Shannen Doherty Bio

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Shannen Doherty Pictures

Shannen Maria Doherty (born April 12, 1971) is an American actress and television director, perhaps best known for her work as Heather Duke in Heathers (1989), as Brenda Walsh in Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990-1994) and its spinoff series 90210 and as Prue Halliwell in Charmed (1998-2001).

Shannen Doherty: Early life and career beginnings

Doherty was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the daughter of Rosa, a beauty parlor owner, and Tom Doherty, a mortgage consultant. Doherty has Irish Catholic ancestry, though was raised in her mother's Southern Baptist religion. At the age of seven (in 1978) her family moved to Los Angeles, and she immediately announced that she wanted to be an actress.

In an interview in the December 2006 issue of Glamour, she said:

Success began early, with guest spots on TV series including Voyagers!, Father Murphy and Airwolf starting in 1981. When a casting notice was released in Hollywood for a regular role on the popular Little House on the Prairie (TV Series) she jumped at the opportunity and eventually won the role of Jenny Wilder at the age of eleven, thanks in part to actor/producer Michael Landon seeing her guest spot on Father Murphy, which he also produced.

Doherty, stayed in the series until the shows cancelation in 1983.

Shannen Doherty: Television and film career

Shannen Doherty - Early career

Doherty was cast as the oldest Witherspoon sibling, Kris, on the family drama Our House, which ran from 1986 to 1988. A role which garnered her several Young Artist Award nominations. She then went on to appear in an episode of Magnum, P.I. Doherty's first major motion picture role was in Heathers, released in 1989 where she played Heather Duke. In 2006, the film was ranked #5 on Entertainment Weekly's list of the 50 Best High School Movies.

Shannen Doherty - Television stardom (1990-2001)

Doherty with Jason Priestley at the Governor's Ball following the 43rd Annual Emmy Awards, August 1991

Doherty's breakout role came when she was cast to star as Brenda Walsh in the Aaron Spelling-produced TV series Beverly Hills, 90210 in 1990. In 1991 and 1992 her portrayal of Brenda earned her a Young Artist Award nomination for Best Young Actress Starring in a Television Series. In 2004, E! placed Brenda at number ten on their list of the 50 Most Wicked Women of Prime Time. Following reported on-set friction with co-star Jennie Garth, Doherty left the show at the end of the fourth season in 1994. Doherty's character, Brenda, was written off the show as moving to London to attend school at the Royal Academy for Dramatic Arts.

While the character's absence was originally described as only being for a year, she never actually returned to the original series (though she would reprise the role of Brenda later in the The CW's updated version of the show), despite being mentioned from time to time during the show's remaining seasons. She was replaced with former Saved by the Bell star Tiffani Thiessen, who played bad girl character Valerie Malone. Her departure from the series was reportedly acrimonious, however, and her career afterward was somewhat spotty, marked for the most part by made-for-TV movies. There were a few bright spots, though, particularly a lead role in Kevin Smith's 1995 film Mallrats.

In 1998, Spelling cast her in another TV series, Charmed, in which she played lead character Prue Halliwell, the oldest of three sisters who discover they are witches. She occasionally directed some of the episodes. At the end of the third season, Doherty left the show in 2001, resulting in her character's death, and the introduction of Rose McGowan's replacement lead character Paige Matthews. Reportedly, the reason for her departure was because of tensions between Doherty and co-star Alyssa Milano. Though she had left the show long before it ended, she continued to own five percent of the rights to the series.

Doherty was also twice nominated for the Saturn Award, Best Genre TV Actress for her portrayal of the character Prue, in 1999 and 2000 respectively. In 2007, AOL named Prue Halliwell the 10th greatest witch in television history.

