Shannen Doherty, 'Beverly Hills, 90210,' 'Heathers' & 'Charmed' Star, Dies at 53

Shannen Doherty, the star of "Beverly Hills, 90210" and "Charmed" who went public with a long cancer battle, has died.

She was 53.

Her death was confirmed in a message to "Extra" by publicist Leslie Sloane, who said, "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 devoted daughter, sister, aunt and friend was surrounded by her loved ones as well as her dog, Bowie," she went on. "The family asks for their privacy at this time so they can grieve in peace."

Her "Beverly Hills, 90210" co-star Jason Priestley immediately memorialized her on Instagram with a cast photo of the two. He played her brother on the phenomenally popular series. "Shocked and saddened to hear about the passing of my friend Shannen. She was a force of nature and I will miss her," he wrote. "Sending love and light to her family in this dark time."

Jennie Garth shared, "I am still processing my tremendous grief over the loss of my long time friend Shannen, the woman I have often described as one of the strongest people I have ever known. Our connection was real and honest. We were so often pitted against each other but none of that reflected the truth of our real relationship which was one built on mutual respect and admiration. She was courageous, passionate, determined and very loving and generous. I will miss her and will always honor her deeply in my heart and in my memories."

Tori Spelling posted a selfie of them together on her Instagram Stories and wrote, "I don't have outward words yet... but WE knew and that's what matters."

Tori later shared, "I was 15 when Shan and I met. I was the boss’s daughter with no voice and she was the star with a big voice. She took me under her wing. She gave me the belief I had a voice and was worthy. We became fast best friends. We were each others wing women, true confidantes, support systems navigating bad relationships, roomates of sorts at times, travel buddies, and so much more. She always stuck up for me. Always had my back. Always believed in me when I didn’t or couldn’t believe in myself."

She continued, "We were young. We let a lot of outside and inside influences influence our friendship. In a world where we often don’t get to make up with the childhood friendships that formed so much of the adult you become, we got that chance. I’m grateful @theshando and I got to go back in time as adult friends and remember why we truly loved each other to begin with. To reminisce. And, to iconically laugh again like we used to. No one could make me laugh like that. Core laughs!"

Brian Austin Green, also of "Beverly Hills, 90210," wrote in an Instagram Story, "Shan. My sister... ..You loved me through everything. You were a big part of my understanding of love. I'll miss you more than I know how to process right now. Thank you for the gift of you."

"Beverly Hills, 90201's" Gabrielle Carteris wrote on Instagram, "So young - so sad. May you RIP Shannen. I know Luke is there with open arms to love you."

Olivia Munn, who battled cancer herself, wrote on Instagram of her fast friendship with Doherty, remembering her as a person who faced her diagnosis with "such dignity, strength and grace."

Doherty had been diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015. She went into remission by 2017, but the cancer was back in 2019.

In 2020, Doherty confirmed her cancer had metastasized, and was stage 4. She underwent surgery in June 2023 after it had spread to her brain.

In November of last year, she announced the cancer had spread to her bones and that the situation was dire. Still, Doherty said to People, “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. I’m just not — I’m not done.”

Doherty's approach was to focus on living, not dying — she wanted to keep moving forward, working, and learning about herself. These were frequent topics of her popular "Let's Be Clear with Shannen Doherty" podcast.

Just three weeks ago, she tearfully talked about having to go through a new round of chemotherapy.

Doherty was born April 12, 1971, in Memphis. Even before her success on "Beverly Hills, 90210," she was a busy child actor, appearing in Pepsi ads and on Michael Landon's "Father Murphy" (1981) and "Little House on the Prairie" (1982-1983), on which she played Jenny Wilder 18 times.

She did voice work in "The Secret of NIMH" (1982), appeared in the raunchy Ron Howard-directed "Night Shift" (1982), and played Kathleen Kennedy in the miniseries "Robert Kennedy and His Times" (1985), before kicking off a series of teen roles in the feature "Girls Just Want to Have Fun." The 1985 film based on the Cyndi Lauper track of the same name bombed, but what a future-famous cast — Doherty was joined by Sarah Jessica Parker and Helen Hunt.

She was a regular on TV's "Our House" (1986-1988) with Deidre Hall, but it was the film that came out right after that made all the difference for her career.

Appearing as one of the titular "Heathers" in the 1988 black-comic classic was a huge boost. Heather Duke, a fan of red scrunchies, memorably says upon the death of one of her clique, "I prayed for the death of Heather Chandler many times, and I felt bad every time I did it... but I kept doing it anyway. Now I know you understood everything. Praise Jesus. Hallelujah!"

