Shannen Doherty loses cancer battle, dead at 53

“It is with a heavy heart that I confirm the passing of actress Shannen Doherty. On Saturday, July 13, she lost her battle with cancer after many years of fighting the disease,” Doherty’s longtime publicist Leslie Sloane confirmed in an exclusive statement to PEOPLE on Sunday.

“The devoted daughter, sister, aunt and friend was surrounded by her loved ones as well as her dog, Bowie. The family asks for their privacy at this time so they can grieve in peace,” Sloane continued.

The Beverly Hills 90210 star was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 and went into remission in 2017. In 2020, she announced it had returned as Stage 4 cancer.

“I definitely have days where I say, ‘Why me?’” Doherty told PEOPLE of the development in her health. “And then I go, well, ‘Why not me? Who else? Who else besides me deserves this?’ None of us do.”

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Shannen Doherty, best known for playing Brenda Walsh on the monster 1990s hit series Beverly Hills 90210, has died at the age of 53 after battling cancer for close to a decade.

It is the second major cast loss for the beloved show after Doherty’s on screen love interest Luke Perry – who played teen rebel Dylan McKay – died in 2019 at the age of 52 following multiple strokes.

“It is with a heavy heart that I confirm the passing of actress Shannen Doherty. On Saturday, July 13, she lost her battle with cancer after many years of fighting the disease,” Doherty’s longtime publicist Leslie Sloane confirmed in an exclusive statement to PEOPLE on Sunday, July 14.

“The devoted daughter, sister, aunt and friend was surrounded by her loved ones as well as her dog, Bowie. The family asks for their privacy at this time so they can grieve in peace,” Sloane continued.

Doherty was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015, but went into remission following treatment by 2017. In 2020, she announced it had returned as Stage 4 cancer.

“It’s like anybody with Stage 4 faces this sort of thing, where others want to put you out to pasture,” she told Elle magazine the same year.

“I’m not ready for pasture. I’ve got a lot of life in me.”

In June 2023, she revealed the cancer had spread to her brain, writing in an Instagram post that a January CAT scan “showed Mets [metastasis] in my brain”.

“My fear is obvious,” she told fans. 

By November the cancer had spread to her bones.

Hollywood stardom

Doherty broke into the world of Hollywood as a child actor on the TV series Little House on the Prairie.

Although she only appeared in four episodes of the show’s final season, Doherty’s career continued progressing.

She appeared in the animated film The Secret of NIMH and an episode of the TV series Airwolf.

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

Her breakout role came in 1990, when she was cast to play the role of Brenda Walsh in the series Beverly Hills, 90210.

She earned a nomination for Best Young Actress Starring in a TV series at the Youth in Film Awards.

Following her exit from the show, Doherty starred in several television movies, including Mallrats, Christmas Caper, and the series Charmed.

More to come.