increased considerably in 1987 and she appeared in TV series such as ‘The New Leave It to Beave’, ‘Matlock’, ‘Summer Breeze’, and ‘The New Adventures of Beans Baxter’ in guest roles. She also received her first main billing in the same year when she was cast as Jill Starbuck in the adventure TV series ‘J.J. Starbuck’. She was seen in this role for 13 episodes from 1987 to 1988. In 1988, she appeared in the TV series ‘Private Eye’ for two episodes and also seen in the film ‘Party Line’ as Stacy. 1989 proved to be her most successful year as she joined the cast of the popular series ‘Baywatch’ as Jill Riley and played the role for 18 episodes from 1989 to 1990. In the meanwhile, she was also seen in movies such as ‘Shadowzone’, ‘Baywatch: Panic at Malibu Pier’, ‘Mind Games’, and ‘Thieves of Fortune’.

Despite a great on-screen presence and decent success, Shawn’s projects in the early 1990s were very few. She was first seen in the TV series ‘Thirtysomething’ in 1991 and later appeared in the comedy show ‘Jack’s Place’ in 1992. Her next role only came around in 1995 with the crime series ‘Murder, She Wrote’, where Shawn played Kate Danbury. In 1998, she was cast in the family comedy drama ‘Dancer, Texass Pop. 81’ as Sue Ann. The movie was a hit and performed well at the box office. In the same year, Shawn was also seen in the short ‘Detached’ and the TV show ‘The Wonderful World of Disney’. Next year, she played the role of Jackie in the comedy ‘Five Aces’ and later appeared as Carol Derricks in the drama ‘Chicago Hope’. In the new millennium, she was only seen in a few projects as she decided to focus on her personal life. She played the role of Margot Burns in the TV series ‘VIP’ in 2000 and later appeared in the movies ‘108 Stitches’ (2001) and ‘Rustin’ (2001). After a long break, she was again seen as a guest actor in an episode of ‘Cold Case’ in 2010. Her last credited role was in the comedy horror movie ‘Love in the Time of Monsters’ (2014).

Shawn Nichols Weatherly was born on July 24, 1959 in San Antonio, Texas. Her mother, Joanne Weatherly, was a Christian Dior model, while her father worked in the US Air Force. She spent her initial few years in San Antonio and later moved along with her family to South Carolina, where she spent the rest of her childhood. She studied at Sumter High School and graduated in 1977. She was previously in relationships with the actor Lee Majors and the sports personality Dwight Clark. In 1994, she married Chip Harris, an executive at a research company. The couple has two children.