Shannen Doherty, known for her roles on the wildly popular series “Beverly Hills, 90210” and on the witchcraft 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,” Doherty’s publicist Leslie Sloane said in a statement. “On Saturday, July 13, she lost her battle with cancer after many years of fighting the disease. 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 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 Priestley, the Walshes were the classic fish-out-of-water family that had recently moved from Minnesota to Beverly Hills and were constantly amazed at the antics of the L.A. rich kids.

The romance between Brenda and Dylan, played by Luke Perry, spawned controversy in the first season for the storyline where Brenda considers losing her virginity. Their later breakup, when Dylan hooked up with her best friend Kelly, played by Jennie Garth, was also big news, and the show was considered groundbreaking in its willingness to address topics like drug abuse and racism.

 

 

The show was a massive hit, and with its success came an inordinate amount of scrutiny and gossip surrounding the cast, including teen-aged Doherty. Though the show had started out with Garth’s Kelly as the less likable character, the perception soon changed and Brenda become the cast member everyone loved to hate on. 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 revival 2019 “BH90210.”

After her stormy departure from “Beverly Hills, 90210,” Doherty found her footing on “Charmed,” the supernatural drama following three sisters who discover they are witches and must work together to fight evil. She played the oldest of the three sisters, Prue Halliwell, alongside 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 last episode she appeared in. Her character was killed off when she left the series at the end of the third season.

Born in Memphis, Tenn., Doherty moved to Los Angeles with her family as a child and got her start at age 10 with a role on the series “Father Murphy.” Michael Landon saw her in 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 in “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” and Kevin Smith’s “Mallrats” and “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.”

 

 

Among the other shows she appeared on were “North Shore,” and “Riverdale” as well as in a number of TV movies.

Shannen Doherty starred in “Beverly Hills 90210.”©Aaron Spelling Prods/Courtesy

In 2006, she produced a reality show, “Breaking Up With Shannen Doherty,” where she helped people in relationship peril who wanted to get out but couldn’t do it on their own, and later appeared in another reality show, “Off the Map With Shannen and Holly.”

Doherty was diagnosed with breast cancer in February 2015, and in 2017 said she was in remission. But by 2019 the cancer had returned and spread. She continued working, with roles in TV movies including “Dying to Belong” and “List of a Lifetime.” Doherty also hosted a popular podcast, “Let’s Be Clear With Shannen Doherty,” in which she discussed her career and talked frankly about how breast cancer had impacted her life.

In June 2023, she said she had been receiving radiation 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.

Shannen Doherty, Star of Beverly Hills, 90210 and Charmed, Dies at 53: ‘Devoted Daughter, Sister, Aunt and Friend’

The ‘Beverly Hills, 90210’ and ‘Charmed’ star was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015

Shannen Doherty has died after years of living with cancer, PEOPLE has confirmed. 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 longtime publicist Leslie Sloane confirmed in an exclusive statement to PEOPLE on Sunday, July 14.

The Beverly Hills 90210 star was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 and spoke candidly to PEOPLE in November 2023 about her Stage 4 breast cancer, which had by then spread to her bones, saying at the time that she didn’t “want to die.”

“I’m not done with living. I’m not done with loving. I’m not done with creating. I’m not done with hopefully changing things for the better,” she told PEOPLE. “I’m just not — I’m not done.”

Shannen Doherty. EARL GIBSON III/GETTY

Following her March 2015 diagnosis, the actress revealed just over two years later in April 2017 that she had gone into remission, however, by 2019, the cancer returned. Doherty announced her diagnosis of metastatic stage 4 cancer publicly in 2020. Then, in June of 2023, the actress shared that the cancer had spread to her brain and that she had undergone surgery.

Doherty posted on Instagram on June 6, 2023, sharing in a candid and emotional message that the cancer had spread to her brain. Then, later the same month in another post, that she had undergone surgery in January 2023 — describing the fear she felt ahead of the procedure as “overwhelming” — to remove a brain tumor, which she had named Bob.

“He had to get removed and dissected to see his pathology,” she told PEOPLE in November 2023. “It was definitely one of the scariest things I’ve ever been through in my entire life.”

