As the World Turns

Background:

American actor of television and film Shawn Christian became famous while portraying Mike Kasnoff in the long-running soap “As the World Turns“(1994-1997), for which he was nominated for Soap Opera Digest’s Hottest Male Star in 1996. Since then, he has appeared in guest roles in numerous shows like “Malcolm & Eddie,” “Step by Step,” “Friends,” “Spin City,” “Boston Legal,” “Hot Properties,” “CSI: NY,” and more recently in “Will & Grace” and “CSI: Miami.” He also has had recurring roles in dozens of TV series, including “Pacific Palisades,” “Pensacola: Wings of Gold,“ “Charmed,” “Beverly Hills, 90210,” “Crossing Jordan” and “Las Vegas,” as well as starred in such series as “One Life to Live” (2002), “Birds of Prey” (2002-2003) and The WB’s “Summerland” (2004-2995). Christian’s movie credits include Beautiful (2000), 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover (2004) and Murder in the Hamptons (2005, TV).

Off camera, the 1995 nominee of Soap Opera Digest magazine’s “Hottest Male Star” was named “Ultra Hot Male TV Actor” in US Weekly’s August 16, 2004 issue. On a more personal note, Christian is married to Deborah Quinn and has a son and step daughter with her. In addition to water sports, he also enjoys basketball, raquetball, football and weight training.


Hottest Body

Childhood and Family:

Shawn Christian was born on December 18, 1965, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. His father, Ray, is a production manager for a metals company, and his mother, Lynn, is a bookkeeper. He has a younger brother named Chad.

Shawn was educated at Rogers High School in Wyoming, Michigan and Ferris St. University in Big Rapids, Michigan. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Merits for outstanding leadership in his community while in his youth, and named “Hottest Body” by his high school peers in his yearbook.

On May 18, 1996, Shawn tied the knot with model Deborah Quinn, whom he met in Chicago in 1991 while both auditioning for a print ad. Shawn and his wife welcomed a son named Kameron in July 2000. Additionally, he has a step daughter named Taylor Cole (actress/model, born April 29, 1984).


Summerland

Career:

A native of Michigan, Shawn Christian relocated to Chicago after graduating from university in 1989 to chase a career in acting. He began to work on stage with improvisational company Improv Olympic and then branched out to commercials. In 1994, he became the first male spokes model to ever appear on the TV show “Star Search.” The same year, Christian made his television acting debut with the role of Mike Kasnoff in 1956’s series “As the World Turns.” The role brought the actor a Soap Opera Digest nomination for Hottest Male Star in 1996.

After leaving the long-running series in 1997, Christian made his way to Los Angeles to further launch his career. With his success in “As the World Turns,” he landed guest roles in many television shows such as “Malcolm & Eddie” (1997) and “Step by Step” (1998), as well as had recurring roles in Aaron Spelling’s “Pacific Palisades” (1997), “Pensacola: Wings of Gold” (1999-2000, as Dr. Lawrence Brandon) and in such hit series as “Charmed” (1999), as Josh, the love interest of Piper Halliwell (Holly Marie Combs), and “Beverly Hills, 90210” (1999), playing Wayne. During this time, he also starred in the soon cancelled show “Wind on Water” (1998, as Val Poole) and in his TV film debut, CTS: Toronto (1999, opposite Jeremy Irons).

In 2000, Christian eventually had his first taste in front of the movie camera when he was featured as Wink Hendricks in the drama/comedy Beautiful, directed by Sally Field and starring Minnie Driver, Joey Lauren Adams and Kathleen Turner. He followed it up with a string of television assignments, like playing Adam Flynn in three episodes of “Crossing Jordan” (2001), joining the cast of the long-running show “One Life to Live” (2002, as Ross Rayburn) and starring as Wade Brixton in the Shawn Levy-helmed series “Birds of Prey” (2002-2003). Besides, he appeared as a guest star in “Friends,” “Spin City” (both 2001) and “The Chronicle” (2002).

Christian costarred opposite Vivian Wu in the pilot “Red Skies” (2002) as Malcolm Cross, and opposite Jami Gertz in the TV film Undercover Christmas (2003), as an uptight, workaholic FBI agent from a rich family named Jake Cunningham, before returning to cinematic industry with 2004’s 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover, a romantic-comedy which starred Paul Schneider, Jennifer Westfeldt, Poppy Montgomery and Tori Spelling. The following year, he was seen in guest roles in “Boston Legal,” “Hot Properties” and “CSI: NY,” and rejoined Poppy Montgomery for the drama/mystery made-for-TV film Murder in the Hamptons.

During 2004-2005 periods, he also played Johnny Durant in the WB series “Summerland,” costarring Zac Efron, Kay Panabaker and Lori Loughlin. Despite becoming a hit in the first season, Summerland failed to acquire the same attention the second season.

Recently, the actor appeared as a guest star in episodes of “Will & Grace” (2006) and “CSI: Miami” (2006). Additionally, he portrayed Dr. Derek in two episodes of “Las Vegas” (2006).


Awards:
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