Michelle E. Smith, later known as Shelly Shenoy, was born in Denver, Colorado, to Mary Dunning, an artist and teacher, and Mark Smith, a consultant and author. Shenoy's ancestry is a mix of German, Irish, and Swedish descent.
Shenoy began her acting career at the tender age of four, performing with the Imaginating Dramatics Co. By the time she was seven, she had already appeared in her first television commercial. As she grew older, Shenoy's passion for acting only intensified, and she was accepted into The Young Americans, a renowned musical theater organization, at the age of 18.
Shenoy spent three years touring nationally with The Young Americans and completed her first two years of college on the road. Eventually, she made the move to New York City in 2002 to pursue her acting dreams.
In 2004, Shenoy joined the all-female sketch comedy troupe "The Brothel," alongside Margaret Rose Champagne and Marisa Miller Wolfson. Shenoy's writing debut, "Girlscouts," won the Chicago Reject-Fest and landed her a spot in the Primetime Performance Saturday Night Show at The Funniest Week in Chicago in 2007. The show outperformed the SNL Alumni Showcase that night and received a full-page article in Time Out Chicago and Time Out NY.
In 2007, Shenoy refocused her training on on-camera legit acting, despite her passion for film and television. However, her voice-over career took center stage. Shenoy landed her first role in an animated series as the principal character Mickey in "Casper the Friendly Ghost: Casper Goes to Scare School" on The Cartoon Network and Netflix. By the end of season one, Shenoy was voicing 25 additional characters, including beloved fan favorites FlyBoy, Harpo, Dummy Girl, and the School Nurse.
In 2012, Shenoy auditioned and booked her first film role as TARA in "8:46." She was written up in the New York Times review as "the Newcomer to Watch." "8:46" went on to win an award for Best Ensemble Cast at the Cannes International Film Festival.
Shenoy has voiced dozens of ensemble characters as the head voice artist and loop grouper for Telltale Video Games, including "The Walking Dead," "Minecraft," "Game of Thrones," and "Batman." In September 2016, Shenoy made her co-starring debut in Telltale's "The Walking Dead," playing the role of "Kate."
In 2016, Shenoy spent four months working as the voice director for a Netflix original animated series, "Bing."
