Shannen Doherty

Shannen Doherty portrayed Prue Halliwell from season one to season three in the The WB's, Charmed.

She also portrayed P. Bowen in Season 2 as well as Zile when he shapeshifted into Prue.

Biography
Shannen Maria Doherty was born on April 12, 1971 in Memphis, Tennessee, the daughter of Rosa, a beauty parlor owner, and John Thomas Doherty, a mortgage consultant. She has an older brother (by four years) named Sean. Doherty has Irish ancestry with Catholic roots, though she was raised in her mother's Southern Baptist religion. Shannen was brought up in Memphis in Tennessee and at the age of seven her family moved to Los Angeles, California. Shannen was confident that she wanted to become an actress and by the age of ten her dream came true.

Shannen was a confident student always making sure to get exceptional grades and although quite popular, she preferred to have a few close friends rather than a large crowd of friends. In fact, Shannen and Holly Marie Combs were good friends even before Charmed, and it was Shannen who persuaded her to audition. Ironically, the producers at first actually wanted Shannen to portray Piper Halliwell and Holly to portray Prue Halliwell.

Shannen was married to Ashley Hamilton, son of actor George Hamilton, from September 1993 to April 1994, when they divorced. Her second marriage only lasted for from 25 January 2002 till 2003, to Rick Salomon; It was annulled in 2003. On 20 July 2011, Shannen got engaged to photographer Kurt Iswarienko who she started dating in November 2008. They got married on October 15 2011 in Malibu, California. The married couple will star in a one-hour reality series that follows them as they plan their wedding.

On November 9th, 2010, Shannen's father John Thomas Doherty passed away after a long bout with ill health, he was 66; Shannen has said "I love him with ever inch of my being. I can't imagine life without him."

Career

 * She made her acting debut at age ten, with a role on the series "Father Murphy" (1981).
 * She made a name for herself as a child actress at just 11-years-old, starring in "Little House on the Prairie" (1974).
 * 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)
 * Later she reunited with long-time producer Aaron Spelling, when she was cast as Prue Halliwell on "Charmed" (1998).
 * She continued her work in movies by starring in Another Day (2001).
 * And the Rendering (2002).
 * Shannen was the host of the series Scare Tactics (2003).
 * Shannen made her return to television on Fox's drama series "North Shore" (2004).
 * She has ventured into new projects and in 2006, she starred in her own reality series, "Breaking Up with Shannen Doherty".
 * In 2008, Shannen reprised her role as Brenda Walsh on 90210.
 * Although she didn't play a character on the show, she is a fan of the TV series "24" and provided audio commentary with Evan Katz on that show's Season 4 DVD, in addition to having visited the set numerous times.
 * Shannen is set to appear in the upcoming fantasy T.V. production entitled Witchslayer.
 * Shannen's book Badass: A Hard-Earned Guide To Living Life With Style And (The Right) Attitude arrived in bookstores in November 2010.

Film

 * Night Shift (1982)
 * Secret of NIMH (1982)
 * Girls Just Want Have Fun (1985)
 * Other Lover (1985)
 * Alf Loves a Mystery (1987) IMG_3481.jpg
 * Heathers (1989)
 * Forever Young (1991)
 * Freeze Frame (1992)
 * Obsessed (1992)
 * A Burning Passion: The Margaret Mitchell Story (1994)
 * Almost Dead (1994)
 * Blindfold: Acts of Obsession (1994)
 * Jailbreakers (1994)
 * Mallrats (1995)
 * Gone in the Night (1996)
 * Friends 'Til The End (1997)
 * Sleeping with the Devil (1997) 002~10.jpg
 * The Ticket (1997)
 * Nowhere (1997)
 * Striking Poses (1999)
 * Satan's School for Girls (2001)
 * Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001)
 * Another Day (2001)
 * Hell on Heels: The Battle Of Mary Kay (2002)
 * View of Terror (2003)
 * Christmas Caper (2007)
 * Kiss Me Deadly (2008)
 * Lost Treasure of the Grand Canyon (2008)
 * Encounter with Danger (2009)
 * Burning Palms (2010)
 * Growing the Big One (2010)
 * Gretl (2011)

