Getty Images for Hallmark Channel
Shannen Doherty, known for her roles in the wildly popular series “Beverly Hills, 90210” and in the witchy fantasy “Charmed,” has died after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015. She was 53.
“It is with a heavy heart that I confirm the passing of actress Shannen Doherty. On Saturday, July 13, she lost her battle with cancer after many years of battling 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.” Along with her twin brother Brandon, played by Jason Priestly, the Walshes were the classic family who had just moved from Minnesota to Beverly Hills and were constantly baffled by the antics of the rich kids from L.A.
The romance between Brenda and Dylan, played by Luke Perry, caused controversy in the first season due to a storyline in which Brenda considers losing her virginity. Their subsequent breakup, when Dylan breaks up with her best friend Kelly, played by Jenny Garth, was also big news, and the show was seen as groundbreaking in its willingness to address topics such as drug abuse and racism.
The show was a huge hit, and with its success came an inordinate amount of criticism and gossip about the cast, including the teenage Doherty. Although the show started out with Garth’s Kelly as the less likable character, perceptions 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 four amid reports of friction with other cast members, particularly Garth.
Jason Priestley, left, Shannen Doherty, Jennie Garth and Ian Ziering on “Beverly Hills 90210.”
By the time the show was rebooted two more times, everyone had mellowed with age, and Doherty returned as Brenda in the 2008 revival “90210” for one season and in the later 2019 revival “BH90210”.
After her stormy departure from “Beverly Hills, 90210,” Doherty found her niche in “Charmed,” the supernatural drama about three sisters who discover they are witches and must band together to battle evil. She played the eldest of the three sisters, Prue Halliwell, opposite Alyssa Milano and Holly Marie Combs. In 2000 and 2001, she directed three episodes of the series — “Be Careful What You Witch For,” “The Good, The Bad, and The Cursed,” and “All Hell Breaks Loose,” the final 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 with her family to Los Angeles as a child and began her career at age 10 with a role on the series “Father Murphy.” Michael Landon saw her on the series and cast her as Jenny Wilder in “Little House on the Prairie” at age 11.
Doherty then had a recurring role on the family series “Our House” with Wilfred Brimley,
In feature films, she appeared in another teen classic, “Heathers,” as well as “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” and Kevin Smith’s “Mallrats” and “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.”
Other shows she appeared in include “North Shore” and “Riverdale” and in a number of TV movies.
Shannen Doherty starred in “Beverly Hills 90201.”
©Aaron Spelling Prods/With thanks to
In 2006, she produced a reality show, “Breaking Up With Shannen Doherty”, in which she helped people who were in relationship trouble and wanted to get out, but couldn’t do it on their own. She later appeared in another reality show, “Off the Map With Shannen and Holly”.
Doherty was diagnosed with breast cancer in February 2015 and said in 2017 that she was in remission. But by 2019, the cancer had returned and spread. She continued to work, with roles in TV movies such as “Dying to Belong” and “List of a Lifetime.”
In June 2023, she said she had undergone radiation treatment 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.