The Cast Of ‘Beverly Hills, 90210’ — Then And Now

As the kind-hearted Brandon Walsh, Jason Priestley appeared in 245 of the 300 episodes of Beverly Hills, 90210. Although he’d made his on-screen debut back in the late 1970s, this teen drama was definitely the actor’s breakout role. 

On the acting front, Priestley has enjoyed a pretty solid career, featuring in a host of different shows. From Haven to Private Eyes, it’s been a good run. As for his personal life, the actor has experienced some serious highs and lows.

Playing the twin sister of Brandon, Shannen Doherty was cast as Brenda Walsh at a very exciting time in her career. Before joining Beverly Hills, 90210, the actress had enjoyed stints on some successful shows, including Little House on the Prairie and Our House; she’d also just starred in the cult classic Heathers.

After four years on the show, Doherty departed in 1994. It didn’t negatively affect her trajectory, though. The actress went on to star in 1995’s Mallrats, before securing one of the lead roles in the popular series Charmed. But in recent times, her life has taken a heartbreaking turn.

When Jennie Garth was recruited to play the unsettled Kelly Taylor, her career was very much in its infancy. She’d only made her on-screen debut the previous year, appearing in three different shows in 1989.

Following the end of Beverly Hills, 90210, Garth has popped up in several TV shows since. She’s featured in the likes of Family Guy, Community, American Dad, and Robot Chicken. Meanwhile, though, her personal life has been less steady.

Taking on the role of the spoiled Steve Sanders, Ian Ziering was showing a lot of promise when he joined Beverly Hills, 90210. His on-screen acting bow had come in 1981 ahead of spending a couple of years on The Guiding Light in the middle of the decade.

You see, alongside his acting career, Ziering joined The Chippendales in 2013. Yes, the steamy dance troupe! Doherty and Garth actually watched one of his shows during that period, and he claimed that, “They had a great time.”

With nearly a decade of acting experience to her name, Tori Spelling was hardly a novice when she was cast on the show. The actress portrayed Kelly’s bestie Donna Martin; this was a character that eventually enjoyed more focus as the seasons progressed.

Yep, Spelling became a reality television star thanks to Tori & Dean: Inn Love. The show spanned six years between 2007 and 2013 and followed her and hubby Dean McDermott. The pair tied the knot in 2006 and have since welcomed five children into the world.

Younger TV fans would’ve been very familiar with Tiffani Thiessen when she made her debut on the show in 1994. By that point, the actress had already enjoyed a major small screen success in the shape of Saved by the Bell.

Thiessen stayed on the show until it ended, featuring in 136 episodes. According to Spelling and Garth, though, the on-screen drama bubbled over away from the cameras. The pair referred to their co-star as “that which we don’t speak of” during an appearance on RuPaul’s Drag Race. Oof!

As the lovably dorky David Silver, Brian Austin Green was an ever-present on the show. It represented easily the most significant role of his career since making his on-screen acting debut in 1985. And the opportunities didn’t dry up for Green once Beverly Hills, 90210 ended.

Yes, Green was a contestant on that year’s season of Dancing with the Stars. Unfortunately, he only made it up to the fourth week! But it wasn’t all bad news. Prior to the show, he’d formed a romantic bond with Sharna Burgess, who went on to be his dance partner.

It’s pretty easy to forget that Hilary Swank had a short stint on the show in the mid-to-late 1990s. She took on the role of Carly Reynolds, featuring in just 16 episodes.

Just two years later, Swank won her very first Academy Award thanks to her incredible performance in Boys Don’t Cry. Then, she picked up her second Oscar in 2005 for Million Dollar Baby.

With eight years of on-screen acting experience under his belt, James Eckhouse joined the Beverly Hills, 90210 cast in 1990. He played Jim Walsh, Brenda and Brandon’s dad. It had been by far the biggest role of his career up to that point.

Eckhouse became a guest star after Jim was handed a promotion on the show, ahead of leaving altogether in 1998. Since then, the actor’s enjoyed a fairly steady career in the business.

Carol Potter was no stranger to the world of television when she was recruited by the show in 1990. The actress had been a bona fide veteran compared to most of the cast: she first appeared on the small screen back in 1977.

As Jim’s wife, Cindy followed her hubby to Hong Kong due to his job. And it eventually led to Potter’s permanent departure in 1998. Yet she wasn’t lacking for work during that part of her career.

