Michael was born in Chicago, and studied Theatre Arts at  Northwestern University where he received a B.S. in Theatre Arts and an M.A. in Oral Interpretation. Following graduation he served two years in the Army, the latter year at Headquarters Company, II Field Force, Vietnam .

Michael eventually arrived on Broadway in “Butterflies Are Free” opposite Gloria Swanson,  and worked extensively Off Broadway and in various regional theatres. While touring "The Day After The Fair" opposite Deborah Kerr, he met his future wife, British actress Vickery Turner, and they set up home in London and Los Angeles. 

Since then, television and film highlights include, the starring role of Major Kiley in the war time series “We’ll Meet Again” opposite Susannah York, the Sci-fi series, "Future Cop" with Ernest Borgnine,  Helen Mirren’s lover, in “Prime Suspect 3”,   Jack Daniels in  “A Very Peculiar Practice”,  Carl in the cult series  “Rock Follies”,   “Little Shop of Horrors” , directed by Frank Oz,   “The Author of Beltraffio”, directed by Tony Scott,  “Nightwatch” with Pierce Brosnan,  “Fatherland” with Rutger Hauer, and American Gun with Donald Sutherland,  and the action series “Riker” for NBC. He also starred in several mini-series including  “Poor Little Rich Girl” with Farrah Fawcett, as well as numerous guest starring appearances, most  recently  “Boston Legal”, “Brothers & Sisters” and "The Riches".
  
Theatre highlights include  “The Price “ at the Leicester Haymarket,  the British premiere of Arthur Kopit’s “The End of the World” (Nuffield, Southampton),  Murray in “A Thousand Clowns” at the Palace, Watford  and Tobias in ”A Delicate Balance” at the Nottingham Playhouse with Eleanor Bron. In London he played leads in the London premiere of AR Gurney’s, “The Dining Room” , “The Glass Menagerie” with Constance Cummings,  and “Artichoke” with Janet Suzman, among many others. In Los Angeles Michael recently appeared on stage as President Warren Harding in the critically acclaimed, “Everyone’s Friend” at the Whitefire Theatre, a play he also co-produced.  

Michael has long combined his acting career with writing and his first play, DEROS On the Funny Farm, was produced at the Long Wharf in New Haven with Kevin Bacon in the lead. It was later done at ACT and in New York.  Other plays include: CO-OPS,  21 LINCOLN STREET, and his one man play, JFK on JFK. Hoyt Hilsman in Backstage West said, “Shannon’s memorable performance captures the soul of the late president like none other in recent memory.”  He recently completed the play "Liberty Rising", about the American Revolution, slated for production in 2012. Michael currently divides his time between London and Los Angeles. His daughter Caitlin lives in London, and is also an actress and writer.