Rosa Doherty and Shannen Doherty. (Photo: Shannen Doherty/Instagram) Photo: Shannen Doherty/Instagram
Shannen Doherty‘s mother, Rosa Doherty, is breaking her silence on her daughter’s death.
“She is my beautiful girl and my heart,” Rosa, 76, said in a statement to People on Monday, July 15. “Our family wants to thank everyone who has shown love and support for our Shannen throughout her life. We are truly appreciative.”
Doherty died on Saturday, July 13, at the age of 53 following a lengthy cancer battle. She was first diagnosed with stage-four breast cancer in 2015. After going into remission, the cancer returned, so the actress went public with her illness in 2017. Doherty was candid with her cancer journey, sharing in November 2023 that the illness had spread to her bones and eventually, her brain.
“It is with a heavy heart that I confirm the passing of actress Shannen Doherty, her publicist Leslie Sloane said in a statement to Us. “The devoted daughter, sister, aunt and friend was surrounded by her loved ones as well as her dog, Bowie. The family asks for their privacy at this time so they can grieve in peace.”
Prior to her July 2024 death, Shannen Doherty made a name for herself in film and television. The actress, born in Memphis in April 1971, started her career as a child star on Little House on the Prairie and went on to appear in the dark comedic film Heathers. Doherty’s fame continued to grow after […]
The Tennessee native began her career as a child star on Little House on the Prairie before moving on to roles in Girls Just Want to Have Fun and Our House. She made an impression in the 1988 dark comedy Heathers and went on to star in TV series Beverly Hills, 90210 and Charmed.
Following the news of her death, tributes poured in from Doherty’s fans and celebrity friends and former costars. She was “still fighting” until the very end, her oncologist, Dr. Lawrence D. Piro, revealed Monday.
“I come from a woman who was determined,” Doherty said of Rosa in a November 2023 interview with People. “She impressed that upon me as a very young child like, ‘You don’t give up. You just have to work hard at it.’”
“I think I was always a fighter,” she continued. “I was raised that way to be very strong and that I could do anything that I put my mind to.”
For Shannen Doherty, it was important to be “as honest as possible” about her fight against cancer. The actress first battled breast cancer between March 2015 and April 2017, and she revealed in February 2020 that the illness had returned. “It’s going to come out in a matter of days or a week that — […]
Doherty said that she didn’t make decisions without taking Rosa “into consideration. I love her, and I am so incredibly grateful to her for being an amazing mother. I take my brother into consideration and his children, my dog, my animals.”
In an April episode of her “Let’s Be Clear” podcast, Doherty worried about her terminal illness and how losing her fight against cancer would affect Rosa.
“Because it’s going to be so hard on her, I want other things to be a lot easier,” she stated at the time. “I don’t want her to have a bunch of stuff to deal with. I don’t want her to have four storage units filled with furniture.”
