Where Is The Cast Of Beverly Hills 90210 Now?

It's been about three decades since Beverly Hills, 90210 premiered on Fox and became one of the fledgling networks earliest and most defining hit shows. There were no bigger teen idols on the planet in the early '90s than the photogenic stars of the sun-kissed soap, and Jason Priestley, Shannen Doherty, Tori Spelling, and the late Luke Perry sealed their legacies as icons to millions of young Generation X-ers and older millennials. Viewers religiously watched every episode, as the revolving cast played characters who fell in and out of love with each other, navigated school and work, and dealt with important social issues. (Viewers also religiously copied the show's influential fashion trends, wearing high-waisted jeans, growing their sideburns long, and telling their hairdresser to give them whatever hairstyle Jennie Garth was rocking at the time.)

A whopping 300 episodes of 90210 aired, before the show bowed out in 2000. Its cast members never went away, steadily working in movies and TV (particularly reality TV) as the years passed. Here's what some of the most notable Beverly Hills residents have been up to.

After 10 seasons on Beverly Hills, 90210, Jennie Garth found some success on the small screen, alternating between sitcoms and made-for-TV movies. One of her most famous gigs came in 2002, when she played Amanda Bynes' older sister on the WB sitcom What I Like About You. The show ended in 2006, and the following year, Garth competed on Season 5 of Dancing with the Stars, getting eliminated in the semifinals. In 2008, she reprised her role as Kelly Taylor on the CW's much-maligned 90210 reboot. In that incarnation, Taylor had grown up to become a guidance counselor at West Beverly High. Speaking of reunions, Garth reunited with former cast member Tori Spelling on the short-lived ABC Family sitcom Mystery Girls in 2014.

On the personal side, Garth's life has been a bit more turbulent. In 2013, she split from her husband of 12 years, Twilight star Peter Facinelli, with whom she has three daughters. Garth wrote about the pain of her divorce in her 2014 memoir, Deep Thoughts From a Hollywood Blonde, placing some of the blame on the amount of time he spent working. "I was thrilled for him that he was taking his career to the next level, but I was also, I can see now, feeling a bit resentful..." she wrote. "All I know is that I felt like I was waiting: for him to come home, waiting for him to be free to join me in the day-to-day of our family life..."

Following a string of bit parts on television, Ziering appeared on Season 4 of Dancing with the Stars in early 2007. Like Jennie Garth, he was can-canned during the semifinals. Later that year, he was reportedly in the running to replace Bob Barker on The Price is Right, but lost the game show gig to Drew Carey. "I guess I was a little disappointed," Ziering told People magazine. "I was really kind of hoping that would happen."

A few years later, Ziering bounced back in the unlikeliest of ways. In 2013, at age 49, he became a celebrity guest star for the famous Chippendales male striptease show in Las Vegas. His role was extended by popular demand. Also that year, he starred in the so-bad-it's-good Sharknado, a disaster-movie parody co-starring Tara Reid. That TV movie became such an internet sensation that it launched three sequels, including Sharknado 4: The 4th Awakens in 2016.

Ziering is also the proud parent of two children with wife Erin Kristine Ludwig, a nurse he married in 2010. His previous marriage to Playboy model Nikki Schieler ended in divorce in 2002. Ziering admitted he only agreed to star in the Sharknado movies because he needed to support his kids. "Halfway through the script, I said to my wife, 'Honey, I don't know about this.' She didn't miss a beat, she said, 'Look, you're going to have two babies [by] this spring, you need to go to work," he said (via The Huffington Post).

Brian Austin Green has maintained a fairly consistent presence on television. His biggest opportunities included roles on Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Smallville, Desperate Housewives, and the Charlie Sheen comedy Anger Management. On the flip side, he's also starred in his fair share of duds, most famously Freddie Prinze Jr.'s ABC vehicle, Freddie, and the TBS sitcom Wedding Band.

