Things You Might Not Know About Shannen Doherty
Published on January 20, 2017. Updated April 1, 2020Actress Shannen Doherty’s life in Hollywood has been quite turbulent. From a child actress to the star of hugely successful series such as Beverly Hills, 90210 and Charmed, there were few who did not know who she was. Since announcing her battle with breast cancer, the actress is opening up about her life more and more. Here are 8 things many do not know about Shannen Doherty:
8. Early Life
Shannen Marie Doherty was born on April 12, 1971 in Memphis, Tennesse, to Rosa and Tom Doherty. Growing up, Shannen’s mother Rosa was a beauty parlor owner while her father worked as a mortgage consultant, and she has one older brother, Sean. When she was only 7 years old, her family moved to Los Angeles and Doherty quickly took an interest in acting, and landed her first role on the series Father Murphy at the age of 10.
Photo By Michael Ferguson/PHOTOlink /Courtesy Everett Collection7. Legal Issues
In the early years of her career, it seems Shannen Doherty had quite a few run-ins with the law. In 1993, Doherty had to go court because California’s United Bank claimed that the actress had bounced more than 70 checks. A few years later she was sentenced to anger-management counseling after she got into an argument with a 22-year-old guy and reportedly smashed a beer bottle on his car window. Then in December of 1997, she was arrested by California Highway Patrol for drunk driving and reportedly refused to submit to a chemical test and in 2001 was sentenced to 20 days of work-release duty, three years probation and a fine of $1500.
Everett Collection6. Breaking Up With Shannen Doherty
In the early 2000s, Doherty was having trouble landing lasting roles so in the mid-2000s she produced and starred in her own reality show called Breaking Up with Shannen Doherty. The series aired on the Oxygen channel in 2006 and focused on the actress doing things for people that they don’t want to do such as breaking up with their significant others or telling their friends what they really think about them. Unfortunately, the show was canceled after only one season.
5. Causing Trouble
It is no surprise to fans that Doherty has earned a reputation in the entertainment industry for being rather difficult to work with. At the end of Beverly Hills, 90201, Doherty was the only star of the show who couldn’t come to an agreement with producers in participating in the series finale, making her essentially the only actor from the series not to appear in the hour-long special. In 1992, Doherty had a now infamous appearance on The Dennis Miller Show where she was only his fourth guest ever and proceeded to berate him for being nervous. Afterward, Miller became known for always bashing the actress on his talk show whenever he could. In 1994, Doherty became a problem for director William Friedkin when she didn’t show up for the first day of shooting Rebel Highway and he instantly did a re-call for auditions in hopes of replacing Doherty.
PREMIUM —4. Famous Feuds
Aside from angering directors and producers, Doherty quickly became known for her interactions with her co-stars. One of her most famous feuds was with her Charmed co-star Alyssa Milano, and the on-set tension is reportedly what caused Doherty’s exit from the show at the end of season three. A lesser discussed feud was between Doherty and her former Little House on the Prairie co-star Melissa Gilbert. Years after the series ended, Gilbert married Bo Binkman but only a few months into their marriage it was revealed that he had cheated on Gilbert with none other than Doherty. Gilbert later stated that she believes Doherty intentionally sought Binkman out to sleep with him, and when she confronted Doherty about the situation, Doherty replied, “Well, you know I always wanted to be with you.” In 2014, Gilbert still talked about the incident between the two saying if she ever saw Doherty she would “punch her in the nose.”
Source: Warner Bros.3. Personal Life
Given her wild child ways, it shouldn’t be too surprising that Shannen Doherty has had quite the wild personal life as well. Although she married her first husband, Ashley Hamilton, in 1993 at the age of 22, at that time she had already been engaged twice before, to Chris Foufas and then to Dean Factor. After her failed engagement to Chris Foufas in 1991, Doherty began dating Factor and the pair were engaged within months, but things quickly turned violent between the two, and while both claimed abuse, Factor actually went to court asking for protection from Doherty after she allegedly pulled a gun on him, wrecked his house, and threatened to have him beaten up. Apparently, things took a turn for the worse for the couple after Doherty began working with Factor’s friend Judd Nelson on Blindfold. Interestingly enough, she did begin dating Nelson, and through him met Ashley Hamilton, whom she dated for two weeks in 1993 before the pair abruptly married one day in October. The marriage only lasted a few months before they divorced in April of 1994. In 2002, Doherty married Rick Salomon, but after nine months they had the marriage annulled. Finally, in October of 2011 Doherty married photographer Kurt Iswarienko.
Photo by John Salangsang/BFA/REX/Shutterstock2. Net Worth
From Little House on the Prairie to Beverly Hills, 90210, to Charmed, Doherty had a great run on several of TV’s most popular shows despite her less than favorable on-set reputation. Although the actress is accused of also being an irresponsible spender, it seems she still did pretty well for herself with an estimated net worth of $10 million.
Photo by Rob Latour/REX Shutterstock1. Cancer Battle
After years of laying low, Doherty was once again in the headlines, but for a reason no wanted to hear. In August of 2015, the actress revealed that she was battling breast cancer, and since opening up about her battle has continued to update fans as she goes through treatment. Unfortunately, Doherty believes her cancer could have been caught much earlier than it was and ended up suing her business manager because she claimed her manager neglected her medical insurance which meant Doherty could not go to the doctor for over a year, and during that time the cancer became invasive. After a two-year battle, in April 2017, she went into remission; however, as of April 2018, a follow-up test found an elevated level of a tumor marker, which her doctor is closely monitoring.