90210 and Charmed star Shannen Doherty became household name during 1990s | BreakingNews.ie

Shannen Doherty became a household name in the 1990s starring in hit TV series including Beverly Hills, 90210, and Charmed.

Born in Tennessee, Doherty began her career with a number of small roles including as a guest in shows like Voyagers! and The Phoenix, as well as the voice of Teresa in animated film The Secret Of Nihm.

But it was her role as an orphan in Father Murphy that reportedly caught the eye of creator Michael Landon, and she later made her name in TV series Little House On The Prairie, playing Jenny Wilder, the grand-niece of Landon, who played Charles Ingalls.

The US actress also appeared in Girls Just Want To Have Fun, playing the sister of Lee Montgomery in the 1985 film, in which star Sarah Jessica Parker entered a TV dance competition after encouragement from her friend, played by Helen Hunt.

Doherty played Kris Witherspoon in TV series Our House which ran from 1986 to 1988, following the Witherspoon family as they adjusted to life with three generations living under the same roof.

She also appeared in several TV series during the 1980s, including Magnum PI, Airwolf, Highway To Heaven and Outlaws.

But she received her first major film role in the dark comedy Heathers in 1988, in which Winona Ryder’s character begins to kill her school classmates with the help of her boyfriend, played by Christian Slater.

At the age of 19, Doherty was cast as Brenda Walsh in teenage drama Beverly Hills, 90210, which was an instant hit.

The US actress played the twin of Jason Priestley’s character Brandon, who moves to Beverly Hills from middle America, until she was written out of the show at the end of series four.

She later admitted on the Let’s Be Clear With Shannen Doherty podcast that she had behaved unprofessionally, but said she wished she had been “sat down” by the show producers to explain that her unprofessionalism would lead to her firing.

Doherty said she was “affected by the attention” of the show and was going out too much as she struggled through a difficult marriage in the run-up to her firing.

The TV show, which ran for 10 series from 1990 to 2000, made household names of Doherty and Priestley, as well as their co-stars including Luke Perry, Jennie Garth, Tori Spelling and Brian Austin Green.

In October 1993, Doherty married US actor Ashley Hamilton, but they filed for divorce less than a year later.

One of her best-known roles came in 1998, when she starred as one of the three original Halliwell witch sisters in hit US series Charmed, opposite Alyssa Milano and Holly Marie Combs.

She starred as Prue Halliwell for three seasons before leaving in 2001, while the programme continued for eight seasons until 2006.

In 2002, Doherty married US poker player Rick Salomon, annulling their union after nine months.

Her third marriage was to photographer Kurt Iswarienko in October 2011, which lasted almost 12 years, before she filed for divorce in April 2023, citing “irreconcilable differences”.

Doherty was first diagnosed with breast cancer in March 2015 and had gone into remission before announcing its return in 2020 – describing the stage four terminal diagnosis as a “bitter pill to swallow in a lot of ways”.

She said she had tried to keep her second diagnosis secret while filming the 90210 reboot, saying: “People with stage four can work too… our life doesn’t end the minute we get that diagnosis. We still have some living to do.”

Doherty agreed to star in the 2019 reboot, titled BH90210, to honour co-star Perry, who died in March 2019 aged 52 after a stroke.

She and Perry had played on-off couple Brenda and Dylan in the 90s’ series.

Doherty had documented her various cancer diagnoses and treatments on social media to raise awareness, including a photo of herself with no hair and a nosebleed from chemotherapy treatment.

“I hope I encourage people to get mammograms, to get regular check-ups, to cut through the fear and face whatever might be in front of you,” she said.