American actor Shannen Doherty, best known for her role as high school student Brenda Walsh on hit 1990s television drama Beverly Hills, 90210, has died after years of living with cancer, People magazine reported on Sunday. 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,” the magazine cited Doherty’s publicist Leslie Sloane as saying.
Doherty had been public about her battle with breast cancer, disclosing in 2015 that she was undergoing treatment for the disease. In 2023, she had a brain tumour removed and revealed that the cancer had spread to her bones.
The actress, who had previously starred in the movie Heathers, gained widespread popularity on 90210 for her portrayal of Brenda, an honour roll student from Minnesota who struggled to fit in with her classmates in the wealthy zip code.
Her character on the show became entwined in a love triangle with Dylan McKay (Luke Perry) and Kelly Taylor (Jennie Garth). In real life, Doherty clashed with Garth and other castmates and left 90210 during its fourth season in 1994. The show continued through 2000 without her.
In 1998, 90210 producer Aaron Spelling cast Doherty in supernatural series Charmed as Prue Halliwell, the oldest of three sisters with magical abilities. The show was a hit, but also subject to reports of behind-the-scenes turmoil.
People magazine called Doherty “the iconic ‘bad girl’ of the nineties,” citing her reputation for partying, turning up late on sets and feuding with actors – and her bosses.
In 2023, on a podcast called Let’s Be Clear with Shannen Doherty, the actor said she took “full responsibility for her actions” and acknowledged her behaviour “would get a little carried away” when she was frequenting nightclubs in her early 20s.
She also said she spoke up more than other women working in television at the time, telling Spelling and others when she thought a script needed improvement.
“I was raised to have an opinion, and that my opinion should be valued, so I just kept on pressing up against that machine, up against men who didn’t really want to hear my opinion,” she said on the podcast.
Later, “I learned the simple art of diplomacy. I learned that there might be a nicer way to say some things,” she said.
The actor reprised the role of Brenda for 90210 reboots in 2008 and 2019 and said she and Garth had reconciled after the two became adults and left their teenage conflicts behind.
Doherty was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 12, 1971, and began acting as a child. At age 11, she played Jenny Wilder in the final season of TV classic Little House on the Prairie.
In 1988, Doherty was cast in the dark comedy Heathers, which went on to become a cult classic.
Doherty was married three times, most recently to photographer Kurt Iswarienko. She filed for divorce from him in 2023.