Shannen Doherty dead age 53: Beverly Hills 90210 and Charmed star passes away after battle with breast cancer
Beloved actress Shannen Doherty has died at the age of 53 after years of living with breast cancer.
The 90210 star’s tragic death came just about a month after she confessed the past year was ‘really hard’ for her.
On Sunday, Doherty’s publicist Leslie Sloane confirmed the actor’s death.
‘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,’ Sloane told People.
‘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 added.
Beloved actress Shannen Doherty has died at the age of 53 after a long battle with breast cancer
Doherty, who played Brenda Walsh in the hit 1990s show, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015.
Doherty, who played Brenda Walsh in the hit 1990s show, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015.
Just two years later, the Charmed star revealed that the cancer had returned after going into remission.
At the time, she told Good Morning America: ‘It’s going to come out in a matter of days or a week that I’m stage 4. So my cancer came back, and that’s why I’m here.
‘I don’t think I’ve processed it. It’s a bitter pill to swallow in a lot of ways,’ she said.
Last year she announced that her cancer had spread to her brain in an Instagram post that showed her undergoing radiation therapy.
She teased a new episode of her podcast Let’s Be Clear by sharing a snippet on her official Instagram account.
The actor is pictured here in June, in what is believed to be the last time she was spotted in public
Doherty’s publicist Leslie Sloane confirmed the actor’s death on Sunday. (pictured: Doherty and her 90210 co-star Luke Perry in 1991)
In October 1990, Doherty starred in the original Beverly Hills 90210, but left the series after the fourth season in 1994. She came back to the show as a guest star in 2008 after it rebooted.
Following the popular series, she went on to star in the witch drama, Charmed. Doherty played Prue Halliwell, the oldest of the three witch sisters.
After directing several episodes of Charmed, Doherty left the series in 2001. She then moved on to reality television, as a contestant on Dancing with the Stars and in the show Breaking Up with Shannen Doherty.
She joined the 2019 reboot of 90210 and played the adult version of Brenda Walsh.
Doherty initially kept her diagnosis under wraps, but after her co-star Luke Perry suddenly died at 52 in 2019, she opened up about her health battle.
Perry died on March 4 that year after he suffered a massive ischemic stroke at his home in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles.
‘It’s so weird for me to be diagnosed and then somebody who was, you know, seemingly healthy to go first,’ Doherty said on Good Morning America in 2020. ‘It was really, like, shocking.’
Following the popular series, she went on to star in the witch drama, Charmed. Doherty (middle) played Prue Halliwell, the oldest of the three witch sisters
Doherty recently confessed that her divorce and cancer journey was ‘really hard’ for her over the past year. (Pictured: her ex-husband of 11 years, Kurt Iswarienko, in 2010)
“One of the reasons, along with Luke, that I did and didn’t really tell anybody [was] because I thought, people can look at that [as] people with stage 4 can work too,” she explained.
On June 24, Doherty gave fans insight into where she’s at in her divorce and cancer journey on the latest episode of her podcast.
She confessed that her past year has been ‘really hard’ as she discussed her split from photographer Kurt Iswarienko, 49.
‘Obviously, divorce is not easy, especially when you really loved someone. And I did love my husband,’ Doherty said.
‘And when you get so hurt by their actions that you just feel betrayed and like a sucker, it’s really hard.’
Doherty also revealed she would be starting another round of chemotherapy ‘probably a couple of days after this episode is out.’
‘To just be walking into the unknown — I just feel like my life has been unknown for over a year now, between divorce and cancer,’ she added.
The couple were together for 11 years before they divorced.
The Hollywood vet referred to the divorce proceedings as ‘not the most pleasant thing’ and said she may ‘never be ready to discuss the full details’ of the dissolution of her marriage.
In a recent court filing, Doherty criticized her ex Kurt’s spending habits in a request for spousal support.
She filed paperwork in Los Angeles on Friday, June 14, according to Us Magazine.
In the documents, the actress requested $15,343 in monthly support ‘retroactive to June 1, 2024.’
She also asked that Kurt contribute $9,100 to her legal fees. The actress believed that her ex was intentionally delaying the legal process to avoid paying her.
‘It is simply not right that Kurt be permitted to prolong our divorce in hopes that I die before he is required to pay me while he continues to live his life and shirk his responsibilities to his dying wife of more than 11 years,’ she stated in filed paperwork.
Iswarienko’s attorney Katherine Heersema fired back, stating that Shannen was offered a settlement deal in October 2023 but denied it.
‘Kurt is not “simply wait[ing] for Shannen to die.” He wants the best for Shannen and he wants both of them to be able to put this case behind them and move forward,’ she said.
In response, Doherty said she denied the proposed settlements because they ‘skirted around the issues of his original works created during marriage’ and ‘his earning capacity.’
