Victoria Davey "Tori" Spelling is an American actress and author. Her first major role was
Donna Martin on Beverly Hills, 90210 in 1990. She appeared in a string of made-for-television
films, such as A Friend to Die For and Mother, May I Sleep with Danger?. Spelling also rose
to prominence through independent films such as The House of Yes, Trick and Cthulhu. She
reprised her prominent role in the spinoff, 90210, in 2009.
Her autobiography, Stori Telling, debuted on top of the New York Times Best Seller list
and was named the best celebrity autobiography of 2009.
Divorced from playwright Charlie Shanian, Spelling is married to Dean McDermott. They
have four children.
Early life Victoria Davey Spelling was born on May 16,
1973 in Los Angeles, California. She is the daughter of Candy and television and film
producer Aaron Spelling. She has a younger brother, Randy, a former actor who as of 2009
works as a life coach. Spelling's parents were both Jewish, though their ancestors immgrated
from Russia and Poland. The family celebrated both Christmas and Hanukkah while she was
growing up. Her middle name comes from her paternal grandfather, David. She attended
Beverly Hills High School in Beverly Hills, California, but 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 Aaron and subsequently landed guest spots on shows
such as The Love Boat, T. J. Hooker, Hotel, Fantasy Island, Vega$, and Saved by the Bell.
At the age of 17, she landed the role of Donna Martin on Beverly Hills, 90210, a series co-produced
by her father Aaron's company Spelling Television. Spelling portrayed Donna for the show's entire
run and was nominated for two Young Artist Awards. Donna remained a virgin for about
seven years, that is until the finale of the seventh season, supposedly due to Aaron Spelling's
edict. While starring on 90210, Spelling was cast
in a number of made-for-television films, including Co-Ed Call Girl, A Friend to Die
For, and Mother, May I Sleep with Danger?. Subsequently, Spelling appeared in several
independent films including The House of Yes and Trick.
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
in Fallbrook, California for their reality show, Tori & Dean: Inn Love, which premiered
on the Oxygen network on March 20, 2007. In July 2007, Spelling became a minister to marry
a gay couple at Chateau La Rue. A tape of the ceremony was shown on Inn Love. In June
2008, the show returned for a third season under a new title, Tori & Dean: Home Sweet
Hollywood. In the new season, Spelling and McDermott discontinued the inn plotline, and
they returned to Los Angeles where they portrayed a struggle to balance buying a new home, their
second child Stella, and Spelling's book tour. In May 2009, Home Sweet Hollywood was aired
for a fourth season. On January 7, 2009, it was reported that Spelling
would reprise her role as Donna Martin on the new CW show 90210. She appeared in two
episodes as a special guest star. Spelling's fashion and jewelry line premiered
on HSN. She released an autobiography, sTori TELLING, on March 11, 2008. Her second book
titled Mommywood was released on April 14, 2009.
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." Spelling's spin-off series Tori & Dean: sTORIbook
Weddings premiered on April 6, 2011. Writers lodged a suit against Spelling, claiming that
they had presented the ideas for a "wedding show" to her company, but were told there
was no interest in producing the show. Later that year, Spelling voiced the Pirate Princess
in Jake and the Never Land Pirates. She played a role in the comedy short movie "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 show's second season finale. 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 show. The special, included
other famous guests such as Tony Hawk and My Chemical Romance.
It was announced on August 26, 2013, that production has started on a new reality television
series titled Tori & Dean: Cabin Fever. The series chronicles Spelling, her husband, 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 will be produced and air on CMT Canada
and HGTV in 2014. Spelling is set to start a new television
show, Mystery Girls with former 90210 co-star Jennie Garth.
Personal life On July 3, 2004, Spelling married actor and
playwright Charlie Shanian in a lavish $1 million ceremony. They separated in October
2005 Shanian cited irreconcilable differences when he filed for the divorce. Their divorce
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. McDermott was formerly
married to Mary Jo Eustace, but they separated and divorced after his affair with Spelling.
Spelling and McDermott renewed their vows on May 8, 2010 in Beverly Hills. McDermott
brings to the marriage son Jack; he did not finalize Lola's adoption, so she was adopted
singularly by Eustace. The couple has four children: sons Liam Aaron
and Finn Davey, and daughters Stella Doreen and Hattie Margaret.
Spelling's father Aaron died on June 23, 2006. She was anticipated to inherit a sizable portion
of her father's $500 million estate. The estate was to be divided primarily between Spelling,
her brother Randy, and her mother Candy. Candy was the estate executor, but she and Tori
were estranged. Tori and her brother each inherited $800,000, although Randy was not
estranged. It was reported that Candy established a $10 million trust fund for Tori Spelling's
eldest child, Liam. In her sixth book, "Spelling It Like It Is,"
Tori admitted to having financial troubles, due to their reality show getting cancelled,
poor real estate decisions, and a very difficult fourth pregnancy. 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." After her fourth pregnancy,
Spelling shared that husband Dean McDermott wanted to get a vasectomy but they couldn't
afford it. Spelling claims that she hasn't bought a new purse in three years, but seems
to have a caviar taste with her current tuna fish budget. "Even when I try to embrace a
simpler lifestyle, I can't seem to let go of my expensive tastes," she said in an interview.
Spelling now claims to be repurposing, using hand-me-down clothes for her children, and
toning down her children's once lavish birthday parties. “I can’t afford to live like
this anymore. Our circumstances have changed,” she explained.
In December 2013, news broke that Spelling's husband, Dean McDermott, had cheated on his
wife with 28-year-old Emily Goodhand. After telling Goodhand that he had a sexless marriage,
the two had a two-day affair. Spelling decided to document the make-or-break relationship
on a 6-episode Lifetime documentary, True Tori. Some suspect the couple of making up
the entire story for a paycheck, due to several timing inconsistencies, along with the nearly
impossible to locate mistress. Filmography
Film Television
Multimedia Soundtrack
Trick Books
Spelling has written six books. Three were published by Gallery Books, while one was
published by Aladdin Books and one book published by Simon Spotlight Entertainment.
Her first book, sTORI TELLING 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 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. References
External links Official website
Tori Spelling at the Internet Movie Database Tori Spelling at People.com