 charles george patrick shaughnessy, 5th baron shaughnessy (born 9 february 1955), simply known as charles shaughnessy, is a british peer and television, theatre and film actor. he is known for his roles on american television, as shane donovan on the soap opera days of our lives and as maxwell sheffield on the sitcom the nanny. along with his brother david shaughnessy and ophelia soumekh he is a partner in 3s media solutions inc. ==early life== shaughnessy was born on 9 february 1955 in london, the son of alfred shaughnessy, a television writer who was the scriptwriter for upstairs, downstairs, and the actress jean lodge. his brother, david shaughnessy, is also an actor and a television producer and director. his great-grandfather thomas shaughnessy was an american-born canadian railway administrator of irish descent. having been born into a show-business family, he started appearing in plays during primary school. after attending eton college, he read for a law degree at magdalene college at the university of cambridge where he wrote a thesis on the house of lords. while at cambridge, he joined the footlights club. after graduating, he decided to return to acting and enrolled in a london drama school, which led to him touring in a repertory company. he moved to the united states to follow actress susan fallender, whom he eventually wed. ==career== shaughnessy first became widely known for playing shane donovan on the soap opera days of our lives from 1984 to 1992. his days of our lives characterâs romance with patsy pease's character, kimberly brady, made the duo into a soap supercouple and revived interest in days among teenage viewers in the 1980s. in 1986, he appeared with betty white and bert convy on super password, and in january 1993, shaugnessy appeared in an episode of murphy brown a
1955_births 20th-century_English_male_actors 21st-century_English_male_actors Alumni_of_Magdalene_College,_Cambridge Barons_in_the_Peerage_of_the_United_Kingdom Daytime_Emmy_Award_winners English_male_film_actors English_male_soap_opera_actors English_male_television_actors English_male_voice_actors English_people_of_American_descent English_people_of_Canadian_descent English_people_of_Irish_descent Living_people Male_actors_from_London People_educated_at_Eton_College