Shannen Doherty was an actress best known for starring on TV’s “Beverly Hills, 90210” and “Charmed.”
Shannen Doherty’s Ebroa
Doherty’s life onscreen spanned a wide range of television and movie performances from her childhood onward. On “Little House on the Prairie,” she played recurring character Jenny Wilder, beginning when she was just 11. That first TV success brought more roles: a voice credit in the 1982 animated classic “The Secret of NIMH,” a supporting role in the 1985 teen comedy “Girls Just Want To Have Fun,” and a star turn on the two-season mid-1980s TV drama “Our House.” And on the big screen, she played a high school queen bee in the 1988 dark comedy “Heathers.”
90210
In 1990, Doherty was catapulted to stardom as an original cast member of “Beverly Hills, 90210,” the show that offered a new template for teen programming. A soap opera-style drama that centered almost exclusively on teens, “90210” got off to a rocky start in its first season but soon became a massive hit.
As the show thrived, its young stars became the talk of the tabloids, and Doherty became the show’s most popular source of headline fodder. In a 1992 interview with People magazine, she expressed her frustration with all the tabloid attention, suggesting that the gossipmongers singled her out because “I’m a strong woman. There are still some people out there who can’t deal with that.” She left “90210” after the fourth of its ten seasons.
Doherty is the second “90210” star who has died tragically young in recent years; costar Luke Perry died of a stroke in 2019.
Charmed
In 1995, Doherty starred in the comedy film “Mallrats.” Three years later, she returned to a starring TV role on “Charmed,” when producer Aaron Spelling, who was also behind “90210,” offered her a spot on his new series about a family of benevolent witches. Doherty agreed and also brought along a longtime friend as her costar, Holly Marie Combs.
Along with costar Alyssa Milano, the three made “Charmed” a success, with Doherty’s character, Prue Halliwell, later being named the “10th Greatest Witch in TV History” by AOL. Doherty left the show after the third of its eight seasons.
Reality TV
Doherty appeared in a number of made-for-TV movies throughout the 1990s and 2000s. In 2003, she moved into reality television when she hosted the first season of “Scare Tactics,” a hidden-camera show dedicated to pranking victims. She would go on to star in “Breaking Up with Shannen Doherty” (2006), “Shannen Says” (2012), and “Off the Map With Shannen & Holly,” in which she took a viewer-directed road trip with friend and former co-star Combs. Doherty was a competitor on the 10th season of “Dancing With the Stars.”
Breast cancer fight
Doherty announced her diagnosis with breast cancer in March 2015, later undergoing a single mastectomy. In July 2016, Doherty shared photos of herself shaving her head in anticipation of cancer treatments, receiving a huge response on social media. A few weeks later, she revealed that the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes. After announcing in 2017 that her cancer was in remission, Doherty appeared on “Good Morning America” in 2020 to share her new diagnosis with stage 4 breast cancer. In recent years, she documented her medical journey on Instagram.
Doherty on her breast cancer journey
“There are definitely days when I say, ‘Why me?’ And then I go, ‘Why not me? Who else?’ Who else besides me deserves this? None of us do.” —from Doherty’s 2020 “Good Morning America” interview
Tributes to Shannen Doherty
Full obituary: Washington Post
