R.I.P. Shannen Doherty 1971-2024: A Tribute to Her Amazing Career

Shannen Doherty passed away this weekend and she will be sorely missed. The gorgeous, distinct actress was unlike anyone else in her generation. She was a 90s bad girl who played two iconic TV roles. She was stunning and she had a stunning career. Let's remember her amazing work.

Shannen was born Shannen Maria Doherty in Memphis, Tennessee, where she was raised Southern Baptist by her mom. The mixed Irish and Native American young lady stood out for her beauty with her dark hair and bright eyes.

She began her career as a child in 1982 in which she started earning roles on TV shows. She was only 11 years old when she snatched the role of Jenny Wilder on Little House on the Prairie. She racked up roles throughout the 80s as she matured and had a critical role as Maggie Malene in the teen comedy Girls Just Want to Have Fun. We had fun watching her! This led to her first bitchy role in the 1989 dark comedy Heathers. She was, of course, a Heather and the industry took notice.

Her biggest breakthrough came when she played Brenda Walsh aka Brenda the Bitch in Beverly Hills, 90210. She was SO good at playing a bitchy character that people began to believe that she was one for real. Regardless, her role in this Aaron Spelling classic launched her into fame. She left the show after the fourth season and some say that the show was never the same after her departure.

All grown up, Shannen wanted to prove it. That is why she posed nude in Playboy in December 1993. She posed for the magazine again in 1994 and in 2003. With a body like that, we can't blame her!

In 1993, she also played a hot part in the film Blindfold: Acts of Obsession. She goes so nude that she nearly show it all! Thank goodness the audience isn't blindfolded so we can take in Doherty's domes.

We all fell in love with Doherty when she played a sister witch in the 1998 CW series Charmed. She played Prue Halliwell and she even directed some episodes. Sadly she was let go from the show in 2001 which was difficult for her to come back from. She allegedly left due to arguments between her and her co-star Alyssa Milano.

In 2006, Shannen took the reality TV route with an Oxygen Channel show called Breaking Up with Shannen Doherty. Since she was known as such a bitch, the show's premise was that Shannen would do the bitchy things that other people did not want to do such as nasty confrontations and breakups. The show was canceled after one season, but it is such a good idea for Shannen Doherty. She was owning her bitchiness! What's not to love about that?

She went on to own it even more later in life. In 2010, she spoke about her reputation as a bad girl and blamed some of it on the immaturity that came with being famous at such a young age. She 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 revealed that she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015. The cancer went away and came back again and eventually spread to her brain. Shannen sadly passed away on July 13th after battling breast cancer. She passed away at 53 years old.