On Saturday, actress Shannen Doherty died at the age of 53 after a long battle with cancer. She was born in Memphis and moved to Los Angeles as a child, getting her start at the age of 10 on the TV show “Father Murphy”. She was then cast as Jenny Wilder in “Little House on the Prairie”, appearing in the final season of show.
Her first major movie role was in the dark comedy Heathers in 1988. She gained worldwide fame in the 90s with her breakout role as Brenda Walsh on Beverly Hills 90201. The show was a huge hit, resulting in an excessive amount of scrutiny and gossip, especially for Doherty. She left the show after the 4th season, after a period of strife between her, other cast members, and producers. She gained a reputation for bad behavior that dominated her public image for many years. Doherty’s alleged fighting with her costars dominated tabloid headlines, especially her feud with Jennie Garth. Doherty later admitted to making mistakes, blaming her behavior on her age, the pressures of fame, and issues in her personal life.
In 1998, she starred as one of the lead characters on Charmed, but left the show after the third season amid rumors of tensions between her and costar Alyssa Milano. She competed on the 10th season of Dancing with the Stars in 2010, but was eliminated in the second week. She reprised her role of Brenda Walsh twice, in the 2008 reboot 90210 and in a 2019 dramedy BH90210.
Doherty was diagnosed with breast cancer in March 2015. She went into remission two years later, but in 2020 Doherty announced that her cancer had returned and advanced to stage 4. Last June, she revealed that the cancer had spread to her brain and was terminal and in November announced that it had spread to her bones. Doherty died from cancer at her home in Malibu on July 13 at the age of 53. Learn more here.