For better or worse, Green is probably best known for his rollercoaster relationship with actress Megan Fox, whom he reportedly met on the set of the Kelly Ripa sitcom Hope & Faith. They married in 2010 in Hawaii and had two sons. Five years into their marriage, Fox filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. That seemed like the end of things — until the actress showed up to a premiere of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows in 2016 wearing an outfit that expertly showed off a baby bump. A source told Us Weekly that Fox and Green were second-guessing their divorce and "still figuring things out." Their son, Journey River Green, was born in August 2016, and as of late 2018, Green is still with Fox.

Green has also faced some legal trouble. A paparazzo sued him and Fox in 2012, alleging the actor beat him up after catching him snapping photos of the couple on a Hawaiian beach. They eventually reached a settlement. Later that year, a judge dismissed a lawsuit Green filed against his ex, Vanessa Marcil, claiming she owed him about $200,000.

Like many of her former co-stars, Spelling's post-90210 life has been plagued by tabloid drama. Most of the controversy stems from her marriage to Dean McDermott, whom she met on the set of the Lifetime movie Mind Over Murder when both were married to other people. As she admitted on True Tori (via Entertainment Tonight)  they "had sex the first night they met," which is so not Donna Martin of her. The couple launched what was initially a lucrative career in reality television with its 2007-2013 Oxygen series, Tori & Dean: Inn Love, later renamed Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood. During that time, this Mr. and Mrs. welcomed four of their five kids. 

Spelling and McDermott's relationship later hit the skids, but they attempted to bounce back with True Tori, which chronicled the fallout of McDermott cheating on her with a much younger woman. That's just one of the scandals in Spelling's life. In 2016, American Express sued the actress — who has admitted to financial struggles in the past — for an outstanding balance of almost $38,000, according to People.

On the bright side: Spelling has launched several non-starring-as-herself ventures, including a string of books with titles that play off her name, including Uncharted Territori, CelebraTori, Spelling it Like it Is, and sTori Telling. In 2019, she returned to Fox to star in one of the year's biggest hits ... albeit anonymously. She competed on The Masked Singer from beneath an elaborate unicorn costume.

In 2002, Jason Priestley — forever Minnesota transplant and sideburns role model Brandon Walsh — was involved in a near-fatal car crash during a practice run at the Kentucky Auto Racing Speedway. The actor, a seasoned racer, suffered numerous injuries and was technically dead for about 45 seconds, according to ABC News. Speaking to HuffPost Live (via AOL) in 2014, Priestley recalled the many "dark moments" he faced in the hospital when, amid multiple surgeries, he wondered whether he'd ever act again.

He did. After the accident, he found guest spots on shows such as My Name Is Earl, CSI, and Psych, and from 2010 to 2013, he starred as a slimy, immoral used car salesman on the HBO Canada comedy Call Me Fitz. The acclaimed show, and its lead actor, won a number of Great White North showbiz awards, including best comedy series at the Canadian Screen Awards and best television performance male at the Canadian Comedy Awards. Since 2016, he's starred as a retired hockey player-turned-sleuth on the Castle-like CBC dramedy Private Eyes, one of the most-watched shows in Canada.

In 2005, Priestley married makeup artist Naomi Lowde, and soon after had a couple of kids. In 2014 he released Jason Priestley: A Memoir, which addressed a wide range of personal topics, including how he regretted leaving 90210 before its 10th and final season.

Playing Nat Bussichio, the gruff but kind proprietor of Beverly Hills's hottest teen hangout and grill, the Peach Pit, apparently couldn't be topped for actor Joe E. Tata. By all accounts, Tata has seemingly retired from the acting grind. Before his recurring role as one of the only trusted and trustable adults on the '90s teen soap, Tata was a 30-year Hollywood veteran, primarily playing tough guys for an episode or two on stuff like Gomer Pyle: USMC and Hogan's Heroes and in TV movies with names like Kill Me If You Can and Terror Out of the Sky. 

