Remembering Shannen Doherty, the Quintessential Gen X Girl

Shannen Doherty in 2002

Remembering Shannen Doherty, the Quintessential Gen X Girl

by Judi Berman

14 July 2024

Shannen Doherty epitomized the experience of growing up female in the ’90s. Like her iconic Beverly Hills, 90210 character, Brenda Walsh, she contained a volatile mix of Gen X angst, teen fragility and feminist grit. She thrived as a porcelain-skinned, dark-haired drama queen in a world of tan, blonde valley girls, and owned her identity as an angry young woman before Courtney Love and Elizabeth Wurtzel made it a trend. She wasn’t for everyone, but that was part of her appeal.

Shannen Doherty in A Burning Passion: The Margaret Mitchell Story, in which she played the Gone with the Wind author, in 1994.

Photograph: Diana Gibson

Shannen Doherty, Heathers and Beverly Hills 90210 star, dies at 53

The actor, also known for roles in Charmed and Little House on the Prairie, has died of cancer

Shannen Doherty Wants to 'Embrace Life' as Cancer Has Spread to Her Bones / 'My Greatest Memory Is Yet to Come'

Benjamin Lee
Sunday 14 July 2024

Shannen Doherty, star of Beverly Hills 90210 and Heathers, has died at the age of 53.

A statement from her publicist Leslie Sloane, cited by People magazine, said: “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.”

 

Shannen Doherty photographed at Smashbox Studios in Culver City, CA, on November 20, 2023.
Photo by John Russo 

Shannen Doherty Wants to 'Embrace Life' as Cancer Has Spread to Her Bones: 'My Greatest Memory Is Yet to Come'

The 'Beverly Hills, 90210' star opens up in PEOPLE's latest cover story about her Stage 4 cancer diagnosis and how she hopes to inspire others by focusing on her future

By Danielle Bacher
Updated on November 29, 2023 09:29AM EST

Shannen Doherty doesn’t mince words.

“I don’t want to die,” she asserts as a sliver of Los Angeles sunshine falls across her face on the set of her PEOPLE cover shoot four days before Thanksgiving.