Shannen Doherty, ‘Beverly Hills, 90210’ star, dead at 53 after cancer battle
Shannen Doherty died after a lengthy battle with stage 4 cancer. 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,” her longtime publicist, Leslie Sloane, told People in a statement on Sunday.
“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 continued.
As a child actress, Doherty made a name for herself as Jenny Wilder in “Little House on the Prairie” and went on to appear in “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” alongside Sarah Jessica Parker as well as “Heathers” with Winona Ryder.
But the Memphis native found true Hollywood success when she was cast as Brenda Walsh in Aaron Spelling’s “Beverly Hills, 90210.”
She appeared on the Fox series from 1990 to 1994 but left following an alleged altercation with co-star Jennie Garth, which reportedly ended in fisticuffs.
Show writer-producer Larry Mollin later claimed that Doherty had angered the staff by chopping her hair halfway through shooting the season finale, which was the final straw.
In 1998, Doherty reunited with Spelling for what would become the long-running series “Charmed.” Cast as Prue Halliwell, she acted opposite Alyssa Milano and Holly Marie Combs.
Doherty departed the WB fantasy drama at the end of its third season as a result of behind-the-scenes disputes with Milano. She was replaced by Rose McGowan.
Milano revealed in 2017 that she and Doherty had let bygones be bygones and mended their friendship.
“Shannen and I talk a lot on Twitter via [direct messages], and I spoke to her maybe two or three days ago,” Milano said at the time. “She was on vacation, and we decided that we’re going to get together.”
Over the years, Doherty appeared in various TV shows before landing on her own reality series, “Breaking Up with Shannen Doherty,” in 2006. It lasted for one season on Oxygen.
In 2011, Doherty wed photographer Kurt Iswarienko following brief marriages to actor Ashley Hamilton and poker player Rick Salomon in the ’90s and early aughts, respectively.
“Cancer solidified us,” she told People in 2019. “Kurt and I have a much deeper appreciation for each other now.”
Although their marriage was at one time “solidified,” Doherty filed for divorce from Iswarienko in April 2023 after being left with “no other option.”
Her publicist, Leslie Sloane, later told Page Six that Iswarienko’s agent had been “intimately involved” in the split.
Doherty was first diagnosed with breast cancer in March 2015, but it did not become public knowledge until she sued her former business managers for allegedly mismanaging her money and allowing her health insurance to lapse, which meant she could not go to the doctor.
As a result, she received a delayed diagnosis, which allowed the cancer to spread.
Once her diagnosis made headlines, the actress updated fans regularly on how her battle was going.
In August 2016, she revealed her breast cancer had spread to her lymph nodes and that she believed she would be dead within five years.
Less than a year later, the self-described “cancer slayer” announced she was in remission and joined the short-lived “BH90210” reboot, which starred original cast members Garth, Jason Priestley, Ian Ziering, Gabrielle Carteris, Brian Austin Green and Tori Spelling.
Doherty announced in February 2020 that her cancer had returned and was stage 4.
“I’m petrified,” she told “Good Morning America” of her relapse. “I’m pretty scared.”
Though she admitted she was “depressed,” her co-star Priestley said Doherty was “in good spirits.”
“Shannen’s a real tough girl, and Shannen’s a fighter, and she’s always been a fighter, and I know that she will continue to fight as hard as she can,” he said in an interview with Australia’s “Studio 10.”
In June 2023, the TV star announced that her cancer had metastasized to her brain.
“But that fear…. The turmoil….. the timing of it all…. This is what cancer can look like,” she shared on social media.
Doherty is survived by her mother, Rosa Elizabeth Doherty, and her brother, Sean Doherty. She did not have children.
