When Beverly Hills 90210 aired on Fox in 1990, it wouldn’t be long before the character of Brenda Walsh became the bad girl that everybody loved to hate.
Imagine being 19 years old and globally recognised. That was the reality for actress, Shannen Doherty, who delivered every line with an ice-cold force and green eyes blazing, that couldn’t mess with another soul alive.
Brenda Walsh was in every way a female character that stood up for herself, fearless in not being liked or offending anyone. More than just a villain, she was complex and emotional, and it makes you wonder how the same character would be perceived in the popular culture of today. But Shannen’s rise to fame happened in the 90s, an unforgiving time for “strong” women and Brenda Walsh was written off as a total bitch.
Thanks to tabloid mania, the media hounded the personal life of the actress. It was as though Shannen Doherty and her fictional alter ego, Brenda Walsh, could not be separated. The press often positioned her as a troublemaker, writing headlines that gave her a reputation of being difficult to work with. But Shannen held her head high and declared, “If you consider ‘difficult’ being a strong woman who sticks up for herself, yeah, I admit to it. I’m open to different ideas, but if you get on my bad side and don’t listen to me and you don’t treat me with as much respect as you treat a man, you’ve got a problem.”
When I think of Shannen Doherty, I don’t instantly think of her starring role in Beverly Hills 90210 or even her later success, Charmed. My favourite moments of the American actress are from some of her earlier roles, when she was on her first stepping stones to stardom. Sunday mornings at my nan’s house would be spent watching Little House on the Prairie and when a little girl with pig-tails came to live with the Ingalls family, it was a breath of fresh air since Laura and Mary were all grown up. Shannen played Jenny Wilder, the niece of Almanzo, who takes her in after her father dies. Suddenly, a new era for the wholesome TV show was born, with Jenny hailed as the “New Laura”, and at just 12 years old, gave impressive performances with highly emotional storylines.
And for all the 80s dance fans out there, who can forget the epic teen movie, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun? Starring a young Sarah Jessica Parker and Helen Hunt, the plot reveals the search for Chicago’s biggest dancing superstars on the fictional prime time show, Dance TV. If you’ve never had this movie on your radar, you need to have a strict word with yourself, pull on some leg warmers and a headband, and damn well watch it. Think high kicks, teen romance, should er-pads and perms. It jam-packed with 80s bangers and… Shannen Doherty desperately trying to fit in as a pre-teen-wannabe-teen and beside herself with joy when she gets called a “punk”.
Still a child, it was no doubt that a star had been born. Shannen appeared in several TV series throughout the rest of the 1980s, including Magnum, PI., Airwolf, Highway to Heaven, and Outlaws, before securing a recurring role as Kris Witherspoon in Our House for multiple seasons. When Aaron Spelling cast Shannen as Brenda Walsh in Beverly Hills, 90210, the show became a hit sensation, largely down to her. She stayed with the show for four seasons, working alongside 90s heartthrobs Luke Perry and Jason Priestley. The 2019 revival BH90210 featured Shannen returning to the role of Brenda Walsh, as well as acting as executive producer. Her chemistry with Dylan (Luke Perry, who sadly passed away from a stroke in 2019) was electric, two characters the perfect soulmates, even when were bad for each other.
Next up, was TV series, Charmed. Critics have ranked Shannen Doherty’s role as Prue Halliwell as one of the top witches in cinema and she even directed many episodes. She also starred in cult-teen classic, Heathers, and is well-loved from her roles in Mallrats and Burning Palms. Throughout this Hollywood success, the paparazzi followed and the tabloids printed gossip, branding her a “badass” with her leather jackets and black hair. Rumours circulated of hardcore partying, behaving like a diva on set, alongside domestic fallouts and the supposed need for anger management counselling. But many years of rumours and gossip was addressed in detail with the launch of her own podcast in 2023; Let’s Be Clear with Shannen Doherty. “It fuels me,” she told People a month after the show debuted, because Shannen was also battling stage IV cancer at the time. She spoke with honest emotion about her illness, but also told her side of the story that tabloids had dominated for much of her life in the spotlight. The truth about her getting fired from Charmed was revealed, and she invited former Beverly Hills 90210 co-stars Tori Spelling and Jason Priestley to join her on two episodes to discuss the fallout between them in 1994.
Diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015, Shannen fought the disease with surgeries, chemo and radiation for two years, and announced in 2017 that she was in full remission. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, she shared her feelings, saying, “The unknown is always the scariest part…Everything else is manageable. Pain is manageable; you know living without a breast is manageable; it’s the worry of your future and how your future is going to affect the people that you love.”
Early in 2020, her cancer returned, but still, Shannen kept on fighting and working. “People just assume that it means you can’t walk, you can’t eat, you can’t work…We’re vibrant, and we have such a different outlook on life. We are people who want to work and embrace life and keep moving forward.” Shannen strived to raise funds and awareness for cancer research, whilst always demonstrating to others that people like herself - with terminal cancer - are still individuals with plenty to contribute.
By summer 2023, Shannen revealed her cancer had spread to her brain and eventually, to her bones. Last week, her publicist, Leslie Sloane, confirmed that Shannen lost her battle to cancer. She was only 53. To quote her back in 2010, Shannen stood up for herself yet again and said, “I have a rep. Did I earn it? Yeah, I did. But, after a while you sort of try to shed that rep because you’re kind of a different person. You’ve evolved and all of the bad things you’ve done in your life have brought you to a much better place.”
Shannen Doherty, rest in peace in a much better place now, free of judgement and free of fight. Let’s strive to remember the phenomenal light you shone and how inspirational you have been to those of us who admired you as kids and teens in the 90s.
// Hayley Doyle
تعليقات