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Shannen Doherty
Shannen Doherty was born in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, on April 12, 1971, to parents Tom and Rosa. Her father worked in a bank while her mother owned a beauty parlor. She has an older brother named Sean. In 1978 at the tender age of seven, she and her family moved to Los Angeles, where her father started a West Coast branch of the family transportation business. Shannen has always been close to her family, who disciplined her from a young age. She knew she wanted to pursue an acting career when she made her acting debut at age ten, with a role on the series "Father Murphy" (1981).
Shannen was a confident student, involving herself in school performances and working hard in school, by making sure she always had exceptional grades. Despite her confidence, she isolated herself from large crowds and preferred to have a few close friends. She made a name for herself as a child actress at just 11-years-old, starring in "Little House on the Prairie" (1974) as Jenny Wilder. It was Michael Landon who noticed her performance in an episode of "Father Murphy" (1981), that he decided to cast her. She then went on to appear in "Our House" (1986) with Deidre Hall and Wilford Brimley. She also starred alongside Sarah Jessica Parker and Helen Hunt in Girls Just Want to Have Fun (1985) and then in Heathers (1988), a teen comedy also starring Winona Ryder. Her real success came in 1990, at the age of 19, when she was cast in Aaron Spelling's long-running hit series, "Beverly Hills, 90210" (1990) as Brenda Walsh, the twin sister of Brandon Walsh, played by Jason Priestley. She attracted media attention from the press and eventually made her a household name. The success of the popular teen drama appealed to young teenage girls who could relate to her character, Brenda Walsh. After four years, she left the show in 1994. Afterward, she continued her work in movies, starring in the thriller Almost Dead (1994) and the comedy Mallrats (1995). During the fall of 1998, she reunited with long-time producer Aaron Spelling, when she was cast as Prue Halliwell on "Charmed" (1998), a show about three ordinary women who happen to be witches. She starred alongside Alyssa Milano and Holly Marie Combs. After three years, she left the show to find work in movies. Before her departure from the show, she had directed three of the last episodes in which she starred. She continued her work in movies by starring in Another Day (2001) (TV), The Rendering (2002), Hell on Heels: The Battle of Mary Kay (2002) (TV), and Nightlight (2003) (TV). In 2003, she hosted season one of "Scare Tactics" (2003) as well as season two with only 8 episodes, and then left to pursue other endeavors. In the fall of 2004, Shannen made her return to television on Fox's drama series "North Shore" (2004), where she played Alexandra Hudson, the long-lost sister of Nicole Booth, played by Brooke Burns. Eventually the show was canceled after one season. Then in 2005, she landed the role of Denise Johnson on the UPN series "Love, Inc." (2005), however after the pilot episode she was dropped from the sitcom. From there she has ventured into new projects and in 2006, she starred in her own reality series, "Breaking Up with Shannen Doherty" (2006). Recent projects (since 2009) Doherty has been in the process of pitching a new television show to networks.[11] On October 30, 2008, TV Guide reported that Doherty is due to co-star alongside Dylan McDermott in the indie film Burning Palms, a satire based on Los Angeles stereotypes told through five intertwining storylines.[17] She will also be starring in the upcoming TV movie thriller Encounter with Danger with Mark Humphrey. Doherty will play the lead in the upcoming British independent film The Beautiful Outsiders. Filming will commence in September.[18] She also announced she's currently writing a book though 'it's not an autobiography' but it contains some of her life experiences.[citation needed] On March 1, 2010, it was announced that Doherty will be a celebrity contestant on Dancing with the Stars for the tenth season. The season premiere was on Monday, March 22, 2010.[19] Doherty was paired with two-time champion Mark Ballas in his 6th season on the show, but the pair was the first couple eliminated in the second week on March 30th. [20] She wanted to do Dancing With The Stars to make her father proud. WE tv announced on July 21, 2011, that she will star in a one-hour reality series that follows her and her fiance, Kurt Iswarienko, as they plan their wedding. The show is scheduled to premiere in 2012.[20] The reality series "Shannen Says" will premiere on April 3, 2012. Doherty is spokesperson for Education Connection, which is helping her to get an online college degree.[21 | Shay Memorabilia
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