Shannen Doherty

About Shannen Doherty

Shannen Maria Doherty, born April 12, 1971) was an American actress, producer, author and television director, known for her work as Heather Duke in Heathers (1989), as Brenda Walsh in Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990–1994) and its spinoff series 90210, and as Prue Halliwell in Charmed (1998–2001).

Doherty was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the daughter of Rosa Elizabeth (née Wright), a beauty parlor owner, and John Thomas Doherty, Jr., a mortgage consultant. She has an older brother (by four years) named Sean. Doherty has Irish Catholic ancestry on her father's side and English, Scottish, and Northern Irish ancestry on her mother's side. She was raised in her mother's Southern Baptist religion.

Doherty had guest spots on TV series including Voyagers! and Father Murphy. When a casting notice was released in Hollywood for a regular role on the popular Little House on the Prairie, she jumped at the opportunity and eventually won the role of Jenny Wilder at the age of 11, thanks in part to actor/producer Michael Landon seeing her guest spot on Father Murphy, which he also produced. Doherty stayed in the series until the show's cancellation in 1983.

In 1982, Shannen lent her voice talents to the animated film The Secret of NIMH. In 1985, Doherty starred as Maggie Malene in teen-comedy movie, Girls Just Want to Have Fun, alongside actresses Helen Hunt and Sarah Jessica Parker.

Doherty was cast as the oldest Witherspoon sibling, Kris, on the family drama Our House, which ran from 1986 to 1988, a role which garnered her several Young Artist Award nominations. She then went on to appear in an episode of Magnum, P.I., followed by an early episode of Airwolf for which she was nominated as 'Best Young Actress: Guest in a Series' at the 6th Youth in Film Awards in 1984. Doherty's first major motion picture role was in Heathers, released in 1989.

In January, 1993, California's United Bank took her to court for $36,000 they claimed she owed them after bouncing more than 70 checks. Later in 1993, Doherty's ex-fiance, Dean Factor, obtained an order of protection against her after Doherty allegedly pulled a gun on him and "threatened to hire a few guys to beat me and to sodomize me". Shannen Doherty was married to Ashley Hamilton, son of actor George Hamilton, from September 1993 to April 1994, when they divorced.

In 2001, Doherty was sentenced to either 10 days in jail or 20 days of work-release duty, three years probation, and was ordered to pay a $1,500 fine for drunk driving charges.

Her seven-month marriage to Rick Salomon was annulled in 2003.

On October 15, 2011, Doherty married Kurt Iswarienko in Malibu. Their wedding planning activities were the subject of the reality tv show Shannen Says.

She has appeared several times, nude, in Playboy magazine. Her first appearance was in December 1993, followed by a spread in March 1994. She posed for the magazine again in December 2003, and has been featured in a 10-page pictorial.

Charmed, P3. Shannen Doherty Prue Halliwell, Holly Marie Combs Piper Halliwell, Alyssa Milano Phoebe Halliwell, Rose McGowan Paige Matthews. The "Power of Three"