Shannen Doherty

Shannen Doherty (, born April 12, 1971) is an American actress.

Shannen Doherty was born on April 12, 1971, in Memphis, Tennessee, and raised in her mother's Southern Baptist faith.

She is known for her many roles in television and film, including as Jenny Wilder in Little House on the Prairie (1982–1983); Maggie Malene in Girls Just Want to Have Fun (1985); Kris Witherspoon in Our House (1986–1988); Heather Duke in Heathers (1989); Brenda Walsh in Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990–1994), 90210 (2008–2009) and BH90210 (2019); Prue Halliwell in Charmed (1998–2001); and Dobbs in Fortress (2021).

In 1982, Doherty had guest spots on TV series including Voyagers! and Father Murphy, which was created and produced by Michael Landon.

The same year, 11-year-old Doherty won the recurring role of Jenny Wilder on Little House on the Prairie, which Landon starred in and produced.

Doherty lent her voice to the animated film The Secret of NIMH in 1982.

Doherty appeared in all but four episodes in the final season of the show, which was cancelled in 1983.

She appeared in an episode of Magnum, P.I. ("A Sense of Debt"), followed by an early episode of Airwolf for which she was nominated as Best Young Actress: Guest in a Series at the 6th Youth in Film Awards in 1984.

In 1985, she starred as Maggie Malene in the teen movie comedy Girls Just Want to Have Fun alongside actresses Helen Hunt and Sarah Jessica Parker.

Doherty was cast as the oldest Witherspoon sibling, Kris, on the family drama Our House, which ran from 1986 to 1988, a role which garnered her several Young Artist Award nominations.

Doherty's first major motion picture role was in the dark comedy Heathers, which premiered in 1988.

She 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.

She appeared nude in Playboy magazine, first in December 1993, followed by a spread in March 1994.

Doherty left the show after the fourth season in 1994.

Doherty's career afterward consisted primarily of made-for-TV movies, though she also had a lead role in Kevin Smith's 1995 film Mallrats and later cameoed in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. In 1998, Spelling again cast her in another of his television series, Charmed, in which she played one of the lead characters, Prue Halliwell, the oldest of three sisters who are witches.

Doherty also directed a few episodes for the series during the second and third seasons.

Doherty was also twice nominated, in 1999 and 2000, for the Saturn Award, Best Genre TV Actress, for her performance in Charmed.

Doherty left the show in 2001 at the end of the third season, resulting in her character's death.

Reportedly, the reason for her departure was because of on-set and off-set tensions between Doherty and co-star Alyssa Milano.

She posed for the magazine again in December 2003 and has been featured in a 10-page pictorial.

In 2003, Doherty hosted the Sci Fi Channel candid-camera show Scare Tactics during its initial season.

In 2004, E! placed Doherty at number 10 on their list of the 50 Most Wicked Women of Prime Time.

From 2004 to 2005, in a return to her prime-time soap roots, Doherty starred as a regular on the short-lived TV series North Shore, where she starred as Alexandra Hudson.

Later in 2005, she was in the pilot for a comedy, Love Inc.

In 2006, Doherty produced and starred in her own reality show, Breaking Up with Shannen Doherty, which premiered on the Oxygen channel.

In the show, Doherty carried out the "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 appeared in several episodes of the popular British sitcom Bo! in the USA, a brain child of Leigh Francis.

In the show, she played herself being randomly harassed by Avid Merrion (Francis), who claimed they were lovers.

The show aired in October 2006 on the British Channel 4.

In 2007, AOL named Prue Halliwell the 10th greatest witch in television history.

During 2007, Doherty appeared in two television projects.

She first appeared in Kiss Me Deadly: A Jacob Keane Assignment for the Here TV 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 with 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, 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 in the new series, reprising her old role of Brenda in four of the initial six episodes.

Her character, now a successful theater actress and stage director, returned as the guest director of the high school musical.