Shirley hails from a small Connecticut town on the border of CT and Rhode Island. (So small, Pawcatuck had to borrow a RI zip code because it didn't even have a post office!) Right after graduating from UCONN (Go Huskies!), she took the road most traveled to New York City and enjoyed various odd jobs such as a waitress at the Empire State Building, receptionist at 20th Century Fox, cocktail waitress at the popular disco Visage, as well as a stand-in for 2 years on The Cosby Show. The first year she stood in for Rudy, the second she was grateful to trade in her knee pads to stand-in for the much taller Lisa Bonet. Bet you'll never guess who was Mr. Cosby's stand-in!
She is known for portraying the former veterinarian now forensic specialist Tanya, the consummate lover and hater of all things zombie in We're Alive, a multi-award winning audio podcast (over 40 million downloads worldwide), as well as a deeply conflicted mother in Marriage of Inconvenience, a timely film exploring gay marriage, which has been well received at various festivals.
Making her own earrings started out of necessity, after finding nothing on hand for a last minute outing. Feverishly tearing apart and reconfiguring a pile of her broken and unused jewelry soon became a hobby that satisfies her creative soul (and pocketbook) between gigs. She now rescues and upcycles jewelry from yard sales and thrift shops to keep her one-woman factory going.