In his sixties by the time Beverly Hills, 90210 wrapped up in 2000, he worked in only four more projects, three of which have ties to his former cast members. In 2001, he made an appearance on Shannen Doherty's modern-day witch dramedy, Charmed. In 2008, he reprised his role as Nat on three episodes of the CW's 90210 reboot. Then, in 2014, he guest-starred on Tori Spelling and Jennie Garth's comedy Mystery Girls.  Otherwise, he has stayed out of the spotlight, but considering all the drama the 90210 cast has gone through, that's probably for the best.

Luke Perry starred as beloved bad boy Dylan McKay on Beverly Hills, 90210 for its first six and last two seasons, and according to The New York Times, Perry was "a primary reason" for the show's success. "I just always felt fortunate to have a job," he humbly said in 2013. "I don't think any of us had any idea what was going to happen with it and how long the impact of it would last."

That impact is ongoing. A 90210 reboot was announced in 2019, and Perry had expressed interest, though his involvement in another hit show called into question his availability for a Cali-style reunion. In 2016, he landed the starring role of Fred Andrews on the hit CW series Riverdale – a big opportunity for a career that had been relatively quiet since 2001, when Perry played the part of Reverend Jeremiah Cloutier on the critically acclaimed HBO series Oz. His other gigs had consisted mostly of guest spots on TV shows and a short-lived gig on the HBO drama John From Cincinnati. 

Perry was riding high on the success of Riverdale when tragedy struck. He suffered a "massive stroke" on Feb. 27, 2019 and died just days later, on March 4. According to a statement (via People): "He was surrounded by his children Jack and Sophie, fiancé Wendy Madison Bauer, ex-wife Minnie Sharp," and other loved ones when he passed.

On a show full of actors clearly in their early twenties portraying teenagers, Carteris was the oldest — at age 29, she won the role of 16-year-old academic prodigy Andrea Zuckerman. Carteris fled 90210 relatively early in its run in 1995 to pursue other things, including her own, short-lived daytime talk show, Gabrielle. Carteris has spent the bulk of her post-90210 career acting in guest roles on television; her resume includes spots on Nip/Tuck, NYPD Blue and Criminal Minds. 

In 2006, Carteris endured personal and professional trauma when she suffered facial nerve damage while filming a choking scene for the TV movie Past Tense. The injury left her face partially paralyzed, and the actress reportedly sued the production company. She told People in 2008, "This has been a real journey, and I'll probably be on meds for the rest of my life. But I don't look at myself as a victim. I'm blessed that I wasn't paralyzed forever."

While Carteris hasn't enjoyed as high-profile of a career as some of her 90210 castmates, she did acquire something they don't have in the entertainment industry: power. After the sudden death of actor Ken Howard in April 2016, Carteris replaced him as president of SAG-AFTRA, Hollywood's dominant actors union. (A few months prior, she'd won re-election as executive vice president, surviving a challenge from fellow '90s TV star Patricia Richardson of Home Improvement.)

Speaking to The New York Times in 2008, Potter revealed that her 90210 contract was not renewed in 1995. Afterward, Potter landed a role on the Aaron Spelling daytime soap Sunset Beach. While co-starring on the show, she earned her master's degree in marriage and family therapy. "It was a wonderful combination: I went to the set in the morning, and it was all about me, me, me, me, me..." she told the Times. "And then I'd go to the counseling and see 3 to 5 clients, and I could put all that stuff aside. And just become completely focused on them and their experience and their life and their feelings. That was great." In addition to her role as therapist, Potter has popped up on a handful of shows over the years, including Providence, JAG and Medium.

Along with Carol Potter, James Eckhouse was written off 90210 for good in 1995 after the show slowly phased out Cindy and Jim Walsh, Brandon and Brenda's parents. Still, the show did let him give the tough job of series television directing a try — he helmed three episodes of 90210, and three more of the 2001 series Once and Again.

