The Immensely Interesting Career of Shannen Doherty

An immensely heartbreaking weekend full of tragic celebrity passings sadly includes the always amazing Shannen Doherty. On July 13, 2024, Shannen Doherty passed away at the age of 53, after battling breast cancer for nine years, having first been diagnosed back in 2015. She continued to work steadily during her illness, which had been in remission, only to return in 2020 and spread out in 2023.

Born on April 12, 1971 in Memphis, Shannen Maria Doherty had been acting for practically her entire life. One of her earliest big breaks came in 1982, when Doherty (aged 11 at the time) won the role of Jenny Wilder on the series, Little House on the Prairie, which starred Michael Landon (who also produced the series) and Melissa Gilbert. It was six years later that Doherty landed her first big movie role in the legendary dark comedy, Heathers, where she played Heather Duke. The film also starred Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Lisanne Falk, and Kim Walker, and also spawned a short-lived TV reboot, which Doherty also participated in.

Beverly Hills, 90210

Two years later, Doherty landed her biggest break of her career: 90210. The long-running series began in the fall of 1990, and Doherty was among the original group of cast members that included Jason Priestley, Jennie Garth, Brian Austin Green, Ian Ziering, Gabrielle Carteris, and Luke Perry. On the series, Doherty played Brenda Walsh, the twin sister of Priestley's Brandon Walsh, and viewers and fans remember that there was a bit of a love triangle including Brenda, Dylan (Perry), and Kelly (Garth).

Doherty's fame skyrocketed during her time on 90210, but so, too, did the controversies. I actually remember hearing about the behind the scenes stuff, and I was just a kid when the show was starting. Doherty's time on the show lasted for the first four of the series; she left the show in 1994.

Charmed

I vividly remember when Charmed was announced, and that Doherty would be part of it. It was a big deal, especially since the show was created by the iconic Aaron Spelling, and I remember that part of the controversy included Doherty and Spelling clashing, but I also thought, "Well, time heals all wounds." Charmed premiered on The WB in the fall of 1998, and co-starred Doherty, Holly Marie Combs, and Alyssa Milano, and I remember how awestruck I was regarding the casting. This was a habit on TV; new shows often cast one or two actors who were well known for past shows. In this case, Doherty had 90210, while Milano was known very well for Who's the Boss?, which aired on ABC for several years.

The series centered on the Halliwell sisters, who discover in the series' premiere episode that they are witches, and come from a family of wiccans. Doherty portrayed the eldest sister, Prudence "Prue" Halliwell, Combs played middle sister Piper Halliwell, and Milano played youngest sister Phoebe Halliwell. The series was a hit on The WB, and I did watch a number of episodes here and there, but again, there was a bit of controversy.

On 90210, Doherty was reportedly feuding with Jennie Garth. Regarding Charmed, Doherty's rival was Alyssa Milano, and according to reports, it was more heated. Basically, it came down to this: there was a supposed ultimatum dished out by Milano, who claimed the environment was unsafe and basically threatened to quit if Doherty wasn't fired. Doherty ended up out of the show after three seasons, and Prue was killed off, which led to Rose McGowan filling the void and joining the series as half-sister Paige Matthews from Season Four on.

Riverdale

I want to mention Doherty's appearance on Riverdale, because I absolutely have to. I watched Riverdale religiously for all seven seasons, but that's not why I'm giving this a spotlight. The reason is this: on March 4, 2019, we were all hit with the very shocking news that Luke Perry passed away at the age of 52. Of course, he's best remembered as bad boy Dylan Walsh on 90210, and his legacy lives on in a different form with his son, professional wrestler Jack Perry, who has been in AEW ever since it started. Until his passing, Luke Perry was part of the Riverdale cast as Fred Andrews, Archie Andrews' father, and he was featured in a pair of episodes that did air posthumously during the tail end of the third season.

The fourth season opened with an episode that served as a full hour-long tribute to Luke Perry, and I remember absolutely loving this entire emotional special episode. As a wrestling fan, it reminded me of the tribute shows we would see on Raw and on SmackDown, and in other companies. Every WWE fan remembers the Raw is Owen tribute in 1999. In November 2005, Raw and SmackDown gave us tributes to Eddie Guerrero, and last year, SmackDown had a show that was dedicated to Bray Wyatt. On those tribute shows, any and all storylines and rivalries are put on pause for that moment, and regarding the episode, "Chapter Fifty-Eight: In Memoriam," the same thing applied.

Regarding Doherty, she appeared as a woman who was helped by Fred, and whose life was saved by Fred when he pushed her out of the way of an oncoming car, the very car that struck and killed Fred. I remember the promo, and I remember beaming when I saw Doherty in this episode, because of the 90210 connection, but also because she was doing this while she was battling cancer.

Other projects

Other than her landmark hit shows and films, Shannen Doherty appeared in a number of memorable telefilms, including the 2000 remake of Satan's School for Girls, which also featured Kate Jackson (who was also in the original film). She was also the original host of the SyFy Channel series, Scare Tactics, and in addition, Doherty reprised her role as Brenda Walsh in The CW's 90210 reboot, and also appeared in the short-lived BH90210 series on Fox, as a satirical version of herself. Among many other telefilms, Doherty appeared in not one, but two remakes of classic Lifetime movies: No One Would Tell and Dying to Belong. The latter of the two came out in 2021, and that same year, Doherty appeared in the Lifetime film, List of a Lifetime, which starred Kelly Hu as a woman battling breast cancer.

A thought I've had is, "You know, for someone who supposedly had a reputation, she didn't play a lot of villainesses." I remember when the film, Witchslayer Gretl, aired on SyFy in 2012; it was one of the many modern Hansel & Gretel type films that was out during that time. However, in this action-packed version, Doherty's Gretl is a villainess; possessed by the evil Witch Queen. This was the first time I had ever seen Shannen Doherty playing a villainess in anything, and she played that role so deliciously well!

* * *

If there's one hope I have regarding how Shannen Doherty's remembered, it's that she is remembered as an amazing actress and a cool human being. I pray that no one dwells on her controversies; Doherty herself never shied away from them and realized her mistakes. I had just recently watched her 90210 episodes, and I have seen the original Charmed as well. One thing is for sure: Shannen Doherty left one hell of a lasting legacy for sure.