The news of Shannen Doherty’s passing caught the world by storm and left many mourning. The Charmed star was 53 and battled cancer for the past seven years of her life.
Before her tragic passing, she made a heartbreaking post online.
During her battle with the disease, Doherty often shared updates regarding her health condition. She was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 when she disclosed that she had ‘invasive breast cancer metastatic to at least one lymph node.’
After several surgeries and treatments, the 90210 star experienced remission after her initial cancer diagnosis, but the disease later returned.
In 2020, she shared the devastating news that she had been diagnosed with stage four breast cancer, a severe stage where the cancer spreads to various parts of the body.
In 2023, Doherty confirmed that the cancer had metastasized to her brain and bones, resulting in surgery that removed ‘almost all’ of the brain tumor.
In her final social media post, the actress shared a clip from the Let’s Be Clear podcast on her Instagram page.
“So, you know, for the first time in I have no idea how long, I’m going to be on chemo for I have no idea if it’s going to be, you know, three months or if its going to be six months or if we are going, you know, if after three months if it’s not working if we’re going to change again,” he said in the clip.
“Like, I don’t really, that’s not something that I can predict. It’s not something my doctors can predict and it’s scary.
“It’s like a big wake up call at the same time I got to say that there is some positivity there and the positivity is that because my molecular structure of my cancer cells changed recently.
“It means that there’s a lot more protocols for me to try. So, you know, for the first time in a couple months probably I feel hopeful because there are so many more protocols now.”
“Whereas before I was hopeful but I was still getting prepared.”
Doherty’s death was confirmed yesterday, July 14, by her friend and publicist Leslie Sloane.
“It is with a heavy heart that I confirm the passing of actress Shannen Doherty.
“On Saturday, July 13, she lost her battle with cancer after many years of fighting the disease. 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.”
We are so very sorry for this devastating loss. May she rest in peace.
House’ Actor Hugh Laurie Makes Surprising Revelation: ‘My Dad Would Have Hated Me Playing a Fake Doctor
Even though TV’s most famous doctor was earning $700,000 per episode in the final season, *House* star Hugh Laurie said he still feels like a fraud.
Laurie regrets playing a “fake version” of a doctor instead of becoming a real one, as his father had hoped. He admitted that his “dad would have hated” the easier path he chose by becoming an actor.
Keep reading to find out why Laurie chose acting over medicine.
Dr. William (Ran) Laurie, Hugh’s father, had big dreams for his youngest son, born in June 1959.
Hugh Laurie was on track to follow in his father’s footsteps. His father was not only a respected physician but also a 1948 Olympic gold medalist in rowing and a graduate of a Cambridge college.
When British-born Hugh Laurie was studying at the same college as his father, he was also a member of the rowing team, with plans to train for the Olympics and then go to medical school.
However, Laurie discovered a drama club, the Cambridge Footlights, a sketch comedy group. There, he met actress Emma Thompson (*The Remains of the Day*) and his future comedy partner, Stephen Fry, who later co-starred with him in the 1997 film *Wilde*.
Laurie’s path changed completely.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the now 64-year-old actor appeared in several TV shows, including the BBC sitcom *Blackadder*, where he co-starred with Fry.
Hugh Laurie also appeared in the 1995 film *Sense and Sensibility* with Emma Thompson, with whom he had once been in a relationship. He starred in Disney’s live-action *101 Dalmatians* (1996) and even made a guest appearance on *Friends*.
In 2004, Laurie was offered the chance to play a doctor in a new TV series called *House*, a medical drama that ran for eight seasons.
In his Golden Globe-winning role as Dr. Gregory House, Laurie dropped his British accent and perfectly played the narcissistic genius who led a teaching hospital in New Jersey.
During the show’s run, Laurie became Hollywood’s most popular doctor, gaining a huge global fan base. However, life as a celebrity also brought its own challenges.
“I had some pretty bleak times, dark days when it felt like there was no way out,” Hugh Laurie said in a 2013 interview with *Radio Times* (via *Daily Mail*). “I have a strong work ethic, so I was determined never to be late or miss a single day of filming. You wouldn’t catch me calling in sick, saying, ‘I think I’m getting the flu.’ But there were times when I’d think, ‘If I had a little accident on the way to the studio and got a couple of days off to recover, that would be great.’”
Those days off didn’t come until 2012, with the final season of *House*.
After that, Laurie kept busy, appearing in TV shows like *Veep* and the 2015 science fiction film *Tomorrowland*, which starred another famous TV doctor, George Clooney.
In 2016, Hugh Laurie took on another doctor role, this time as neuropsychiatrist Dr. Eldon Chance in the TV series *Chance*.
The *Maybe Baby* star explained to the *Los Angeles Daily News*, “As a gambler, my instinct is to walk away after even a modest win… Yet I was drawn back to this wonderful project that was simply irresistible.” Comparing *House* to his role in *Chance* (which was canceled after two seasons in 2017), Laurie said, “The characters are very different. Their medical practices and attitudes toward life are completely different.”
Despite his Hollywood fame, Laurie, who also starred in 2018’s *Holmes & Watson*, still feels he let his father down by not becoming a real doctor. His father, who passed away from Parkinson’s disease in 1998, had been a respected physician.
“My father was a real doctor. If it’s true that many men try to become versions of their father and fail, it seemed fitting that I ended up being a fake version of a doctor,” said Laurie, who also played a doctor in the 2005 film *The Big Empty*.
“My father had high hopes for me to follow him into medicine,” Hugh Laurie said. “I would have liked to become a doctor myself, and I still have dreams about being one. We live in a world of shortcuts, don’t we? And I took those shortcuts. Dad would have hated that.”
Laurie calls himself a “cop-out,” adding, “Honestly, this causes me a lot of guilt.”
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