Shannen Doherty, ‘Beverly Hills, 90210’ Star, Dead at 53

Iconic ’90s actress and Hollywood bad girl Shannen Doherty, star of Beverly Hills, 90210 and Charmed , died on Saturday after a years-long battle with breast cancer, according to her publicist, Leslie Sloane. Doherty was at 53.

Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Doherty moved to Los Angeles with her family when she was 7 and entered the acting business shortly after.

Her first onscreen jobs included a recurring role as Jenny Wilder as Little House on the Prairie . In her teen years, she played Heather Duke in Heathers, a film beloved by Gen Xers that set the stage for Mean Girls .

In 1990 she landed her big break in the FOX teen drama Beverly Hills, 90210 , where she starred as Brenda Walsh, the rebellious and fun midwesterner who moved to L.A.’s toniest zip code and struggled to fit in amongst her posh peers. She left the show in 1994, but reunited with series producer Aaron Spelling in 1998 when she was cast in his show Charmed . Her character was eventually replaced in 2001.

She reprised her role as Walsh in the 2008 90210 sequel, and again in BH90210 , a 2019 Meta set up.

She competed on Dancing With the Stars in 2010 and appeared in a Riverdale tribute episode to her Beverly Hills 90210 co-star Luke Perry, who died in 2019.

In 2016 she spoke out about her battle with Breast Cancer, telling Entertainment Tonight that, “Pain is manageable… the unknown is always the scariest part,”

Doherty’s fame didn’t come without scandal. In 1997, she was sentenced to anger-management counseling by a Beverly Hills Municipal Court judge after she allegedly smashed a beer bottle onto a man’s windshield; and after a 2001 drunk driving arrest, she was ordered to serve five days in a work-release program.

Her 90210 co stars have spoken out about her passing, Jason Priestley referring to her as “a force of nature” and Rose McGowan stating, “Shannen was passion.”