Older Posts
Shannon Murray is a legend in Ireland and the UK for being one of the first professional actresses to use a wheelchair. Having an impressive acting resume that includes The Witcher, East Enders and The Dark Tower, she has been unstoppable since her injury in 1990. Read on for her story.
Why She’s Fearless
Shannon, the daughter of legendary rock band manager Frank Murray (who managed Thin Lizzy and the Pouges), entered the disability world when she broke her neck in a diving accident when she was 14 while vacationing in Lanzarote with her family. She became a C7-T2 incomplete para-quad as a result of the injury. After months of rehab, she was able to regain function at the T2 level.
Growing up, Shannon was passionate about acting and performance arts, but after her injury, she thought it was no longer be possible. In 1994, 4 years after her injury, Shannon decided to try modeling after seeing an ad in the Sun newspaper for an upcoming disabled modeling search, “Model in a Million.” Shannon submitted her photos and won.
She also made history as the first model with a disability featured in a High Street fashion campaign for Denenhams, a UK department store. Next, Shannon wanted to become a serious actor. After being was a contestant on the reality show, How to Look Good Naked, a show that taught women how to look their best nude, Shannon wanted more and began to study her acting skills.
After her first role in the film Planet Arse in 2000, Shannon went on to land roles in dozens of TV shows and movies. Her resume includes Diversity, Holby City, Come on Eileen, Casualty and Friends and Crocodiles. One of her biggest roles was Sara Jane on the TV series EastEnders. She was also on the TV show Casualty for 9 years. And in 2020, she was Mrs. Baggott on the TV series Get Even.
After and during the years of the pandemic, Shannon’s career began to be even busier, also thanks in part to an exciting movement of bringing more roles of well-rounded characters with disabilities to the screen. She landed a role on Finding Alice, a TV series, on Viewpoint, a miniseries where she played DC Hayley Jones, Dalgliesh and The Witcher, where she played a nurse in the last episode of Season 2.
What’s Next?
Despite modeling and her success as an actor, Shannon had another career goal. “Be realistic and always have a backup job,” she says, and she went on to become a solicitor — otherwise known as a lawyer in the UK. She graduated from university while working as an actor. Shannon works as a media lawyer and one of the goals of her work is to increase the visibility of people with disabilities in the media.
When she’s not acting, Shannon is also an activist and has been a passionate supporter of Body Gossip, an organization that campaigns for better representation of all body shapes and sizes (and issues) in the media. And she’s active with Back Up, a hugely popular SCI organization in the UK that helps people live independently post-injury.
— Official site of Shannon Murray
ideas@spinalpedia.com
