Romance brought the actor to America and he moved to Hollywood to marry Susan Fallender, an actress he had met in drama school. Shaughnessy's first Los Angeles appearances included performances at the Mark Taper Forum, the Los Angeles Theatre Company and the Globe Playhouse. He was then cast in the role of Shane Donovan in the daytime series "Days of Our Lives." He stayed with the series for seven years and won three Soap Opera Digest Awards.

Among his other television credits are the miniseries "Till We Meet Again," and the motion pictures-for-television "Dayo," "Everything to Gain" and "A Degree of Deception," as well as guest appearances on "Murphy Brown" and "Mad About You."

He will soon be seen in two independent feature films, "Denial," starring Jason Alexander and Jonathan Silverman, and "Second Chances."

Shaughnessy and his wife live in Santa Monica with their two children.