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Victoria Davey "Tori" Spelling (born May 16, 1973) is an American actress. She is known for being Aaron Spelling's daughter and for her role as Donna Martin in the 1990s teen soap opera Beverly Hills, 90210. A honey blonde with earnest brown eyes and a self-deprecating sense of humor, Victoria “Tori” Spelling first entered the public consciousness as the virginal Donna Martin on the mega-hit teen angst series, “Beverly Hills, 90210” (FOX, 1990-2000). A Hollywood child through and through, Spelling managed to step out of her father Aaron Spelling’s shadow and escape the often nasty accusations of nepotism for her work on daddy’s series, by landing critically lauded roles in the films “The House of Yes” (1997) and “Trick” (1999). Finding success on series television once more, Spelling starred as herself in “So NoTORIous” (VH1, 2006- ), a show based on her own crazy, not-always-so-glamorous life. Spelling was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Carole Gene "Candy Spelling" (née Marer) and famed TV producer Aaron Spelling. Both of Spelling's parents were Jewish, though her family celebrated both Christmas and Hanukkah while she was growing up. She attended Beverly Hills High School in Beverly Hills, California but graduated from Harvard-Westlake School. Her brother, Randy Spelling, is an actor as well. Growing up as the daughter of Hollywood’s most successful TV producer, Spelling made appearances on many of her father’s shows as a young girl. Her television debut came in 1981 on the series “Vega$” (ABC, 1978-1981). She later appeared in subsequent roles on “Fantasy Island” (ABC, 1978-1984), “The Love Boat” (ABC, 1977-1986), and “T.J. Hooker” (ABC, 1982-86). As a teenager, Spelling appeared appropriately in the film “Troop Beverly Hills” (1989) and later, on a number of episodes of the teen series “Saved by the Bell” (NBC, 1989-1993). Guest roles (mostly in her father's shows) such as The Love Boat, T.J. Hooker, Hotel, Fantasy Island, Vega$, and Saved by the Bell before landing a regular part in Beverly Hills 90210, a series co-produced by her father, Darren Star and Spelling Television. Since 90210 went off the air, Spelling has worked primarily on independent films including Trick and The House of Yes. She also has appeared in small roles in big budget films, including Scream 2 and Scary Movie 2, and in TV shows, including Smallville. Shaking off the critics, Spelling worked hard to prove them wrong, paying her dues by taking on extra non-“90210” roles to hone her craft. Between seasons on her hit show, Spelling reprised Donna Martin on her father’s spin-off series “Melrose Place” (FOX, 1992-99), as well as appeared in a number of television movies including “A Friend to Die For” (1994), “Awake to Danger” (1995), “Deadly Pursuits” (1996), and “Co-ed Call Girl” (1996). Taking a turn toward serious roles far removed from the pampered princess type, Spelling appeared opposite Freddie Prinze, Jr. and Parker Posey in the dark comedy “The House of Yes” in 1997. Her credible performance as a sweet young thing who meets her fiancé’s crazy family garnered her some of her best critical reviews thus far. Though her acting skills had been harshly critiqued by characters in the horror flick, “Scream” (1995), the actress showed that she had a sense of humor about it by agreeing to a cameo role (being interviewed about the film-within-the-film) in the Wes Craven slasher sequel, “Scream 2” (1997). Next, Spelling played the quirky best friend in the romantic comedy “Trick” (1999), which also brought her more positive reviews for her onscreen work. More recently, Spelling has been the star of two reality-based shows. In 2006, she starred in the VH1 celebreality sitcom So NoTORIous, which parodied her public image. In January 2007, she and her second husband, the actor Dean McDermott, leased a bed & breakfast in Fallbrook, California (a rural community about 100 miles (160 km) from Los Angeles, 50 miles (80 km) from San Diego and just south of Temecula wine country). This became the basis of a new reality show, Tori & Dean: Inn Love, which premiered on the Oxygen network on March 20, 2007. The actress went on to appear in the short-lived series “So Downtown” (2003), the WB comedy series “The Help” (2004) and the film “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover” (2004) opposite Poppy Montgomery and Paul Schneider. In 2006, Spelling also found herself back on series television – this time, playing herself in the VH1 scripted series “So NoTORIous” (2006- ). The show, based on her own life in the industry, managed to make fun of both her hereditary baggage as well as lampoon her long-time critics. As someone who was “in” on the joke of being Tori Spelling, the actress endeared herself to fans as someone with an incredible self-deprecating sense of humor. Aside from her acting career, Spelling designs and markets her own line of fashion jewelery on HSN. On July 3, 2004, Spelling married Charlie Shanian. They separated in December 2005 and were legally divorced on April 20, 2006. Spelling married her second husband, Dean McDermott, a month later, on May 7, 2006, in a private, barefoot ceremony in Wakaya, Fiji. The two met when they co-starred in the TV movie Mind Over Murder. McDermott was married at the time to Mary Jo Eustace, whom he divorced to marry Spelling. Eustace has since written about the experience as part of the anthology The Other Woman McDermott and Eustace have two children: Jack Montgomery (b. October 10, 1998) and adopted daughter Lola (b. July 27, 2005). Due to Dean's infidelity he removed himself from finalizing Lola's adoption, and has no legal responsibility for her. During an appearance at the 2006 MuchMusic Video Awards in Toronto on June 18th, Spelling was asked if she found it better dating a Canadian. Spelling replied "...they are much nicer, and have nasty ex-wives who write tell-all books". In December 2006, Spelling stated that she wanted to write her memoir, sTori Telling, published by Simon & Schuster in the spring of 2008. After her father's death on June 23, 2006, Spelling was anticipated to inherit a sizable portion of her father's $300 million estate. The estate was to be divided primarily between Spelling, her brother Randy and her mother Candy. Spelling's mother was the estate executor. At the time, Spelling and her mother were estranged and it was reported that Spelling inherited just $800,000. Her brother, who was not estranged from his mother, also received $800,000. Spelling gave birth to her first child, Liam Aaron McDermott ("Aaron" after her deceased father) on Tuesday, March 13, 2007 at Cedars-Sinai Hospital via emergency C-section. Reportedly, her mother was in the delivery room when Spelling gave birth and have established a more connected relationship, though have not reached full harmony and reconciliation. It has been reported that Candy Spelling has established a $10 million trust fund for her first grandchild. As of January 2008, she is pregnant with their second child due in June. On March 19th, 2008 a rep for Spelling confirmed that she is having a girl. |
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