Despite that, the actress was determined to continue working as she lived with the disease.

Shannen Doherty photographed at Smashbox Studios in Culver City, CA, on November 20, 2023.JOHN RUSSO

“People just assume that it means you can’t walk, you can’t eat, you can’t work. They put you out to pasture at a very early age —‘You’re done, you’re retired,’ and we’re not,” she said, adding “We’re vibrant, and we have such a different outlook on life. We are people who want to work and embrace life and keep moving forward.”

Indeed, before her death, Doherty hoped to raise funds, and awareness, for cancer research, while at the same time demonstrating to others that people like herself, with terminal cancer, are still individuals with plenty to contribute.

“When you ask yourself, ‘Why me? Why did I get cancer?’ and then ‘Why did my cancer come back? Why am I stage 4?,’ that leads you to look for the bigger purpose in life,” she said.

Her candid comments echoed her words from a 2020 interview with Amy Robach for ABC News that aired on Good Morning America, in which she was equally pragmatic.

“I definitely have days where I say, ‘Why me?’” Doherty told Robach of the development in her health at the time. “And then I go, well, ‘Why not me? Who else? Who else besides me deserves this?’ None of us do.”

That interview with Robach marked Doherty first revealing her breast cancer had returned as stage 4 cancer after she had previously gone into remission.

“It’s going to come out in a matter of days or a week that I’m stage 4. So my cancer came back, and that’s why I’m here,” Doherty said on Good Morning America. “I don’t think I’ve processed it. It’s a bitter pill to swallow in a lot of ways.”

Shannen Doherty photographed at Smashbox Studios in Culver City, CA, on November 20, 2023.JOHN RUSSO

Although she gained praise for openly talking about living with cancer later in life, Doherty rose to fame as Brenda Walsh on the original Beverly Hills, 90210, which premiered in October 1990.

The actress left the show after the fourth season in 1994. (She later revisited the character with several guest appearances on the 2008 reboot 90210.)

THE LIFE PICTURE COLLECTION/GETTY

After her Beverly Hills fame, Doherty was cast in Charmed as Prue Halliwell, the oldest of three sisters who are witches. Along with starring in the series, she also directed several episodes, she left the show at the end of the third season in 2001.

Doherty worked steadily throughout her career and even ventured into reality television with the short-lived Breaking Up with Shannen Doherty and as a contestant on Dancing with the Stars.

In 2019, she signed on to join the TV reboot of Beverly Hills, 90210, once again playing an adult version of the character that made her famous.

Though the actress said she was aware of her stage 4 cancer diagnosis, she kept it a secret from the cast after the unexpected death of her costar Luke Perry in March 2019 at age 52.

“It’s so weird for me to be diagnosed and then somebody who was, you know, seemingly healthy to go first,” Doherty told Robach on Good Morning America in 2020. “It was really, like, shocking.”

Fox

Doherty said participating in the TV reboot, which aired on Fox, was the “least I could do” to honor Perry — and it was also an opportunity to prove that she could continue to work despite her health.

“One of the reasons, along with Luke, that I did 90210 and didn’t really tell anybody [was] because I thought, people can look at that [as] people with stage 4 can work too,” she explained.

Her strength was recognized by her fellow actors on the show, with Brian Austin Green speaking to PEOPLE in praise of her.

“Shannen is absolutely leading by example and showing people that even in the toughest of times, you can keep your head up and you can be a good person,” Austin Green said. “And she is: She’s an amazing person and an inspiration.”

Most poignantly, Doherty talked in her 2023 PEOPLE interview about her love of life, her gratitude for being able to wake up and spend time with her family, friends and dog and her hopeful approach to the future.

“My greatest memory is yet to come,” she told PEOPLE. “I pray. I wake up and go to bed thanking God, praying for the things that matter to me without asking for too much. It connects me to a higher power and spirituality. My faith is my mantra.”

She shared that cancer had made her more aware of life and the world around her.

“I know it sounds cheesy and crazy, but you’re just more aware of everything, and you feel so blessed. We’re the people who want to work the most, because we’re just so grateful for every second, every hour, every day we get to be here.”

 An early draft of this article was written by Jodi Guglielmi and Aili Nahas.