Former child actress Shannen Doherty, who starred as Prue Halliwell on Charmed and hosted the SciFi Channel show Scare Tactics has died of cancer at the age of 53, after a nine-year battle with breast cancer. Doherty was born April 12, 1971 in Memphis, Tennessee. She passed away July 13, 2024 in Malibu, California.
Her theatrical career began as a child actress. Her first role was on Father Murphy at the age of ten. She played Jenny Wilder in Little House on the Prairie. She voiced Teresa Brisby in The Secret of NIMH (1982) when she was only eleven. She made guest appearances in the Sci-Fi show Voyagers! and the western Father Murphy. She played Kris Witherspoon in Our House. Her best-known juvenile role was as teenaged Brenda Wash on Beverly Hills 90210. She also played Heather Duke in the teen black comedy Heathers (1989).
As an adult, Doherty appeared in Fortress (2021) as Barbara Dobbs, in the soap opera North Shore as Alexandra Hudson. Doherty starred as author Margaret Mitchell in Burning Passion: The Margaret Mitchell Story (1994).
Fantasy and Horror Roles
Shannon Doherty’s best known role that would interest fans of Sc-Fi.radio was as Prue Halliwell, one of the three good witches in Charmed. Doherty was also twice nominated, in 1999 and 2000, for the Saturn Award for Best Genre TV Actress, for her performance in Charmed. Doherty played Katherine in Almost Dead(1994). She starred as Beth Hammersmith in Satan’s School for Girls (2000). Doherty starred as Celeste Timmerman in Nightlight (2003), also released as View of Terror. She starred as Susan Jordan in The Lost Treasure of the Grand Canyon (2008). In the mini-series Category 7: The End of the World she played scientist Faith Clavell. Doherty had the title role in Witchslayer Gretl (2012), playing an adult version of Gretel of Hansel & Gretel fame. She played Cate Parker in Blood Lake: Attack of the Killer Lampreys (2014). In the web-series Mari-Kari, she voiced both twins, Mari and Kari, one of them alive, the other a ghost. She played Katherine in Dying to Belong (2021). She appeared in the music video for Borgore & Sikdope: Zombie Unicorn Apocalypse.As a child she appeared in Voyagers! and Airwolf. As a teenager, she was a guest on Highway to Heaven. As an adult, she hosted the first season of Scare Tactics. Doherty was also twice nominated, in 1999 and 2000, for the Saturn Award, Best Genre TV Actress, for her performance in Charmed.
Personal Life
Shannon Doherty was married three times. She was briefly married to actor/singer Ashley Hamilton. They wed in 1993 and divorced in 1994. She married professional gambler Rick Salomon in 2002, but the marriage was annulled in 2003. She married cinemtoggrapher Kurt Iswarienko in 2011; they separated in 2023. She had no children. As the divorce was not yet final at the time of her death, she is survived by her estranged husband Kurt Iswarienko and her brother Sean Doherty. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015. It went into remission, but returned and metastized, spreading to her lymph nodes and brain.
Actress Gina Bellman of Leverage has also been diagnosed with cancer. Early detection is key! Get regular checkups, and if you have the least suspicion of anything amiss, do not delay in seeing a doctor.
Susan Macdonald is the author of the children’s book “R is for Renaissance Faire”, as well as 26 short stories, mostly fantasy in “Alternative Truths”, “Swords and Sorceress #30”, Swords &Sorceries Vols. 1, 2, & 5, “Cat Tails” “Under Western Stars”, and “Knee-High Drummond and the Durango Kid”. Her articles have appeared on SCIFI.radio’s web site, in The Inquisitr, and in The Millington Star. She enjoys Renaissance Faires (see book above), science fiction conventions, Highland Games, and Native American pow-wows.
