Erika Eleniak

Erika Maya Eleniak is an American actress and model who gained recognition for her television and film roles, most notably portraying Shauni McClain on the series Baywatch. Throughout her career, she has appeared in feature films, television shows, independent projects, and interactive media.

Eleniak was born on September 29, 1969, in Glendale, California. Her father moved to the Los Angeles area from Canada to pursue a career in film. Her ancestry traces back to Wasyl Eleniak, a native of Eastern Galicia who became a pioneer of Ukrainian immigration to Canada in 1891.

Eleniak made her feature-film debut at age twelve in the 1982 movie E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, playing a student kissed by Elliott Taylor in a classroom scene. In 1988, she played Vicki De Soto in the horror film The Blob, a remake of the 1958 film. In April 1989, she appeared on the cover of Playboy magazine, followed by a nautical-themed pictorial in July 1989. That same year, she took on a recurring role as Stephanie Curtis in Charles in Charge and landed her role as Shauni McClain on Baywatch, playing the character from 1989 to 1992.

While working on television, Eleniak played Carrie in a 1990 episode of Full House. She returned to film acting in 1992 as Jordan Tate in the action movie Under Siege. In 1993, she starred as Elly May Clampett in the feature film adaptation of The Beverly Hillbillies. She subsequently starred in the 1994 romantic comedy Chasers, directed by Dennis Hopper, opposite William McNamara.

Eleniak worked with McNamara again in the 1995 film Girl in the Cadillac and portrayed identical twins Jamie and Janie in the 1995 interactive video game Panic in the Park. She continued working in independent films and television, including an appearance on the reality series The Real Gilligan's Island in June 2005.

Eleniak has experienced weight issues during her life, including an eating disorder that left her underweight and led to hospitalization for laxative abuse. By 2006, she joined the fourth season of VH1's Celebrity Fit Club. In 2006, she also appeared on the British podcast '80s Movie and Music Fest Cafe to discuss her career, Baywatch, and her experience on Celebrity Fit Club.

In her personal life, Eleniak was engaged to her Baywatch co-star Billy Warlock. She married bodybuilder Philip Goglia on May 22, 1998, but the marriage ended in divorce six months later. After filming Snowbound in Calgary, Alberta, in 2001, she relocated to Calgary and married set key grip Roch Daigle. Following an ectopic pregnancy in 2005 that required surgery, she later gave birth to a daughter. On April 15, 2026, it was announced that she will reprise her role as Shauni McClain in a Baywatch reboot.