| Shannen Maria Doherty | |
|---|---|
| |
| Information | |
| Name | Shannen Maria Doherty |
| Birthdate | April 12, 1971 |
| Memorable Works | Beverly Hills, 90210 90210 |
| Character | Herself |
Shannen Maria Doherty is an American actress, producer, author and television director. She starred as herself on the NBC show, The New Normal. She is known for her work as ten-year-old Jenny Wilder in Little House on the Prairie, Heather Duke in Heathers (1989), as Brenda Walsh in Beverly Hills, 90210( 1990–1994) and its spinoff series 90210 (2008), and as Prue Halliwell in Charmed (1998–2001).
Doherty has also starred in Girls Just Want to Have Fun (1985), Mallrats (1995), Gone In The Night (1996), Sleeping with the Devil (1997), Another Day (2001), Category 7 (2005), Christmas Caper (2007), and Burning Palms (2010).
Career[]
Early Work[]
Doherty garnered worldwide attention and fame for her breakout role 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 the character at number ten on their list of the 50 Most Wicked Women of Prime Time. Doherty was removed after the fourth season in 1994 due to reported tension with costars. Her character 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 returned to the original series despite being mentioned from time to time during the show's remaining seasons (although she would reprise the role of Brenda later in the The CW's updated version of the show in 2008). She was replaced with former Saved by the Bell star Tiffani Thiessen, who played Valerie Malone. Her career afterward consisted primarily of made-for-TV movies, though she also had a lead role in Kevin Smith's 1995 film Mallrats. Shannen spent several years trying to achieve the same kind of fame and success that she did on Beverly Hills, 90210. It took a while but, finally in 1998, Spelling again cast her in another of his TV series, Charmed, in which she played lead character Prue Halliwell, the oldest of three sisters who discover they are witches. Doherty also directed a few episodes for the series during the second and third seasons. Doherty left the show in 2001, at the end of the third season, resulting in her character's death and the introduction of the replacement character Paige Matthews, who was portrayed by film actress Rose McGowan. Reportedly, the reason for her departure was because of again on/off set tensions between Doherty and co-star Alyssa Milano. It was reported that her acrimonious departure from Charmed so angered Spelling that he banned her from any future Spelling productions, although this was never confirmed.
Doherty was also twice nominated for the Saturn Award, Best Genre TV Actress for her performance in Charmed, in 1999 and 2000 respectively. In 2007, AOL named Prue Halliwell the 10th greatest witch in television history.
Later Work[]
In 2003, Doherty hosted the Sci Fi Channel candid camera show Scare Tactics during its initial season. 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 television 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 poor ratings. She also starred in the popular British sitcom Bo! in the USA, a brain child of 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.
During 2007, Doherty appeared in two television projects. She first appeared in "Kiss Me Deadly: A Jacob Keane Assignment" for the here! network, and followed up with a starring role in the holiday film Christmas Caper for ABC Family. That same year Doherty also set up a production company called "No Apologies", in which she planned to develop a TV drama for herself. Later in 2007, Doherty was ranked 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.
Also in 2008, after 14 years since her last television appearance as Brenda Walsh, Doherty joined 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.
In late 2008, Doherty was announced to co-star alongside Dylan McDermott in the indie film Burning Palms, a satire based on Los Angeles stereotypes told through five intertwining storylines. That same year, Doherty played a lead role in the SciFi Channel adventure film The Lost Treasure of the Grand Canyon. The film premiered on the cable network on December 20, 2008.
On March 1, 2010, it was announced that Doherty would be a celebrity contestant on Dancing with the Stars for the tenth season. The season premiered on Monday, March 22, 2010. Doherty was paired with two-time champion Mark Ballas in his 6th season on the show, but the pair was the first couple eliminated in the second week on March 30. The judges have said "Doherty wouldn't have left if we would have just done scores". She wanted to do Dancing with the Stars to make her ailing father proud. Doherty returned for the finale. Doherty starred in FEARnet's animated web series Mari-Kari, which launched on June 3, 2010. Mari and Kari are identical twins, but Kari is a ghost. Doherty voiced both Mari and Kari in this eight-episode show.
WE tv announced on July 21, 2011, that she would star in a one-hour reality series that follows her and her fiance, Kurt Iswarienko, as they plan their wedding. The show, titled Shannen Says, premiered in April 10, 2012. Also in 2012, Doherty became a spokesperson for Education Connection.
Filmography[]
TV[]
- Father Murphy
- The Phoenix
- Voyagers!
- Little House on the Prairie
- Little House: Look Back To Yesterday
- Magnum, P.I.
- Airwolf
- Little House: Bless All The Dear Children
- Little House: The Last Farewell
- The New Leave It to Beaver
- Highway to Heaven
- Robert Kennedy & His Times
- Our House
- Out Laws
- 21 Jump Stree
- tLife Goes On
- Beverly Hills, 90210
- The Secret Of Lost Creek
- Slaughter (band)
- Charmed
- North Shore
- Love, Inc.
- 90210
- Mari-Kari
- The New Normal
Film[]
- Night Shift
- The Secret of NIMH
- Girls Just Want to Have Fun
- The Other Lover
- Alf Loves a Mystery
- Heathers
- Forever Young
- Freeze Frame
- Obsessed
- A Burning Passion: The Margaret Mitchell Story
- Almost Dead
- Blindfold: Acts of Obsession
- Jailbreakers
- Mallrats
- Gone in the Nigh't
- Friends 'Til The End
- Sleeping with the Devil
- The Ticket
- Nowhere
- Striking Poses
- Satan's School for Girls
- Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
- Another Day
- Hell on Heels: The Battle Of Mary Kay
- The Rendering
- View of Terror
- Category 7
- Christmas Caper
- Kiss Me Deadly
- The Lost Treasure of the Grand Canyon
- Encounter with Danger
- Burning Palms
- Growing the Big One
- Witchslayer Gretl