Television

 * Father Murphy (1981)
 * The Phoenix (1982)
 * Voyagers! (1982)
 * Little House on the Prairie (1982-1983) Shannen-doherty-suite-7.jpg
 * Little House: Look Back To Yesterday (1983)
 * Magnum, P.I. (1983)
 * Airwolf (1983)
 * Little House: Bless All The Dear Children (1984)
 * Little House: The Last Farewell (1984) 90210x-large.jpg
 * New Leave It to Beaver, TheThe New Leave It to Beaver (1984)
 * Highway to Heaven (1985)
 * Robert Kennedy & His Times (1985)
 * Our House (1986-1989)
 * Out Laws (1986)
 * 21 Jump Street (1989)
 * Life Goes On (1990)
 * Beverly Hills 90210 (1990-1994)
 * The Secret Of Lost Creek (1992)
 * Charmed (1998-2001)
 * The Rendering (2002)
 * North Shore (2004-2005)
 * Love, Inc. (2005)
 * Category 7: The End of the World (2005) Shannen-doherty~1.jpg
 * 90210 (2008-2009)
 * Mari/Kari (2010)

Reality Television

 * Scare Tactics (2003)
 * Breaking Up with Shannen Doherty (2006)
 * Dancing with the Stars (2010)
 * Les Anges de la Télé Réalité 3 : I Love New York (2011)
 * Shannen Says (2012)
 * Off the Map With Shannen & Holly - Great American Country (2015)

Webseries

 * Suite 7 (2011)

Director

 * Charmed episode: Be Careful What You Witch For (2000)
 * Charmed episode: The Good, the Bad and the Cursed (2001)


 * Charmed episode: All Hell Breaks Loose (2001)

Producer

 * Another Day (2001)
 * Breaking Up with Shannen Doherty (2006)
 * Better Off: Insecurity Check (2006)

Writer

 * Breaking Up with Shannen Doherty (2006)
 * Badass: A Hard-Earned Guide to Living Life with Style and (Right) Attitude (2010)

Theatre

 * A Room Of My Own (2010)

Choreographer

 * Charmed episode: Coyote Piper (2001)

Trivia

 * Shannen Doherty has refused to give the rights of her likeness to Zenescope so they can draw Prue as confirmed by Paul Ruditis.
 * Shannen is 5 ft 4 in (163 cm).
 * Shannen Star Sign is Aries.
 * Shannen is a Baptist.
 * Shannen has directed 3 episodes of the series: Be Careful What You Witch For, The Good, the Bad and the Cursed, and All Hell Breaks Loose. This would explain why her character was absent for the majority of the previous episodes' running time (Apocalypse, Not, Bride and Gloom and Look Who's Barking), as it would allow her time to prepare.
 * She was paid $75,000 per episode of Charmed.
 * Shannen Doherty told E! that Alyssa, after she found out that she was doing a scene with Julian McMahon, she would run around set saying "I get to kiss Julian".
 * Shannen and Holly.jpg]]This also adds to the theory that there was never any disputes between Alyssa and Shannen due to the fact that Shannen didn't seem annoyed talking about her. If they were in some kind of a fight, it would of shown.
 * She did most of her own stunts as Prue Halliwell.
 * Shannen was the first one to be hired for Charmed. She was given the script and read it with Holly beside her and then went into the office to talk to Mr Spelling about casting Holly too.
 * She has stated her favorite episodes of Charmed were Which Prue is It, Anyway?, Ms. Hellfire and All Hell Breaks Loose.
 * Her pets include: Seven horses (one of which is a pony): Louisito, Alberto, Domingo, Picasso, Samourzakan, Aries Addiction and Thunder. Four dogs:Roamy (German shepherd), Leroy (Kane corso), Pinky (Cavalier King Charles Spaniel) and Leo (Rhodesian Ridgeback)
 * She was once pranked by the crew of Charmed into believing she had won about 50 million dollars in the lottery. She almost quit the show due to this.
 * She loves playing games on her PlayStation and Xbox.
 * Her favourite game is Diablo.
 * She has been on the Jay Leno show 7 times.
 * She went to the same School as Jodie Foster went to.
 * She speaks French and Spanish.
 * Her GPA in High School was 4.0.
 * Still owns a percentage of Charmed even after she left.
 * She was 12 years old when she first saw Alyssa Milano, dancing at a Hollywood Party. 003~12.jpg]]
 * She was born on the same day and year as Nicholas Brendon of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame.
 * Shannen suffers from the stomach and bowel condition Crohn's Disease.
 * She is close friends with actress Sarah Michelle Gellar and best friends with Holly Marie Combs.
 * Interestingly Shannen follows Rose McGowan in twitter. She also follows Holly Marie Combs and Alyssa Milano.
 * Shannen is allergic to Wool and Chocolate.
 * As a fan of the drama series 24, Shannen provided audio commentary on the Season Four DVD for the hours 3pm-4pm.
 * She was ranked #5 in the 100 Greatest Teen Stars.
 * Her nickname is Shando and her middle name is Maria.
 * She has a tattoo on her right ankle of a cross with the sun behind it. Below it is the name Rob after her then-boyfriend.
 * Her favorite place to buy furniture is Harrod's of London.
 * In the Charmed episode Coyote Piper, Shannen taught Holly how to table dance and acted as the choreographer.
 * Shannen turned down a role in the horror movie Scream 3 but did appear in a spoof. She was rumored to appear alongside Brian Krause in Scream 4.
 * She appeared in the music video for the Slaughter song Real Love.
 * The film, Heathers, Shannen's first Major movie role, was filmed in just 32 days.
 * Shannen Doherty has also been in a number of movies after her appearance on Charmed such as; View Of Terror,The Lost Treasure of the Grand Canyon and the infamous Christmas Caper.
 * Shannen has also made appearances on TV Shows Such as 'North Shore' were she portrayed the role of Alexandra Huson and the new series re-make of 90210, where she portrayed her infamous character Brenda Walsh.
 * Shannen has also starred alongside Julian McMahon (plays Cole Turner in Charmed) the two starred in 'Another Day'.
 * Shannen and Julian have also dated in the past.
 * Shannen and her family moved to Los Angeles when she was only 7 years old.
 * Owns a Horse Ranch in Ventura County, California.
 * Shannen also owns a Malibu Beach home which she listed in 2009 at $4 million. The gated mansion was built in 1976, has five bedrooms and 4 bathrooms in 3,410 square feet. It has an outdoor patio with a waterfall, overlooking an ocean view with 1 acre of park-like grounds and includes a pool and spa.
 * She and Co-star Alyssa Milano were both considered for the role of Rene in Mallrats. The role later on went to Shannen.
 * Shannen is also an art director for a California based magazine called, Pasedina.
 * Shannen is really close to her father, in 2010 she stated that her appearance on the hit American dance show 'Dancing with the Stars' was for him. Unfortunately, he died in early November 2010.
 * Shannen has also claimed that when infront of large crowds of people she gets nervous and gets Hives, a condition that is quite common in the US. It causes the skin to itch and turn red.
 * Apart from being a director Shannen has also had 2 shows on TV, Breaking Up with Shannen Doherty and Scare Tactics.
 * Shannen has stated that even though the gossip magazines makes her seem evil and a person that likes to starts feuds she pays no attention to them. In her career of over 20 years she has only cried over a misconception once.
 * Shannen was "punk'd" by former Charmed co-star Greg Vaughan (Dan Gordon) in the Dutch television program Ushi & Loesie. You can watch it here.
 * Even though Shannen denied the show her likeness rights following her exit, she still technically appears as her hands are seen flipping through the pages of the Book of Shadows during the starring shot of the opening credits.
 * When asked about whether she preferred working on Beverly Hills 90210 or Charmed, she claims she enjoyed working on Charmed more for the reasons that she was older at the time and thus could appreciate it more, she could direct, she could do her own stunts and the outfits she got to wear.

