Biography
Actress and television personality Tori Spelling was born into Hollywood fame - her father was producer Aaron Spelling - though her own relationship with stardom was best described as rocky, with high points that included her starring role on "Beverly Hills 90210" (Fox, 1990-2000) and ebb moments in which she confessed to various personal dramas on reality television series. Born Victoria Davey Spelling in Los Angeles, California on May 16, 1973, she was the daughter of television producer Aaron Spelling and his wife, Candy. Spelling began appearing in guest roles on her father's television series, including "The Love Boat" (ABC, 1977-1987) and "Fantasy Island" (ABC, 1977-1984) while she was still in grade school, and by her late teens, had amassed a sizable resume of such appearances. In 1990, she earned her starmaking role as good girl Donna Martin on "Beverly Hills 90210." Her appearance on the series sparked rumors that she had been cast at the behest of her father, who produced the series and denied the allegations; for her part, Spelling did her best to dispel any negative allegations by working a tireless schedule of TV-movies and guest roles on other episodic series between seasons of "90210" until the show ran its course in 2000. The majority of these were made-for-TV potboilers, including the notorious camp-fest "Mother, May I Sleep with Danger?" (NBC, 1996). But as the decade worn down and "90210" declined in popularity, Spelling made the shrewd decision to try her hand at character roles in independent films. The results were surprisingly successful: she showed a knack for light comedy as a hapless newcomer to an eccentric family in "The House of Yes" (1997) and an aspiring actress in the gay-themed indie "Trick" (1999). Spelling received positive reviews for her performances, which led to a minor role as an exaggerated version of herself in Wes Craven's "Scream 2" (1997). But subsequent film projects went unnoticed, and an attempt to spoof her rich-kid persona on the sitcom "So Notorious" (VH1, 2006) earned critical praised but lasted just 10 episodes. By the new millennium, Spelling had become a staple of TV-movies, including the 2005 Lifetime project "Mind Over Murder." Though married at the time to actor/writer Charlie Shanian, she fell in love with her co-star, Dean McDermott, and after splitting from their respective spouses, married in 2006. The couple appeared in their first reality series, "Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood" (Oxygen, 2007-2012), which followed their attempts to launch a bed and breakfast business. But these and other efforts were largely overshadowed in the press by a slew of scandals, beginning in 2006 when Spelling received just $80,000 from her father's $500 million estate after his death that year. Bad blood between Spelling and her mother was alleged as the reason for the financial snub, but other problems soon surfaced: the couple struggled to remain financially afloat while also enjoying a lavish lifestyle, and battled constant rumors about an impending divorce. The latter reached a feverish pitch in 2013, when McDermott revealed that he had cheated on Spelling, which was covered in agonizing detail in the press and on their series, "True Tori" (Lifetime, 2014). The couple eventually appeared to regain their marriage, although their problems were far from over: they were sued by writers who claimed that the couple had appropriated their ideas for a reality series, "Tori & Dean: sTORIbook Weddings" (Oxygen, 2011), and both Spelling and McDermott were sued by American Express and the state of California for unpaid debt. Spelling again attempted to rebound by pouring her past into a string of memoirs, starting in 2006 with the best-selling sTORI Telling while also maintaining a tireless schedule of reality show appearances, hosting opportunities and the occasional acting role. These included "Tori & Dean: Cabin Fever" (CMT, 2014), which found the couple living in rural Canada and attempting to restore a log cabin; she also appeared in a camp remake of "Mother, May I Sleep with Danger" (Lifetime, 2016), with a story by actor James Franco that replaced the original psycho-thriller plot with vampire gangs. In 2019, Spelling starred in and co-produced "BH90210" (Fox, 2019- ), a spoof of the series which reunited most of the original cast to play exaggerated versions of themselves. For the series, which lasted a single season, Spelling poked gentle fun at her ever-expanding brood of children with McDermott and their financial woes. Slightly more successful during this period was Spelling's appearance on the wildly popular "Masked Singer" (Fox, 2019- ), where she displayed an impressive singing voice while wearing an elaborate unicorn costume.
