Shannen Doherty loses cancer battle, dead at 53
Co-stars are paying loving tribute, after Beverly Hills 90210 and Charmed actress Shannen Doherty has lost her battle with cancer.
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Beverly Hills 90210 and Charmed star Shannen Doherty has died aged 53 after a long battle with cancer.
“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,” Doherty’s longtime publicist Leslie Sloane confirmed in an exclusive statement to PEOPLE overnight.
“The devoted daughter, sister, aunt and friend was surrounded by her loved ones as well as her dog, Bowie. The family asks for their privacy at this time so they can grieve in peace,” Sloane continued.
Co-stars pay tribute
Doherty’s co-stars on the beloved early noughties supernatural drama Charmed were among the first celebs to pay tribute.
Rose McGowan described her friend and former co-star as having “the heart of a lion.”
“This woman fought to live. Shannen knew how to be a star because she was one since childhood. Her work ethic inspiring to the end. We laughed at dark forces who wanted us to hate each other, instead we chose love and respect. A soft-hearted badass as there ever was.”
Fellow Charmed co-star Alyssa Milano, who had a well-documented feud with Doherty, chose her words carefully. “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,” she wrote.
Charmed actress Holly Marie Combs, who maintained a close relationship with Doherty, has not yet publicly commented on her friend and former co-star’s death.
Doherty’s Beverly Hills, 90210 co-star Gabrielle Carteris posted a short but heartbreaking tribute on social media.
“So young - so sad. May you RIP Shannen. I know Luke is there with open arms to love you,” she wrote, referring to fellow 90210 star Luke Perry.
Jason Priestley, who played her brother in the iconic 90s teen soap, wrote on Instagram that he was “Shocked and saddened to hear about the passing of my friend Shannen. She was a force of nature and I will miss her. Sending love and light to her family in this dark time.”
90210 star Brian Austin Green wrote that Doherty was “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.”
Her heartbreaking final podcasts
Doherty’s final Instagram post, shared on June 26, was a clip from her Let’s Be Clear podcast in which she spoke about her ongoing cancer treatment. Doherty said she felt “hopeful” about the future while conceding she didn’t know how long she’d have to be on chemotherapy for.
“It’s scary, it’s a big wake up call... at the same time, there is some positivity there,” she said.
“For the first time in a couple of months, I feel hopeful.”
The Beverly Hills 90210 star was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 and went into remission in 2017. In 2020, she announced it had returned as Stage 4 cancer.
“I definitely have days where I say, ‘Why me?’” Doherty told PEOPLE of the development in her health. “And then I go, well, ‘Why not me? Who else? Who else besides me deserves this?’ None of us do.”
Doherty, best known for playing Brenda Walsh on the monster 1990s hit series Beverly Hills 90210, had battled cancer for close to a decade.
It is the second major cast loss for the beloved show after Doherty’s on screen love interest Luke Perry – who played teen rebel Dylan McKay – died in 2019 at the age of 52 following multiple strokes.
Doherty was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015, but went into remission following treatment by 2017. In 2020, she announced it had returned as Stage 4 cancer.
More recently, Doherty was involved in a bitter split with her former husband, who she divorced in April last year.
“Divorce is the last thing Shannen wanted. Unfortunately, she felt she was left with no other option,” Doherty’s publicist, Leslie Sloane, said in a statement at the time.
In June 2023, she revealed the cancer had spread to her brain, writing in an Instagram post that a January CAT scan “showed Mets [metastasis] in my brain”.
“My fear is obvious,” she told fans.
By November the cancer had spread to her bones.
Hollywood stardom
Doherty broke into the world of Hollywood as a child actor on the TV series Little House on the Prairie.
She appeared in the animated film The Secret of NIMH and an episode of the TV series Airwolf.
In 1985, she starred as Maggie Malene in the teen movie Girls Just Want to Have Fun alongside Helen Hunt and Sarah Jessica Parker.
Her breakout role came in 1990, when she was cast to play the role of Brenda Walsh in the series Beverly Hills, 90210.
She earned a nomination for Best Young Actress Starring in a TV series at the Youth in Film Awards.
Following her exit from the show, Doherty starred in several television movies, including Mallrats, Christmas Caper, and the series Charmed, which ran for eight seasons in the late 90s and early noughties.
Originally published as Shannen Doherty loses cancer battle, dead at 53
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