Shell came to Los Angeles with her family just before entering junior high school. "At that time," she explains, "I was the world's most outstanding reject, all gangling and quiet," hardly a fitting description for the vivacious, petite actress now. Shell recalls how uncoordinated she felt in gym classes in those days. However, to her amazement, she bettered three California state track records when her class was given a physical fitness test.

When Shell was 14 her mother died. Two years later her father moved back east to accept a position as vice president with a large corporation. Shell and her brother decided to stay in Los Angeles.

Shell's eyes light up as she speaks of her brother. "Fred was a prodigy in classical guitar but now he's the lead singer of a rock group. Since I'm a frustrated singer, I live vicariously through him."

Shell is not unfamiliar with the rock scene. At the tender age of 15 she left school and went to work as a reporter for a magazine specializing in rock 'n' roll. In all her exuberance, Shell is surprisingly business-minded, investing in real estate and the stock market. Additionally, Shell has written a screenplay and a television pilot and plans to one day star in both.