But acting is still Eckhouse's main gig, and if you've watched so much as five minutes of television since he left TV's sunniest zip code, you've probably caught him in something. He's apparently casting directors' go-to-guy when they need an actor to play a doctor, businessman, politician, or otherwise serious-looking middle-aged guy for an episode or two. His resume includes guest-star work on The West Wing, Masters of Sex, The Good Wife, Boston Legal, NCIS, Major Crimes, CSI: Miami, and Nip/Tuck. Eckhouse also appeared in one of the biggest movies of all time: He had a super-tiny role in Marvel's The Avengers, playing Senator Boynton.

Tiffani Thiessen — née Tiffani-Amber Thiessen — was already hugely famous among 90210's target audience when she joined the show as ostensible replacement for Shannen Doherty in 1994. She'd recently wrapped up a run as all-American girl-next-door Kelly Kapowski on Saved By the Bell – the 90210 for kids and tweens. She quickly shed that image as Valerie Malone, an eventually reformed bad girl prone to lying and pot-smoking who killed her abusive father in self-defense.

Thiessen struggled for many years to transition from "It Girl" into a mature actress. She spent much of the 2000s appearing on okayish TV shows such as Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place; Just Shoot Me!; Fastlane; Good Morning, Miami; and What About Brian. She finally found a role worthy of her talents when she was cast on the popular USA drama White Collar, which ran for six seasons. After three seasons of the Cooking Channel series Dinner at Tiffani's, in which the actress and foodie cooks and enjoys a dinner party with a handful of very special celebrity guests, Thiessen got back to making narrative TV for young people. She currently co-stars on Netflix's kid-com Alexa & Katie as the mother of a teenage daughter fighting cancer.

Shannen Doherty left Beverly Hills, 90210 in 1994 after four seasons of portraying Brenda Walsh. Why'd she leave? Tori Spelling got her fired — she admitted it on the 2015 show Celebrity Lie Detector (via Us Weekly). After witnessing "like a fistfight" between Doherty and co-star Jennie Garth, Spelling asked her dad, 90210 producer Aaron Spelling, to nix the notoriously quarrelsome Doherty. 

Just a few years later, Aaron actually cast Doherty in his WB supernatural drama Charmed, but once again, Doherty left the TV series, abruptly quitting the show in 2001 amid rumors of a feud with co-star Alyssa Milano. "There was too much drama on the set and not enough passion for the work," Doherty told Entertainment Tonight. "I'm 30 years old, and I don't have time for drama in my life anymore."

On a sad note, Doherty received a breast cancer diagnosis in 2015. "It's been eye-opening, enlightening, and hard," she told Health in 2018. Attempts to destroy cancer cells via hormone therapy didn't work, and the disease spread into Doherty's lymph nodes. In May 2016, the actress underwent a single mastectomy followed by chemotherapy and radiation treatments. As of 2018, she's happily in remission. She's still acting, too. She starred in the 2018 Lifetime movie No One Would Tell and made a few appearances on Heathers, the 2018 TV version of the movie she was in back in 1988.

Kathleen Robertson joined the cast of Beverly Hills, 90210 midstream, playing Clare Arnold, the sophisticated daughter of a university chancellor who made romantic plays for most of the show's male characters. She stayed with the show for three seasons, bowing out in 1997. After appearing in Nowhere and Splendor, two films by cult filmmaker Gregg Araki, Robertson starred in the Canadian miniseries Torso: The Evelyn Dick Story. For her role as the titular convicted murderer, Robertson was nominated for a Gemini Award (the Canadian TV equivalent of an Emmy).

Robertson has benefited greatly from the "Peak TV" explosion that gave viewers hundreds of good-to-great viewing options across the seemingly endless number of cable networks and streaming services. It all began when she landed a regular role on Kelsey Grammer's Starz series Boss. That show was canceled after two seasons in 2012, but within a year, Robertson was back on TV with a recurring role on the A&E drama Bates Motel and a lead role opposite Taye Diggs on the TNT detective show Murder in the First, which completed its third and final season in 2016.

While Your Time is Up, a dramedy she co-wrote about an odd psychologist, never came to fruition, Robertson returned to acting with Northern Rescue, a Canadian TV production set to hit Netflix in the States in 2019.