Shannon McRandle

Shannon Lynn McRandle (born in 1969 as Shannon Lynn Jones in in Killeen, Texas, US) is a professional model, picked by Lucasfilm to represent Mara Jade in the photos taken for the Star Wars card games.

Early life
Shannon Lynn Jones was born in 1969 in Killeen, Texas, US, to Leonard Jones (stationed at Fort Hood, drafted into the army for the Vietnam War) and Barbara Kubiszewski WalshFor. She has two younger half-sisters, Hillary and Adrienne, from her step-father (John Meador).

She began modeling at the age of three for department store fashion shows in the Richmond, Virginia area. By age 12, modeling between D.C. and the Hampton Roads area took up a good deal of her time.

Education and career
After High School, she moved to Las Vegas for 4 years, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication Studies (1993) from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, with an emphasis on Public Relations and a minor in Sociology. She's worked photo, runway, and character modeling since she was twelve throughout the northeast US and in Las Vegas, NV. She enjoyed a busy and successful career as a make-up artist in the Hampton Roads and Virginia Beach areas. While living in Las Vegas, she worked as a promotional model at the Las Vegas Convention Center, Bally's Mirage, MGM, and in the Roman Festival at Caesar's Palace. For the last several years,she has also been the image of the LucasFilm, Ltd. character, Mara Jade, for Star Wars merchandise. At the time the original photos were taken in 1999 she was known as Shannon Baksa, from her first marriage.

Before 1998, Mara Jade appeared only as an illustration, but after that, illustrations attempt to simulate McRandle's look. According to the short story Sleight of Hand: The Tale of Mara Jade, Mara Jade was present in Jabba's Palace under the guise of Arica while Luke Skywalker was held captive. Before the release of the Star Wars DVDs, there was a rumor that Shannon was to appear in the Special Edition version of Return of the Jedi as a cameo. However this did not occur.

Personal life
Shannon is married to Jamie McRandle at September 18, 2002. They have two sons, Riley (2003), Logan (2005), and Shannon has a daughter named Willow from a previous marriage. She and her family live in Virginia Beach.

Star Wars
Her favorite movie is "The Empire Strikes Back". When she heard she had an appointment for the casting, she ran out and got a few of the comics and one of the first three novels. She loved Mara right away, especially in the Zahn books: "She is a big, bold character. Strong, self efficient, beautiful, smart.  Who wouldn't like her.  I loved reading about her and was very happy being asked to portray her.  She really set the goal for the female characters in the SW Universe!  I liked her best when she was Darkside, least when she was getting married...I thought the fussing over the wedding dress in the comic was a little unlike her.  She was most fun when she was trying to kick Luke's butt!" Shannon has said that a small part in the movies for fun for the fans sounds great. She has stated her displeasure with Sacrifice, where Mara dies.