![Tournament of TV Fanatic: Leighton Meester vs. Shane West!](https://tv-fanatic-res.cloudinary.com/iu/s--lFHQXQjG--/c_fill,d_tv-fanatic-placeholder-square.png,f_auto,g_auto,h_258,q_auto,w_424/v1371234011/leighton-image)
Shane West was born June 10, 1978 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
He began to pursue an acting career at the age of fifteen, gaining bit parts on various television shows, but it was not until 1999 when West appeared in ABC's "Once and Again" that he got his major breakthrough.