Doherty announced in 2015 that she was undergoing treatment for breast cancer, which went into remission but returned around 2019, when she began production on the six-episode “90210” reunion show. In June 2023, she said the cancer had spread to her brain, and in November, she announced that it had spread to her bones.
“I’m not tired of living yet,” she told People magazine that month as she prepared to launch a new podcast in which she talks about her life and career. “I’m not tired of loving yet. I’m not tired of creating yet. I’m not tired of hoping to change things for the better.”
Doherty began her acting career as a child, initially focusing on wholesome shows before blending her popular TV persona into her personal life: She was arrested and charged with drunk driving and assault, developed a reputation in the tabloids and entertainment press as a hard-partying Hollywood “bad girl,” and colleagues complained about her diva-like behavior, leading to an acrimonious exit from two of her most popular shows.
As a child, she voiced the precocious anthropomorphic mouse in the animated film “The Secret of Nim” (1982) and played the ponytailed Jenny Wilder in the final season of NBC’s pioneering drama “Little House on the Prairie,” later appearing in three TV movies based on the rustic series.
Her performance in “Prairie” led to her starring in the NBC family drama “Our House” opposite Wilford Brimley, in which she played a spirited teenager who dreams of following in her late father’s footsteps in the Air Force. The show ended after two seasons, and Doherty soon gained wider recognition for her supporting role in the 1988 dark comedy “Heathers,” where she showcased a dramatic character transformation.
Dougherty played the smarmy Heather Duke, one of several girls in a popular high school clique known as “Heathers,” who are tormented by sociopaths and their belated, remorseful accomplices, played by Christian Slater and Winona Ryder. (Dougherty later starred in Paramount Network’s 2018 TV reboot of “Heathers.”)
The film was not a commercial success but was well-received, and caught the eye of TV producer Aaron Spelling, who was coming off his ABC hit “Dynasty” to create a new series about teenage struggles at the fictional West Beverly Hills High School. Spelling later said Ms. Doherty was “the best young actress I’ve seen in a long time.”
“Beverly Hills 90210” takes its title from one of the city’s zip codes, and Doherty played Brenda Walsh, an innocent, reserved 16-year-old who moves from Minnesota to the upscale neighborhood. (Doherty was 19 when the show premiered on Fox in 1990.)
Appearing on screen with her were Jason Priestley as her twin brother, Luke Perry as her on-off love interest, Jennie Garth and Ian Ziering as spoiled classmates, and Tori Spelling as her producer’s daughter and level-headed friend.
As “90210” gained popularity, Doherty’s image began to crumble. Rumors spread about her partying, harsh attitudes toward coworkers, lateness to work, and lavish shopping sprees. Her pay was garnished to pay off about $32,000 in bounced checks.
Doherty’s tumultuous love life also made her a regular in the tabloids, including multiple engagements, including one fiancé, cosmetics heir Dean Factor, who accused her of threatening him with a gun and trying to run him over with his car (“When I really wanted to run him over, I wouldn’t let him get away,” Doherty later said), and a surprise marriage to Ashley Hamilton, the son of actor George Hamilton, that lasted about six months.
To many fans of the series, Ms. Doherty’s actions were a betrayal of the moral character she originally played on television. When Brenda changed and became increasingly temperamental in the show’s second season, fans rebelled and formed anti-Doherty fan clubs, which received national coverage with “I Hate Brenda” novelty records and “I Hate Brenda” bumper stickers.
Doherty left the show in 1994 as a “mutual decision” with producer Spelling. To explain her departure, the script had her moving to London to train as an actress. She later reprised the role in several episodes of the reboot of “90210,” which aired on the CW network from 2008 to 2013, and in “BH90210,” which aired on Fox in 2019 and featured many of her original co-stars.
Child actor
Shanann Maria Doherty was born in Memphis on April 12, 1971. When she was six years old, her father bought a trucking company and moved the family to Los Angeles. A few years later, her father’s business went bankrupt, and the family found themselves in financial difficulty when Doherty began her acting career. Her mother worked as a hairdresser.
As Ms. Doherty’s profile grew in the 1990s, she appeared in TV movies and low-budget films, and landed a bit role in actor-director Kevin Smith’s slacker comedy “Mallrats” (1995). She also reteamed with Aaron Spelling on “Charmed,” a Warner Bros. drama about three sisters with magical powers. It was critically acclaimed and became the network’s highest-rated debut when it premiered in 1998.
Doherty left the show in 2001 after three seasons as the older sister, a telekinetic witch named Prue. The role was axed and replaced by Rose McGowan in the newly revealed role of half-sister. As with the original 90210, Doherty’s departure was due to conflicts with Spelling and co-stars Holly Marie Combs and Alyssa Milano.
She played another supernatural role, a witch investigating her sister’s death, in the Spelling-produced TV movie Satan’s School for Girls (2000), and later hosted one season of the Sci-Fi Channel prank show Scare Tactics.
In 2002, she was briefly married to poker player Rick Salomon, but the couple divorced the following year. She then hosted the Oxygen Channel reality show Shannen Doherty (2006) to help mend their toxic relationship.
Doherty married Kurt Iswarienko in 2011 and filed for divorce last year.
Complete information about survivors was not immediately available.
Doherty published a memoir and self-help book, Badass: A Hard-Earned Guide to Living Life With Style and (the Right) Attitude, in 2010. Her last film roles included the boxing film Back in the Day (2016) and playing poet Bukowski’s mother in the James Franco biopic Bukowski (2013).
“I can’t fight what people think of me,” she told the New York Post while promoting her reality show. “I tried to do that with everyone out there. I’ve been in this business for 25 years and I’ve desperately wanted a second chance with the media and it wasn’t given to me. At this point, I have to, in a way, walk away and do what makes me happy.”
