Former 90210 star and tabloid favorite Shannen Doherty may not have started out in sci-fi, but her work on Charmed and Scare Tactics make her the perfect subject for today’s Sci-Fi Starlet Saturday post.

After starring in the supernatural fantasy tv series Charmed for its first three seasons (1998-2001), Shannen left the show abruptly and her character Prue Halliwell was killed off, leading to rampant speculation that her poor relationship with co-star Alyssa Milano led to her departure.

Shannen has done some film and television acting since leaving Charmed, but sci-fi fans will best remember her appearances hosting Scare Tactics, a Sci-Fi Channel hidden camera reality show.

The paparazzi have loved to cover Shannen Doherty since her days on Bevery Hills 90210, and tabloid journalists have frequently painted her as a celebrity bad girl. That bad girl image is due in no small part to legal trouble stemming from passing bad checks and arrests for battery, vandalism, and drunk driving (all on separate occasions.)

Shannen has also posed for Playboy, the first time in the early 1990s, and most recently in the December 2003 issue. Be sure to check out the pics!

Shannen Doherty is currently starring in a reality show on Oxygen called Breaking Up With Shannen Doherty. Check out more about Shannen in the IMDB, NNDB, and Wikipedia. You can also find out a lot more about her on Google by searching for her name “Shannen Doherty” as well as the common misspelling “Shannon Doherty.”