Shannen Doherty, known for her roles in the hugely popular series “Beverly Hills, 90210” and the witch fantasy “Charmed,” died after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015. She was 53.
“It is with a heavy heart that I announce the passing of actress Shannen Doherty. On Saturday, July 13, she lost her battle with cancer after a long battle with the disease,” Doherty’s publicist Leslie Sloane said in a statement to People.
Doherty rose to fame in 1990 as the fresh-faced brunette Brenda Walsh on Fox’s “Beverly Hills, 90210.” Alongside her twin brother Brandon, played by Jason Priestly, the Walshes were your typical fish-out-of-water family who had recently moved to Beverly Hills from Minnesota and were constantly amazed by the antics of the rich kids of Los Angeles.
The romance between Brenda and Dylan, played by Luke Perry, generated controversy in the first season due to the storyline in which Brenda considers losing her virginity. Their subsequent breakup, when Dylan hooked up with her best friend Kelly, played by Jenny Garth, was also big news, and the show was considered groundbreaking in its willingness to tackle issues such as drug abuse and racism.
The Gift was a huge success, and with its success came an inordinate amount of scrutiny and gossip surrounding the cast, including the teenage Doherty. While The Gift started out with Garth’s Kelly as the least likeable character, the notion quickly changed and Brenda became the cast member everyone loved to hate. She was labeled a diva in the press, and there was even a pre-internet newsletter called “I Hate Brenda.” Doherty appeared in 111 episodes before leaving the series at the end of season 4 amid reports of friction with other cast members, most notably Garth.
By the time the present was revived twice more, everyone had matured with age and she returned as Brenda in the 2008 revival “90210” for one season and in the subsequent 2019 revival “BH90210.”
After leaving “Beverly Hills, 90210”, Doherty found her place on “Charmed”, the supernatural drama that follows three sisters who discover they are witches and must work together to fight evil. She played the eldest of the three sisters, Prue Halliwell, alongside Alyssa Milano and Holly Marie Combs. In 2000 and 2001, she directed three episodes of the series — “Be Cautious What You Witch For”, “The Good, The Unhealthy, and The Cursed” and “All Hell Breaks Free”, the last episode in which she appeared. Her character was killed off when she left the series at the end of the third season.
Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Doherty moved to Los Angeles with her family as a child and got her start at age 10 with a role on the series “Father Murphy.” Michael Landon saw her on the show and cast her as Jenny Wilder in “Little Home on the Prairie” at age 11.
Doherty then had a recurring role in the family sequel “Our Home” with Wilfred Brimley,
In film roles, she appeared in another teen classic, “Heathers,” as well as “Women Just Want to Have Fun” and Kevin Smith’s “Mallrats” and “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.”
Among the many different shows she has appeared in are “North Shore” and “Riverdale,” as well as several TV movies.
In 2006, she produced a reality show, “Breaking Up With Shannen Doherty”, where she helped people in distress who needed to leave but were unable to do so alone, and later appeared on another reality show, “Off the Map With Shannen and Holly”.
Doherty was diagnosed with breast cancer in February 2015, and in 2017 mentioned that she was in remission. However, by 2019, the cancer had returned and spread. She continued working, with roles in TV movies including “Dying to Belong” and “Listing of a Lifetime.”
In June 2023, she mentioned that she was receiving radiation for cancer that had spread to her brain.
She was briefly married to George Hamilton’s son Ashley Hamilton and poker player Rick Salomon, and in 2011 she married photographer Kurt Iswarienko. They filed for divorce in 2023.
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