Shannen Doherty, who starred in the 1990s hits Beverly Hills, 90210 and Charmed and cult classic film Heathers, has died.
Doherty, who had been treated for cancer for nearly a decade after being diagnosed in 2015, died on Saturday, July 13. 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 fighting the disease,” Doherty’s publicist, Leslie Sloane, said in a statement to People. “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.”
Doherty was born April 12, 1971, in Memphis, Tennessee, and began acting at age 9; her first role was in an episode of NBC’s Father Murphy in December 1981. That series was produced by Michael Landon, who then cast her in the recurring role of Jenny Wilder in Little House on the Prairie. Doherty reprised the role in three Little House TV movies after the series ended and praised Landon as a mentor.
“Little House shaped me in so many ways, and it still is the best experience of my entire career,” Doherty said in on her podcast Let’s Be Clear in May. “It’s kind of amazing because, when I think about the long span of my career, but also how rough some jobs were — and unenjoyable to be a part of, a little bit toxic — 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 — and I don’t care what anybody else’s experience was like, I know the truth about that man, and he was just unbelievable.”
Following a role on the wholesome family drama Our House from 1986-88, Doherty pivoted to a wicked turn in Heathers as Heather Duke, one of a trio of mean girls whom their high school classmate (played by Winona Ryder) targets for elimination.
Her true breakout, however, came two years later with the debut of Beverly Hills, 90210 on Fox, where she played Brenda Walsh, a high schooler who moves with her twin brother, Brandon (Jason Priestley), and their parents from Minnesota to the wealthy L.A. suburb. After a so-so first season in the ratings, the show took off with a batch of summer episodes in 1991, fueled in no small part by Brenda’s turbulent romance with Dylan McKay (Luke Perry).
Doherty left the show in 1994 amid numerous reports of a falling out with her co-stars, most notably Jennie Garth and Tori Spelling — which cemented her reputation in the media as a “bad girl.” Doherty did, however, return for episodes of The CW’s 2000s update 90210 and Fox’s 2019 meta-series BH90210.
She returned to series work in 1998 with Charmed, a WB drama about three sisters who are witches. Doherty starred in the first three seasons of the show, and also directed three episodes, before departing in 2001. Doherty said during a chat with co-star Holly Marie Combs on her podcast that the third member of the trio, Alyssa Milano, maneuvered to have Doherty fired from the show (which Milano denied doing).