By 1990, she had landed the series-starring role of Brenda Walsh on Aaron Spelling's slick nighttime teen drama "Beverly Hills, 90210," staying for more than 100 episodes and becoming a teen-magazine staple.

In spite of its success, Doherty was fired after Season 4 due to clashes on the set. She also famously cut her hair short in the middle of filming that season's finale, frustrating her bosses.

"There was definitely a time that I did not want to be there," she admitted to EW in 2005. "I was unhappy."

She posed in Playboy multiple times and attempted to continue her movie success with Kevin Smith's 1995 film "Mallrats," which was not a hit.

She specialized in made-for-TV movies, including playing Margaret Mitchell in 1994's "A Burning Passion."

In 1998, she returned to series TV as Prue Halliwell in "Charmed," about three sisters who learn they are descended from good witches who must use their "Power of Three" to combat dark forces. She directed some episodes, but eventually left after Season 3 amid rumors of friction between herself and castmate Alyssa Milano.

“Diplomacy wasn’t my forte back then," she wrote in her 2010 memoir, "and I was too vocal about things that really could have been left alone."

Milano told Us Weekly following Doherty's death, "It's no secret that Shannen and I had a complicated relationship, but at its core was someone I deeply respected and was in awe of. She was a talented actress, beloved by many and the world is less without her. My condolences to all who loved her.”

Rose McGowan, who continued on "Charmed" after Doherty left, wrote of her passing, "Love to your mama, your dog and all who love you fiercely. Love to Holly Love to your legions of fans that I know loved you right back. If there was anyone who looked squarely at death and said, ‘no thanks,’ it was you dear Shannen. My head bows to you brave one. All love forever.”

Doherty hosted Sci Fi Channel's "Scare Tactics" for a season (2003) and starred as Alexandra Hudson on the series "North Shore" (2004-2005), an experience she treasured for its idyllic location — Hawaii.

Along with continuing to work in TV films like "Christmas Caper" (2007), she ventured into reality TV more than once, including producing "Breaking Up with Shannen Doherty" (2006) for Oxygen, competing on "Dancing with the Stars" (2010), and putting her wedding to Kurt Iswarienko under the microscope in 2012's "Shannen Says."

In 2014, Doherty returned as Brenda Walsh for seven episodes of the spin-off series "90210." She did her final work as Brenda on the rebooted "BH90210" in 2019.

In 2019, when her "Beverly Hills, 90210" co-star Luke Perry died suddenly, Doherty — who knew her cancer had returned — kept her own health quiet at first. She later told "Good Morning America," "It's so weird for me to be diagnosed and then somebody who was, you know, seemingly healthy to go first. It was really, like, shocking."

Doherty's final credits included an appearance on a 2019 episode of Luke Perry's "Riverdale," in the TV movies "Dying to Belong" and "List of a Lifetime" (both 2021), and in the features "Fortress" (2021), "Hot Seat" (2022), and this year's "Darkness of Man."

A film entitled "How to Make a Deal with the Devil" is reportedly in post-production for posthumous release.

In April 2023, Doherty filed for divorce from third husband Iswarienko. It was an acrimonious split, with Doherty venting that year that she believed her estranged husband was hoping she would die "before he is required to pay."

She said of her divorce on her podcast, “I don’t understand why people find it so fascinating. Boredom, wanting to make money off of a story — whatever it is, I can tell you that it’s really hurtful, and unfortunately there was no way for me to do it more privately. It is what it is."

Shannen revealed on her podcast earlier this year that she was downsizing in hopes of helping her mom, Rosa Doherty, after she was gone.

“My priority at the moment is my mom — I know it's going to be hard on her if I pass away before her,” the actress said. “Because it's going to be so hard on her, I want other things to be a lot easier. I don't want her to have a bunch of stuff to deal with. I don't want her to have four storage units filled with furniture.”

“It's going to give you a sense of peace and a sense of calm,” Doherty shared. “Because you're helping the people that you leave behind just have a cleaner, easier transition.”

Though worn out from attention paid to her personal life — back in 1993, a magazine cover branded her "Out of Control!" and noted she was a "hard-partying, check-bouncing bad girl" who "may be going way too far" — Doherty sounded centered when discussing her cancer last year.

“I definitely have days where I say, ‘Why me?’ And then I go, ‘Well, why not me? Who else? Who else besides me deserves this?’ None of us do."