Opening Credits
During her time on 'Charmed', Shannen Doherty had first billing, therefore was the first cast member to be credited.

Reasons for leaving Charmed
Although little is known about why Shannen Doherty really left Charmed, these are the more well-known theories:


 * Shannen Doherty had several disputes with co-star Alyssa Milano and/or executive producer Brad Kern. She left because it was hard to work with somebody for a long period of time when there are disagreements. Ironically about four years before she did Charmed and was doing "Beverly Hills 90210" the reason she chose to leave was due to a feud with her co-star, Jennie Garth.
 * Shannen Doherty wouldn't sign a two year contract with the show.
 * Shannen stated she left the show because she found it impossible to work with people who didn't care about the work they were doing. She claimed that there was too much drama on the set and not enough devotion to the show and that she felt she was the only one putting in one-hundred percent to the show, though what this means as far as the above or any other theories is completely unknown.
 * It has been stated that photos and scenes of Shannen were not used in Charmed after her exit from the series because of budget costs; the producer stated she did not return in the finale because if she did, it would have meant one of the other past characters, such as Wes Ramsey, Finola Hughes, or Drew Fuller, not reprising their role due to costs. Although Shannen was not even asked to return for the finale, Brad Kern later said in an interview that if Shannen did reprise her role as Prue, the episode would have been all about the 'return of Prue' which he did not want.
 * To this day, no one really knows why Shannen Doherty left Charmed, however as years go on more rumors have come up about her leaving the show. One source said that Shannen's "me first" attitude sunk the friendship between her and Alyssa Milano, according to reports Shannen demanded to be in the middle of ALL publicity shoots, shoving Alyssa to the side. They apparently stopped speaking to each other around the episode Give Me a Sign and only spoke to each other when they were forced on screen.