Shannen Doherty Dies: ‘Beverly Hills 90210’ And ‘Charmed’ Star Was 53
Shannen Doherty, who starred as the angst-filled teenager Brenda Walsh on Beverly Hills 90210 and later the good witch Prue on Charmed, has died. She was 53.
Her publicist, Leslie Sloane, said in a statement, “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 fighting the disease.
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“The devoted daughter, sister, aunt and friend was surrounded by her loved ones as well as her dog, Bowie. The family asks for their privacy at this time so they can grieve in peace,” Sloane said.
Doherty had battled breast cancer, first diagnosed in 2015, and went public with the details of her recovery and further health challenges.
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Doherty was a child and teen actress with a number of significant credits, including Little House on the Prairie and Our House, as well as the movie Heathers, when she was cast in Aaron Spelling’s 90210 in 1990.
The show, about two Minnesota siblings who move to Beverly Hills and find themselves in a high school with the rich kids, was a breakout hit, helping to elevate Fox broadcasting into a major network and making her, along with other cast members, celebrity sensations, including Luke Perry, who played her boyfriend on the show, and Jason Priestley, who played her brother. Perry died in 2019.
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The show spawned a hit spinoff, Melrose Place, along with a host of imitators, many of which came and went.
Doherty left the show in 1994, but 90210 went on to run through 2000.
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Later in the decade, Doherty starred in another Spelling series, Charmed, in which she played one of three sister witches, alongside Alyssa Milano and Hollie Marie Combs. She left the series after the third season.
Since then, Doherty appeared in numerous movie and reality show projects, including as a contestant on Dancing with the Stars in 2010 and a brief Paramount Network Heathers TV series in 2018.
Doherty reprised her role of Brenda Walsh in a CW spinoff of 90210 in 2008, and later in a short-lived Fox reboot, BH90210, in 2019.
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Doherty was born on April 12, 1971 and, as a child actress, caught the attention of Michael Landon, who she called a mentor. She had been cast in a guest role on Father Murphy, a series Landon produced, before she was cast on Little House.
She told the Let’s Be Clear podcast earlier this month, “It was really the experience on ‘Little House’ that spurred that passion on for being an actor, and it was having a mentor like Michael Landon,” she said. “And I don’t care what anybody else’s experience was like. I know the truth about that man, and he was just unbelievable. So, so, so talented, so kind, so considerate. It really helped shape me.”
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