A native from Green Lake, Wisconsin, where she was the salutatorian of her 1983 high school graduating class, in 1985 Whirry was accepted to study at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, one of only 365 accepted out of 3,000 applicants and one of only 65 to graduate the 2-year program. While attempting to establish her career in New York, Whirry worked as a bartender, took a number of small bit roles and appeared in a commercial for FedEx the latter work finally allowed her to join the Screen Actors Guild. Her first film role was in the action film Out For Justice starring Steven Seagal. She thereafter began to work in a number of direct-to-video erotic B-movies and unrated thrillers, concurrent with Tanya Roberts, Maria Ford, and Shannon Tweed who appeared in the same kinds of films at the time. Released October 21st, 1992, 'Animal Instincts' stars Shannon Whirry, Maxwell Caulfield, Jan-Michael Vincent, Delia Sheppard The R movie has a runtime of about 1 hr 36 min, and received a. She starred in Gregory Hippolyte's productions of Animal Instincts I and II, Body of Influence, and Mirror Images II.
Entertainment Weekly referred to Whirry and Hippolyte as 'the Dietrich and Von Sternberg of the soft-core set' Other films at the time included Private Obsession and Playback, a Playboy production. In the late-1990s, she transitioned from erotic thrillers into a series of roles on mainstream network television and films, including action, sci-fi and horror genres. #Animal instincts shannon whirry series#.