Shannen Doherty - Later career (2002-2008)

Two years after her departure from Charmed, Doherty hosted the Sci Fi Channel candid camera show Scare Tactics during its initial season. It is unsure why she left the show. After her stint on Scare Tactics Doherty, in a return to her prime-time soap roots, starred as a regular on the short-lived TV series North Shore. She starred as Alexandra Hudson from 2004-2005. Later in 2005, Doherty was cast in the new TV comedy Love Inc. Although she filmed the original pilot, she was dropped from the show just months before its debut.

Doherty later went on to produce and star in her own reality show, Breaking Up With Shannen Doherty, which premiered on the Oxygen network in 2006. In the show Doherty goes around doing "dirty work" for members of the public, including dumping boyfriends or telling people what their friends really think about them. The show was canceled after one season due to a small audience. She also starred in the popular British sitcom Bo! in the USA, a program of brain child Leigh Francis. In the show, she plays herself, being randomly harassed by Avid Merrion (Francis) who claims they are lovers. The show aired in October 2006 on the British channel 4, and she appeared in several episodes.

In 2007, Doherty appeared in two television projects. First up was the pilot Kiss Me Deadly: A Jacob Keane Assignment for the here! network, and then the holiday picture Christmas Caper for ABC Family. That same year Doherty also set up a production company called "No Apologies" where she's developing a TV-drama for herself. In 2007 Doherty was also ranked as number 96 on Entertainment Weekly's list of the 100 Greatest Television Icons. In 2008, Doherty was featured on the Swedish television show High Chaparall, appearing in the second episode of the show's fourth season.

After fourteen years since her last television appearance as Brenda Walsh, it was confirmed in June 2008 that Doherty would join the cast of the Beverly Hills, 90210 spin off for The CW Television Network, for a reported $40,000-50,000 an episode. She returned as a guest star, reprising her old role of Brenda Walsh in four of the new series' initial six episodes. Her character, now a successful theater actress and stage director, returned as the guest director of the high school musical. After her initial guest spot was completed, Doherty stated she was open to returning to the series later in the season and eventually agreed to appear in three additional episodes with her most recent appearance airing in May 2009.

The writers were eager to have her share scenes with Jennie Garth who also reprised her 90210 role of Kelly Taylor. It was reported that Doherty and Garth's characters would both have a romantic interest in the character Ryan Matthews (Ryan Eggold), reminiscent of their old rivalry for former bad boy character Dylan McKay (Luke Perry). Doherty and Garth later confirmed that the reports about the love triangle between their characters were false.

Doherty was featured in a lead role in the SciFi Channel's adventure film, The Lost Treasure of the Grand Canyon as Susan Jordan opposite Michael Shanks and Bianca Owens. The film premiered on the cable network on December 20, 2008.

Shannen Doherty - Recent projects (since 2009)

Doherty has been in the process of pitching a new television show to networks. On October 30, 2008, TV Guide reported that Doherty is due to co-star alongside Dylan McDermott in the indie film Burning Palms, a satire based on Los Angeles stereotypes told through five intertwining storylines. She will also be starring in the upcoming TV movie thriller Encounter with Danger with Mark Humphrey. Doherty will play the lead in the upcoming British independent film The Beautiful Outsiders. Filming will commence in September.

Shannen Doherty: Personal life

Doherty was married briefly to Ashley Hamilton, son of actor George Hamilton. She was also married to Rick Salomon, and was briefly engaged to actor Judd Nelson. Doherty was once sentenced to either ten days in jail or twenty days of work-release duty, three years probation, and ordered to pay a $1,500 fine for drunk driving charges in 2001. She has appeared several times, nude, in Playboy magazine. Her first appearance was in December 1993, followed by a spread in March 1994. Later she posed for the magazine again in December 2003, and has been featured in a 10-page pictorial.

Doherty is a fan of the TV series 24, and on the show's Season 4 DVD set, she provides audio commentary on "3:00 PM - 4:00 PM" with episode writer Evan Katz. As of date, she lives in Malibu, California. She also has a horse ranch in Ventura County, California and owns seven horses and two dogs.