RIP Shannen Doherty
She was the one everyone loved to hate. Actually, there were others, like Tiffani Amber Thiessen’s character Valerie Malone. But Brenda Walsh, played by Shannen Doherty, was the worst - and a big part of why Beverly Hills, 90210 sits atop the list alongside Hart to Hart as my favorite prime-time soaps of all time.
Doherty has sadly passed away at age 53 in Malibu after dealing with cancer over the past decade.
She started in the world of acting at a mere age 10, with an 18-episode arc on Little House on the Prairie. Doherty was clearly a talent with her 1988 role in the dark comedy classic Heathers alongside Winona Ryder and Christian Slater.
But then the role of a lifetime came along on Beverly Hills, 90210 and she nailed it. As The New York Times puts it:
Ms. Doherty, a green-eyed brunette with a heart-shaped face, played a Midwestern transplant who dated older men, chased the school bad boy and picked fights with her classmates. (“I was gonna maybe be in ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ and now I’m sorta living it,” was one of Brenda’s choice romantic lines.)
Full of catfights and relationship spats, the show offered a reductive glimpse into female adolescence; in one episode Brenda dyes her hair blond to catch a boy’s attention. The show became an instant cult classic upon its debut on Fox in 1990.
90210 also turned Ms. Doherty and her castmates into tabloid fodder. Entertainment journalists found that drama was playing out behind the scenes as well, as Ms. Doherty developed a reputation for hard partying and house-trashing domestic disputes. Among other headlines, in 1993, People reported that Ms. Doherty had been served with a domestic violence restraining order after a boyfriend accused her of threatening him with a gun.
We have already lost Luke Perry, who played Dylan McKay and was another of the core L.A. zip code beach crew. It seems both amazing and cruel to see two 90210ers gone so early in their lives.
Other interesting things about Doherty:
She was born in Memphis and raised Southern Baptist.
She was Irish and Native American.
Little House star Michael Landon can largely be credited with discovering the young Doherty after her family moved to L.A.
She starred in the 1985 movie Girls Just Want to Have Fun with Helen Hunt and Sarah Jessica Parker.
She left 90210 in 1994 after four seasons.
She was a bit of a Playboy Magazine fixture, with a particularly popular nude spread in 1993.
Later highlights included Mallrats, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and Charmed.
In 2008, Doherty appeared in the CW spinoff 90210, which I somewhat sheepishly admit to religiously watching. It was one of the last shows I remember actually viewing week-to-week live as it appeared on TV. She played a famous actor who had returned to guest direct a school play at West Beverly High.
Doherty was divorced three times.
She was a registered Republican.