Shannen Maria Doherty (born April 12, 1971 in Memphis, Tennessee) is an American actress, producer, author, and television director. She is best-known for her roles on Beverly Hills, 90210 and Charmed.
She was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and raised Southern Baptist. She had guest spots in television series including Voyagers! and Father Murphy, the latter of which led to the recurring role of Jenny Wilder on Little House on the Prairie.
Her first major film role was in Heathers in 1989, followed by her Star-Making Role as Brenda Walsh in Beverly Hills, 90210, for which she was nominated for a Young Artist Award in 1991 and 1992. After leaving the show in 1994, her career consisted primarily of made-for-tv movies, aside from a lead role in Mallrats in 1995 and a cameo in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. In 1998, Doherty was cast in her second Aaron Spelling series, Charmed, where she played Prue until leaving at the end of the third series, which earned her two Saturn Award nominations for Best Genre TV Actress.
Since 2003, Doherty has enjoyed a diverse career in TV movies, Syfy series and films, and competitive reality shows, as well as starring in the animated web series Mari-Kari.
Film roles with TV Tropes pages:
- All I Want for Christmas - Brenda Patterson
- Blood Lake: Attack of the Killer Lampreys - Cate Parker
- Girls Just Want to Have Fun - Maggie Malene
- Heathers - Heather Duke
- Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back - Herself
- Kiss Me Deadly - Marta
- Mallrats - Rene Mosier
- Naked Gun 33 1/3: the Final Insult - Herself
- Night Shift - Bluebird
- Nowhere - Val-Chick 2
- Obsessed - Lorie Brindel
Television roles with TV Tropes pages:
- 21 Jump Street - Janine
- Airwolf - Phoebe Danner
- Beverly Hills, 90210 - Brenda Walsh
- Charmed - Prudence 'Prue' Halliwell
- Dancing with the Stars - Herself
- Friends Til The End - Heather Rowley
- Heathers - Mrs. Dean / Dr. Destiny
- Highway to Heaven - Shelley Fowler
- Life Goes On - Ginny Green
- Little House on the Prairie - Jenny Wilder
- Magnum, P.I. - Ima Platt
- The New Normal - Brenda Walsh / Herself
- The Phoenix - Little Girl
- Scare Tactics (2003) - Herself (host)
- Voyagers! - Betty Parris
Voice acting roles with TV Tropes pages:
- Mari-Kari - Mari, Kari
- The Secret of NIMH - Teresa Brisby
- Actor Allusion:
- In Mallrats, Ben Affleck's character is called Shannon Hamilton. Shannen had been married to Ashley Hamilton.
- In the same movie, another character mistakenly calls her Brenda - which is of course her character's name on 90210.
