Tori Spelling Biography

Victoria Davey "Tori" Spelling (born May 16, 1973) is an American actress, television personality, socialite and author. Her first major role was Donna Martin on Beverly Hills, 90210 in 1990, produced by her father, Aaron. She appeared in a string of made-for-television films, including A Friend to Die For (1994), A Carol Christmas (2003), The Mistle-Tones (2012) and Mother, May I Sleep with Danger? (2016), and rose to prominence through her roles in independent films such as The House of Yes (1997), Trick (1999), Cthulhu (2007), Kiss the Bride (2007) and Izzie's Way Home (2016). She reprised her prominent role of Donna Martin in Beverly Hills, 90210's spin-off, 90210, in 2009.

Spelling's autobiography, Stori Telling, debuted on top of the New York Times Best Seller list and was named the best celebrity autobiography of 2009.

Early life

Spelling was born on May 16, 1973 in Los Angeles, California. She is the daughter of Candy (ne Marer; born 1945) and television and film producer Aaron Spelling (1923-2006). She has a younger brother, Randy, a former actor who works as a life coach. Spelling's parents were from Jewish families whose ancestors moved to the United States from Russia and Poland. Her middle name comes from her paternal grandfather, David. She attended Beverly Hills High School in Beverly Hills, California, and graduated from Harvard-Westlake School in 1991.

Career

Early work

At age six, Spelling was given acting lessons from an acting coach hired by her father, and was subsequently given guest spots on television shows such as The Love Boat, T. J. Hooker, Hotel, Fantasy Island, Vega$, and Saved by the Bell. At the age of 17, she was given the role of Donna Martin on Beverly Hills, 90210, co-produced by Aaron Spelling's company Spelling Television. Tori Spelling portrayed Donna for the show's entire run and was nominated for two Young Artist Awards.

While starring on Beverly Hills, 90210, Spelling was cast in a number of made-for-television films, including Co-Ed Call Girl (1992), A Friend to Die For (1994), and Mother, May I Sleep with Danger? (1996), and several independent films including The House of Yes (1997) and Trick (1999).

2006-2009

In 2006, Spelling starred as herself in the VH1 sitcom So Notorious, which parodied her public image. In January 2007, she and her second husband Dean McDermott pretended to purchase and operate a bed and breakfast hotel, Chateau La Rue in Fallbrook, California for their reality series, Tori & Dean: Inn Love (later Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood), which aired on Oxygen from 2007 to 2012. In July 2007, Spelling became a minister to marry a gay couple at Chateau La Rue. A tape of the wedding ceremony was shown on Inn Love.

Spelling's fashion and jewelry line premiered on HSN. She released her autobiography, sTori TELLING, on March 11, 2008. Her second book, Mommywood, was released on April 14, 2009.

On January 7, 2009, it was reported that Spelling would reprise her role as Donna Martin on Beverly Hills, 90210 spin-off 90210. She appeared in two episodes (19 and 20) as a special guest star.

2010-present

In 2010, Spelling released her third book, uncharted terriTORI. Spelling told People: "I love sharing my stories and experiences with people and connecting to them on both a humorous and emotional level. The response to my first two books has been so amazing that I wanted to write a third one for my fans."

Home Sweet Hollywood's spin-off series, Tori & Dean: sTORIbook Weddings premiered on April 6, 2011. Writers, who claimed they came up with the idea of a similar series starring Spelling and husband Dean McDermott, filed a $60 million lawsuit against the series, citing breach of implied-in-fact contract, breach of fiduciary duty, slander of title, false advertising, and unfair business practices among other charges. Later in 2011, Spelling voiced the Pirate Princess in Jake and the Never Land Pirates. She played a role in the comedy short film Hoarders: Untold sTori which premiered at the Outfest Film Festival in July 2011.

On September 4, 2011, Spelling made an appearance on Big Brother 13.

On April 21, 2012, Spelling hosted My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic 'Royal Wedding' special, celebrating the series' second season finale, called A Canterlot Wedding. She also hosted the series premiere of Craft Wars, where three new contestants each episode battle against each other crafting for a chance to earn $10,000.

On December 18, 2012, Spelling appeared on Nick Jr.'s Yo Gabba Gabba! and performed a skit where she baked cookies for the characters on the show. This was part of a Christmas special for the series. The special included other famous guests such as Tony Hawk and My Chemical Romance.

It was announced on August 26, 2013, that production had started on a new reality television series titled Tori & Dean: Cabin Fever. The series chronicles Spelling, McDermott, and their four children as they move to a lakeside cabin in Ontario, Canada while renovating it into their vacation home. Eight half-hour episodes were produced and aired on CMT Canada and HGTV in 2014.

Spelling starred in the short-lived ABC Family TV series Mystery Girls with former 90210 co-star Jennie Garth in 2014.

In 2016, Spelling voiced April in the animated movie Izzie's Way Home. The same year, she's co-star in the tv movie Mother, May I Sleep with Danger? alongside James Franco.

Personal life

On July 3, 2004, Spelling married actor and writer Charlie Shanian. In July 2005, Spelling was filming the Lifetime TV-movie Mind Over Murder in Ottawa, during which she met actor Dean McDermott, who was then married to actress Mary Jo Eustace. Spelling and McDermott began an affair the night they met, Spelling and Shanian separated in October 2005. Shanian cited irreconcilable differences when he filed for divorce, which was finalized on April 20, 2006.

