On the death of Shannen Doherty: Concrete wishes for the time after her death

Shannen Doherty (1971-2024) has lost her battle with cancer: The actress died on Saturday (July 13) at the age of 53. She not only shared updates on her health, but also spoke openly about dying and her ideas for her funeral. She also apparently wanted to make the farewell and the time after her death as easy as possible for her family.

In an episode last January, she shared with her audience her thoughts on how she wanted to be buried. “I want [meine sterblichen Überreste] with my dog ​​and I want them to be mixed with my father,” from the podcast episode. She wishes that her loved ones would spread her ashes “in a healthy mix.”

For example, her loved ones could scatter both her and her father’s ashes in Malibu, California, where they spent “precious time” together, or in another place they both loved. She also liked the idea of ​​letting her remains “grow into a tree.”

Funeral with short guest list

During her lifetime, she apparently wanted a small and intimate funeral, according to her own statements in her podcast. She imagined the guest list to be “shorter”. “There are a lot of people who I think would come but who I don’t want there,” Doherty said at the time. “I don’t want them there because their reasons for coming aren’t necessarily the best, like they don’t really like me. They have their reasons, but they don’t really like me enough to come to my funeral.”

The people she is talking about are coming “because it is politically correct and they don’t want to look bad.” She wants her funeral to be “a celebration of love.” “I don’t want people to cry or secretly say, ‘Thank God the bitch is dead now.'”

In another episode in April, the former “Beverly Hills, 90210” actress said she was getting rid of her belongings at this time to ease the burden on her mother. “I know it’s going to be hard for her if I die before her,” Doherty continued. And to make things even harder for her mother, she’s clearing out. “I don’t want her to have to deal with a bunch of things. I don’t want her to have four storage units full of furniture,” the “Charmed” actress said on the podcast.

Focus on memories instead of possessions

She would rather focus on creating memories with friends and family in her final years. “I don’t need any of that, it doesn’t bring me great joy, but what gives me great joy is taking my mother to the places she always wanted to go,” Doherty said. “I can create different memories – I can create memories with the people I love. I’m not going to draw on the money in my estate that I can use to make sure everyone in my life is taken care of.”

In this podcast, she recalled a trip she took to Italy with her mother a few years ago: “Tears were streaming down my mother’s face because she never thought she would see this, let alone experience it with me. These are the things that matter most. Not your possessions, not what you have.”

Before her death, Shannen Doherty suffered from stage four, or final, breast cancer. She was first diagnosed with the disease in 2015. The actress was open about her illness and gave her fans regular updates on her condition. In June 2023, she told the public that metastases had formed in her brain, and in November 2023, she announced in a “People” interview that the cancer had also attacked her bones. In January 2024, she spoke of a medical “miracle” that would buy her some time. Until recently, she appeared full of hope in her podcast.