10 Moments Shannen Doherty Taught Us About Strength
Updated: Jul. 31, 2024
For all of us who grew up with her, Doherty has left a lasting legacy of grit, hope, and badassery. A reflection on an icon whose courage, resilience, and openness—not to mention that gorgeous, glossy hair—millions of us admired over more than four decades.
“I like your butt… I mean your bike.”
Brenda Walsh’s Freudian slip with her crush, Dylan McKay, was the first time I remember relating so much to an onscreen character. I once told my middle school crush that his eyes “reminded me of a whale”—meaning ocean blue—but I understood why he avoided me for the rest of the year. (Sorry, Tyler.) So in this scene when Brenda accidentally revealed that she liked Dylan, I cringed right there with her. Shannen Doherty’s portrayal of Brenda, a recent Midwestern transplant whose family had moved to Los Angeles, gave us a lens not only into what it was like to be a teen living in Beverly Hills, but what it was like to be a teen at all.
This past Saturday, July 13, 2024, Doherty passed away at age 53 after a nine-year battle with breast cancer. At times her own life was arguably as complicated as her characters’ lives, and Doherty’s difficulties played out in tabloids and on talk shows. Yet through it all, she remained open and uncrushed, giving trademark sweet but sassy interviews and stealing the show anytime she was on screen.
Starting in 1974, Doherty appeared in more than 55 television shows and films. Her most recent movie, How To Make a Deal with the Devil, is currently in post-production and awaiting release. But where she most powerfully galvanized support was throughout her battle with breast cancer as she openly shared her triumphs and struggles, especially on her podcast, Let’s Be Clear. Says Katie Bressack, INHC, AADP, a women’s health coach: “In the last few months of her life, she spent time really trying to educate about her cancer journey. She had doctors on her podcast, she was sharing different protocols. So inspiring. She left us with information, as well as her passion for helping for other people.”
Doherty’s resilience, tenacity and brazenness—along with that iconic dark, shiny hair—inspired millions of us starting in our earliest years. Keep reading for 10 beautiful ways Shannen Doherty taught us to be more informed, and more compassionate, about women’s health.
Her wide range as an actor
Doherty was often underestimated and typecast, especially at the beginning of her career. Still, she was so talented that she could embody characters ranging from a pioneer child on Little House on the Prairie to teen queen Brenda to psycho murderer Heather Duke in the 1988 dark comedy, Heathers.
Her ability to find light in the darkness
Despite her numerous public personal and professional challenges, Doherty demonstrated incredible resilience. She kept reinventing her career and often shared her positivity in the face of cancer. “I don’t want to die,” Doherty said in a 2023 interview with People. “I’m not done with living. I’m not done with loving. I’m not done with creating. I’m not done with hopefully changing things for the better.”
Her advocacy for others with cancer
From her initial diagnosis in 2015 to her 2017 remission—to her cancer returning in 2019—Doherty very publicly shared her ups and downs in interviews and on social media and her podcast. In one episode, she said it was “insane” that there wasn’t a cure for cancer and said that it helped her find her true purpose: “To help others going through what I was going through and possibly speed up cancer research, possibly get more money behind it.”
Her love for animals
Doherty was heavily involved with charities, most of which support animal rights and rescue. She routinely featured adoptable dogs on her Instagram, encouraging people to adopt rather than shop. She had an especially close bond with her dog Bowie, calling her one of her best friends. She even credited Bowie with finding her cancer before doctors did.
Her body-positivity
Instead of hiding away, Doherty often posted about her experiences with chemotherapy, her single mastectomy, and other effects of cancer on her body. This inspired others fighting cancer to share their stories as well. She told People in 2018: “[I’d read] these beautiful stories from other people, what they were going through … giving me hope, support and love, it really helped. It’s truly a family. There’s something so beautiful about the journey together.”
Her priorities in the right order
Recently, Doherty shared how her priorities have shifted. One of the last things she did was to sell items she cleaned out of her storage unit and use the money to take her mother on a memory-making vacation to Italy. “[My mom] had tears pouring down her face because she never really thought that she would see that, and she certainly didn’t think that she was going to be able to see that with me,” she said in a 2024 interview. “Those are the things that matter the most. Not your possessions, not what you have.”
Her smashing of female stereotypes
Doherty may have started as a meek child actor but grew to be known for her persistence and willingness to stand up for herself—which is especially remarkable considering she reached her prime during the Weinstein years, when women were expected to submit to whatever the men in power wanted. Gossip magazines constantly called her out for being a “diva,” or “dramatic” for saying what she really thought.
Instead of falling in line, Doherty owned her “difficult” stereotype and wrote a book titled Badass: A Hard-Earned Guide to Living Life with Style.
Her openness about her mental health struggles
One of the recurring themes of her podcast was her ongoing struggles with her mental health—something she’d always dealt with but had become more intense after being diagnosed with cancer. Doherty’s openness and willingness to share her ups and downs helped to destigmatize talking about depression and anxiety.
Her support of other women
Rather than seeing other women as competition, Doherty often spoke about the importance of supporting her colleagues in the entertainment industry and everyday life. Most recently, she posted a public statement in support of Kate Middleton after the Princess of Wales shared her own harrowing cancer diagnosis. After chastising the press, Doherty added, “And Princess Kate, I admire your strength through the endless onslaught you’ve been under while going through cancer.”
Her self-insight and willingness to change
When surrounded by “yes men,” it can become incredibly difficult to see your own faults, much less admit and change them. Yet Doherty was one of the rare actors who had an incredible amount of self-awareness. She told the AP she regretted her behavior on the set of 90210, saying, “I did bring a lot of it on myself. I can’t point fingers and say, ‘Oh, YOU’RE to blame.’ And I don’t do that with myself, either. Because I was just growing up.”
That was when I was also “just growing up.” For all of us who grew up with her, Doherty has left a lasting legacy of grit, hope, and badassery.
- ‘Here’s How I Knew I Had Breast Cancer’: One Survivor’s Story Following a Slightly Delayed Mammogram
- Doctors Share What to Know About the New Changes for Breast Cancer Screenings
- New Study: Artificial Intelligence Detected Breast Cancer 20% Better Than Doctors
- 8 New Breast Cancer Treatments Some Oncologists Are Calling ‘Mind-Blowing’
- Associated Press: “Shannen Doherty, ‘Beverly Hills, 90210’ star, dies at 53”
- IMDB: “Shannen Doherty”
- Shannen Doherty’s Instagram
Originally Published: July 15, 2024