Spelling married Dean McDermott less than a month later, on May 7, 2006, in a private ceremony in Wakaya, Fiji. Spelling and McDermott renewed their vows on May 8, 2010 in Beverly Hills, California. They have five children: Liam Aaron (born March 13, 2007), Stella Doreen (born June 9, 2008), Hattie Margaret (born October 10, 2011), Finn Davey (born August 30, 2012) and Beau Dean McDermott (born March 2, 2017). She is also the stepmother to Jack Montgomery (born October 10, 1998), who is McDermott's son with Eustace.

Spelling was anticipated to inherit a sizable portion of her father's $500 million estate after his death in 2006. The estate was to be divided primarily between Spelling, her brother Randy, and their mother Candy. Candy Spelling was the estate executor, but she and Tori Spelling were estranged. Tori and Randy Spelling each inherited $800,000, although Randy was not estranged from Candy. It was reported that Candy established a $10 million trust fund for Tori's eldest child, Liam.

In her sixth book, Spelling It Like It Is, Spelling admitted to having financial troubles, due to the cancellation of her reality series, poor real estate decisions, and a difficult fourth pregnancy, during which she was hospitalized for ten weeks. In explanation, Spelling said, "...as my real estate obsession persists, it's starting to look more compulsive. Moving is expensive, and I've put us in a precarious financial situation."

Spelling is an ordained minister with the Universal Life Church Monastery.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1989	Troop Beverly Hills	Jamie
1996	Calls for Cthulhu	Susan	Video short
1997	'	Lesly
	Scream 2	Herself / "Stab" Sidney Prescott
1999	Trick	Katherine
2000	Perpetrators of the Crime	Lucy
2001	Scary Movie 2	Alex Monday
2002	Naked Movie	Iris Pytlak
2003	Sol Goode	Tammie
	Evil Alien Conquerors	Jan (uncredited)
2004	50 Ways to Leave Your Lover	Stephanie
2005	Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story	Donna Martin (voice)	Direct-to-DVD
2007	Cthulhu	Susan
	Kiss the Bride	Alex Golski
2016	Izzie's Way Home	April (voice)	Direct-to-DVD

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	Vega$	Julie	"Seek and Destroy"
1983	Matt Houston	Nelli Brant	"Fear for Tomorrow"
	Shooting Stars	Jenny O'Keefe	TV film
	Fantasy Island	Christy / Laurie Shannon	2 episodes
	'	Penny Gibson / Sarah Roomey	2 episodes
	Hotel	Lisa Walker	"Christmas"
1984	T. J. Hooker	Toni Polnoi	"Grand Theft Auto"
1985	Hotel	Sara	"Cry Wolf"
1987	Hotel	Jody 'Jo' Payne	"Barriers"
1989	Monsters	Beverly	"The Match Game"
1990	Saved by the Bell	Violet Bickerstaff	"House Party", "The Glee Club", "Check Your Mate"
	Beverly Hills, 90210	Donna Martin	Main role
1992	Melrose Place	Donna Martin	"Pilot", "Friends & Lovers"
1994	Burke's Law	Mary McKenna	"Who Killed the Host at the Roast?"
	'	Stacey Lockwood	TV film
1995	Awake to Danger	Aimee McAdams	TV film
	Biker Mice from Mars	Romana Parmesana (voice)	"Hit the Road, Jack"
1996	Deadly Pursuits	Meredith	TV film
	Co-ed Call Girl	Joanna	TV film
	Malibu Shores	Jill	"The Competitive Edge"
	Mother, May I Sleep with Danger?	Laurel Lewisohn	TV film
1997	Alibi	Marti Gerrard	TV film
2003	So Downtown	Liz	TV series
	'	Carol Cartman	TV film
2004	'	Molly the Dog Walker	Recurring role
	Less than Perfect	Roxanne Fielder	"Claude's Roxanne"
2005	Family Plan	Charlie	TV film
	American Dad!	Kim (voice)	"Stan Knows Best"
	Hush	Nina Hamilton	TV film
	Mind Over Murder	Holly Winters	TV film
2006	So Notorious	Tori Spelling	Sitcom
2007	The House Sitter	Elise Crawford	TV film
	Smallville	Linda Lake	"Hydro"
2008	Mother Goose Parade	Grand Marshall	TV film
2009	Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All the World	Gina Michaels (voice)	"The Only Straight in the Village"
	RuPaul's Drag Race	Herself	Season 1, Episode 3; guest for the main challenge.
	Smallville	Linda Lake	"Infamous"
	90210	Donna Martin	"Okaeri, Donna!", "Between a Sign and a Hard Place"
2011	Jake and the Never Land Pirates	Pirate Princess	Recurring voice role
2012	'	Marci	TV film
2014	Mystery Girls	Holly Hamilton	Main role
2016	Mother, May I Sleep with Danger?	Julie Lewisohn	TV film

Multimedia

Soundtrack

• Trick (January 27, 1999)

Books

Spelling has written six books. Three were published by Gallery Books, while one was published by Aladdin Books and another published by Simon Spotlight Entertainment.

• Her first book, sTORI TELLING (2008) was a New York Times bestseller.
• In 2009, Mommywood was published about her experiences with her children.
• A third book, UNCHARTED TERRITORI, was released in 2010.
• Presenting Tallulah (2010) is her first picture book.
• In 2012, Spelling published her first party-planning book, CelebraTORI.
• Her sixth book, Spelling It Like It Is, was released in 2013.