According to PEOPLE Shannen Doherty has died after years living with cancer.
She was 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, 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.
The Beverly Hills 90210 star was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015.
“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.”
In 2017, Doherty revealed her breast cancer had returned after going into remission.
“It’s going to come out in a matter of days or a week that I’m stage 4. So my cancer came back, and that’s why I’m here,” Doherty said on Good Morning America. “I don’t think I’ve processed it. It’s a bitter pill to swallow in a lot of ways.”
Doherty rose to fame as Brenda Walsh on the original Beverly Hills, 90210, which premiered in October 1990.
Doherty left the show after the fourth season in 1994. (She later revisited the character with several guest appearances on the 2008 reboot 90210.)
In 2019, Doherty signed on to join the TV reboot of Beverly Hills, 90210, once again playing an adult version of the character that made her famous.
Though the actress said she was aware of her diagnosis, she kept it a secret from the cast after the unexpected death of her costar Luke Perry in March 2019 at age 52.
“It’s so weird for me to be diagnosed and then somebody who was, you know, seemingly healthy to go first,” Doherty said on Good Morning America,. “It was really, like, shocking.”
Doherty said participating in the TV reboot, which aired last year on Fox, was the “least I could do” to honor Perry — and it was also an opportunity to prove that she could continue to work despite her health.
May she rest in peace.