Taking on the part of Andrea Zuckerman, Gabrielle Carteris already had a bit of experience to her name prior to 1990. But this was definitely her breakout role: the actress stuck around for the show’s entire run, despite becoming a guest star after season five.

Mind you, Carteris hasn’t just been focused on her own career since the show ended. For instance, she penned an article in The Hollywood Reporter that hit out at the ageism within the industry. “This problem exists for all performers, but most distinctly for women,” she noted.

For Dina Meyer, Beverly Hills, 90210 presented her with one of her earliest on-screen acting opportunities. She joined the show in 1993 when she took on the role of Lucinda Nicholson, going on to appear in 12 episodes.

It was a busy period! And Meyer didn’t slow down heading into the 2000s, either. You might remember her roles in Star Trek: Nemesis, Six Feet Under, Secret Agent Man, and D-Tox. Yet horror fans will undoubtedly be more familiar with her work in the Saw franchise.

After featuring in a 1989 short, Michael Cudlitz’s acting career really got going a couple of years later. He popped up in TV shows such as 21 Jump Street and Growing Pains. Then, he earned a spot on Beverly Hills, 90210 in 1992.

Yes, Cudlitz featured in several notable projects across the 90s, including ER, D3: The Mighty Ducks, Grosse Pointe Blank, The Negotiator, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He also starred in nine episodes of the celebrated 2001 mini-series Band of Brothers.

When it came to experience in the business, no one in the main cast could touch Joe E. Tata. The guy had been acting since 1960, appearing in the likes of Lost in Space, The Outer Limits, Batman, Mission: Impossible, and The Rockford Files.

Despite the commitment, Tata did find time to work on the odd project in between. Yet after the program ended, he slowed right down. In fact, the veteran actor only racked up four credits between 2001 and 2014. One of those was a brief stint on the spin-off 90210.

After making her acting debut in the mid-1980s, Kathleen Robertson scored her first major role in the TV show Maniac Mansion in 1990. She went on to star in 65 episodes, before moving on to Beverly Hills, 90210 in 1994. 

Yep, Robertson appeared in a string of movies post-90210, including I Am Sam and Scary Movie 2. She also bagged a role in 2006’s Hollywoodland, which starred Ben Affleck. Since then, she’s had a steady stream of work on both the big and small screen.

Bringing the role of Noah Hunter to life, Vincent Young joined the show during the latter stages of its run. He was introduced in 1997 and went on to appear in 84 episodes over the next three years.

Yep, Young’s first post-90210 role didn’t come until 2004’s Knuckle Sandwich. From there, he enjoyed brief stints on JAG, CSI: NY, and NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service up to 2006. Then, over the next 11 years, the guy only racked up two more credits.

Rebecca Gayheart was no stranger to the world of TV when she earned a brief part on Beverly Hills, 90210. After all, her breakout role had come in the show Loving, in which she appeared in 178 episodes between 1992 and 1993. That’s quite the run, right?

After bagging a small role in Scream 2, Gayheart became a horror star thanks to her brilliantly unhinged performance in 1998’s Urban Legend. Since then, she’s enjoyed a solid career in Hollywood. Mind you, her personal life has been somewhat tumultuous in the last few years.

Casper Van Dien was an up-and-coming actor when he joined the cast of the show back in 1994. He played the part of Griffin Stone, popping up in just seven episodes that year.

In total, Van Dien has a whopping 151 acting credits to his name. Trust us, that’s not a typo! His personal life has been equally busy over the years as well. The actor was married to Robert Mitchum’s granddaughter, Carrie Mitchum, between 1993 and 1997 before splitting up. They had two kids together. 

After making her start as an actress in the 1980s, Lindsay Price bagged two significant small-screen roles just a few years later. She featured in 176 episodes of All My Children between 1991 and 1993.

Price worked on the show during its last two years, and popped up in 71 episodes. Since then, her career has mainly been confined to the small screen. She’s appeared in the likes of How I Met Your Mother, Lipstick Jungle, Castle, and Hawaii Five-O over the years.

While Luke Perry had been acting since the 1980s, he didn’t become a bona fide star until Beverly Hills, 90210. As the perennial bad boy Dylan McKay, he stayed on the show throughout its ten-year run, starring in 199 episodes.

Despite all that work, though, it could be argued that Riverdale offered Perry a route back into the spotlight. He joined the popular show in 2017. But tragedy struck just two years later: Perry suffered a huge stroke and passed away in March 2019 at just 52 years of age.