Shannen Doherty Dies from Breast Cancer at 53

Beverly Hills 90210 and Charmed star Shannen Doherty died from cancer on July 23, 2024. She was 53.

Her publicist, Leslie Sloane, said in a statement: “It is with a heavy heart that I confirm the passing of actress Shannen Doherty.

“The devoted daughter, sister, aunt and friend was surrounded by her loved ones as well as her dog, Bowie.”

Shannen Doherty spent over four decades as an actress. She is best known for playing Brenda Walsh on four seasons of 90210. The series followed a group of Beverly Hills teenagers as they faced relationship and family issues.

She was nominated for several awards for her role on the show.

Shannen Doherty later went on to play Brenda in a 2008 reboot of the series where her character grew up to become a theatre actress.

She was diagnosed with breast cancer in March 2015 and underwent a mastectomy, radiation and chemotherapy. She announced she was in remission in 2017, but the cancer returned two years later.

The actress was open about her battle with cancer, documenting it on social media. In a June 2023 Instagram video, she shared that the the cancer spread to her brain. She announced last fall that she is committed to battling the disease despite it spreading to her bones.

“I’m not done with living. I’m not done with loving. I’m not done with creating,” she said to People magazine in November 2023.

Image source: Wikimedia Commons

Born in Memphis, Shannen Doherty started acting as a child. She appeared in TV series including Voyagers, Our House and Father Murphy before starring as Jenny Wilder at the age of 11 in Little House on the Prairie.

Three years later in 1985, she got her first major film role starring in Girls Just Want to Have Fun, which also starred Sarah Jessica Parker and Helen Hunt.

In 1988, Shannen Doherty played Heather Duke in the iconic teen film Heathers alongside Winona Ryder, Lisanne Falk and Kim Walker.

Shannen Doherty struggled at the time with being young and famous, earning a reputation as a troublemaker on the set of 90210.

“I was very confused back then about what I wanted for myself, and the attention was way too much,” she said.

“I didn’t always handle it that well.”

Shannen Doherty later starred in Charmed, a show about three sisters who were witches.

She also played roles in North Shore, set in a Hawaii hotel, and the offbeat film comedy Mallrats.

The actress was married twice before marrying her current husband, photographer Kurt Iswarienko, in 2011.

In the 2010s, she ventured into reality TV appearing on Dancing With The Stars.

Shannen Doherty was a passionate animal rights activist. Her semi-autobiographical book Badass, released in 2010, encouraged young women to live life with attitude and confidence.