Shane Michael McRae was born to John and Sharon McRae on July 23, 1977 in Gainsville, Florida.

He is the oldest of three children. His sister, Kelley, was bron November 14, 1979 and currently attends Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. His brother, Rryan, was born December 9, 1982 and has just recently graduated from Starkville High School.

Shane and his family moved to Starkville, MS in 1987.

In 1992, Shane tried out for Starkville High School's spring musical, "Oklahoma!" He got into this production, but found a conflict between it and soccer. So he chose to play soccer instead.
In 1993, he tried out for "Bye, Bye Birdie" which was also put out by Starkville High School. He played the part of Randolph MacAfee.
In 1994, he tried out for "Hello Dolly" yet another SHS production. This time he was among the main characters as Barnaby Tucker.
The spring of 1995, found Shane McRae in at least two highschool drama class productions. He was Nick Bottom in "A Midsummer Night's Dream." He was also Jack in "Pals."
The spring of 1996, was the last semester of Shane's first year in college. He attended Mississippi State University that first year and he performed in the school's production of "South Pacific" as Luther Billis. As a result of this role, he was an Irene Ryan Regional Finalist.
The fall of that same year, Shane chose to attend the University of Evansville where he would study theatre.
Since then he has been in a number of plays.
In 1998, Shane McRae played the part of Ryan in the Promised Land episode "Balancing Act."