Actress Shannen Doherty | Photo credit: AP
Shannen Doherty, Beverly Hills, 90210 The star, whose life and career were tumultuous with illness and tabloid stories, died at age 53. According to a statement from her publicist, Leslie Sloan, Doherty died Saturday after suffering for years from breast cancer.
“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 said on Sunday, the news first reported by People magazine.
Her illness was publicly revealed in a 2015 lawsuit she filed against her former business managers, alleging they mismanaged her money and allowed her health insurance to lapse. She later shared intimate details of her treatment after a single mastectomy. In December 2016, she posted a photo of her first day of radiation, describing the treatment as “horrific” for her.
In February 2020, Doherty revealed that the cancer had returned and was at stage four. She said she came forward because her health condition could have been revealed in court. The actor had sued insurance giant State Farm after his California home was damaged in a fire in 2018.
“I don’t know how long I’m going to have to have chemotherapy. … It’s not something I can predict, it’s not something my doctors can predict. And it’s scary, it’s like a big warning shot,” Doherty said on a late June episode of her podcast Let us be clearHe added that recent changes in the shape of his cancer cells meant he would have to try new treatment protocols.
A native of Memphis, Tennessee, Doherty moved with her family to Los Angeles at age 7 and became an actress within a few years. “It was completely my decision,” she said in an interview with The Associated Press in 1994. “My parents never forced me into anything. They support me. It doesn’t matter if I’m a professional football player — they’re still just as supportive and loving.”
