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R.I.P To 90210 Star Shannen Doherty Dead At 53
R.I.P To 90210 Star Shannen Doherty Dead At 53.
Shannen Doherty, the quintessential ’90s rebel who starred in the TV mega-hits “Beverly Hills, 90210” and “Charmed,” has died after a nearly decadelong battle with cancer. She was 53.
Shannen Doherty, Jason Priestley in “Beverly Hills, 90210.” Everett Collection / Everett Collection© Provided by New York Post
ABOUT THE CAREER OF SHANNEN DOHERTY
She landed her first major role at 11, when Michael Landon hired her to play the courageous and spirited Jenny Wilder on “Little House on the Prairie.” “That show changed my life,” Doherty told the outlet, adding that Landon advised her at the time never to let anyone walk all over her, and to be a strong woman.
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As she entered her teen years, Doherty’s raven locks and casual moxie made her an easy choice for “bad girl”-type roles, such as Heather Duke — her first major film role, in the 1988 dark comedy “Heathers.” But it was her portrayal of the fiercely driven Beverly Hills transplant Brenda Walsh on Aaron Spelling’s pop-culture phenomenon “Beverly Hills, 90210” that catapulted her to stardom.
The cast of “Beverly Hills, 90210.” Sygma via Getty Images© Provided by New York Post
The cast of “Beverly Hills, 90210.” Getty Images© Provided by New York Post
At a time when programming aimed at the teen demographic was relatively wholesome and uncontroversial, the Fox series about privileged young people living in one of the country’s most expensive ZIP Codes was laying the foundation for the teen drama genre as we now know it, with its then-revolutionary exploration of the social and sexual drama of high school life. It would go on to air for 10 seasons and spawn the successful spinoff “Melrose Place,” the CW reboot “90210” and, later, a 2019 meta revival, “BH90210,” featuring most of the cast playing heightened versions of their real-life personas as they work to get a reboot of the prime-time soap off the ground.
But it’s hard to overstate the very ’90s fan mania that surrounded the series in its early years, and how it shaped the way Doherty navigated her considerable fame. The angsty teen drama starred Doherty alongside Tori Spelling, Jason Priestley, Luke Perry, Brian Austin Green, Jennie Garth, Gabrielle Carteris and Ian Ziering. The cast of worship-ready teen idols and Doherty, in particular, were plum targets for tabloid fodder.
