The star of “Beverly Hills 90210” was 53

Shannen Doherty

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Shannen Doherty, who starred in the hits of the 1990s Beverly Hills, 90210 And Charmed and cult classics Heatherhas died.

Doherty, who had been treated for cancer for nearly a decade since her diagnosis in 2015, died on Saturday, July 13. She was 53.

“It is with a heavy heart that I confirm the death of actress Shannen Doherty. On Saturday, July 13, she lost her battle with cancer after battling the disease for many years,” Doherty’s spokeswoman Leslie Sloane said in a statement to People“The devoted daughter, sister, aunt and friend was surrounded by her loved ones and her dog, Bowie. The family requests privacy so she can grieve in peace.”

Doherty was born on April 12, 1971 in Memphis, Tennessee, and began acting at the age of 9, playing her first role in an episode of the NBC series Father Murphy in December 1981. This series was produced by Michael Landon, who then cast her in the recurring role of Jenny Wilder in Our little farmDoherty reprised the role in three Small house TV movies after the end of the series and praised Landon as a mentor.

“Small house shaped me in many ways and it is still the best experience of my entire career,” said Doherty in her podcast So that we understand each other in May. “It’s kind of amazing because when I think about the length of my career, but also how hard some of the jobs were – and not fun to be involved in, a bit toxic – it was really the experience on Small house that sparked my passion for acting. And it was a mentor like Michael Landon – and I don’t care what anyone else’s experience was, I know the truth about this man and he was just incredible.”

After a role in the healthy family drama Our house From 1986 to 1988, Doherty took a nasty turn in Heather as Heather Duke, one of three mean girls who want to eliminate their high school classmate (played by Winona Ryder).

However, her real breakthrough came two years later with the debut of Beverly Hills, 90210 on Fox, where she played Brenda Walsh, a high school student who moves from Minnesota to an affluent Los Angeles suburb with her twin brother Brandon (Jason Priestley) and her parents. After a mediocre first season, the series took off in 1991 with a series of summer episodes, fueled in no small part by Brenda’s tumultuous romance with Dylan McKay (Luke Perry).