Shannen Doherty

Shannen Maria Doherty (born April 12, 1971) is an American actress and television director, perhaps best known for her work as Heather Duke in Heathers, as Brenda Walsh in Beverly Hills, 90210 and as Prue Halliwell in Charmed.

Shannen Doherty was born on April 12, 1971 in Memphis, Tennessee to Tom, a bank worker, and Rosa, a beautician. Shannen has Irish Catholic ancestry, though was raised in her mother's Southern Baptist religion. In 1978, when Shannen was only 7, the Doherty family moved to Los Angeles and Shannen immediately announced her dreams to become an actress. In an interview in the December 2006 issue of Glamour Magazine Shannen said:

"When I was nine, my mother developed an excruciating headache and had to be hospitalised - she was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm. She came through it but the experience was terrifying. The following year my father had a massive stroke. In a single year I nearly lost both my parents. I felt my classmates couldn't relate to what I was going through, so I closed myself off."

Success began early, with guest spots on TV series including Voyagers and Father Murphy. When a casting notice was released in Hollywood for a regular role on the popular Little House on the Prairie Shannen leapt at the opportunity and eventually won the role of Jenny Wilder at just 11 years old, thanks in part to actor Michael Landon seeing Shannen's guest spot on Father Murphy.

Shannen had her wages garnished by California United Bank when she was on Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990) because she wrote nearly $32,000 worth of bad checks.

In September 12, 1997 Shannen was sentenced to anger-management counseling by the Beverly Hills Municipal Court for an incident that occurred in August 1996; she got into an argument with 22-year-old Corey Hanker and smashed a beer bottle on his car window as he tried to drive away from her.

In 2001 Doherty pleaded not guilty to a drunk-driving charge. Her lawyer denied that she had as much alcohol in her blood as authorities contend. Doherty had been arrested in December by California Highway Patrol officers after they spotted her pickup truck weaving on the Ventura Freeway. Prosecutors said a blood test showed her blood-alcohol level was 0.13 per cent. The legal limit is 0.08 per cent. Doherty was sentenced to three years probation, fined $1,500 and ordered to do community service.

--wikipedia