Background and career
Victoria Davey Spelling (born May 16, 1973) is an American actress. Her first major role was Donna Martin on Beverly Hills, 90210, from 1990 to 2000. She has appeared in made-for-television films, including A Friend to Die For (1994), A Carol Christmas (2003), The Mistle-Tones (2012), both versions of Mother, May I Sleep with Danger? (1996 and 2016) and The Last Sharknado: It's About Time (2018). She has also starred in several independent films including The House of Yes (1997), Trick (1999), Scary Movie 2 (2001), Cthulhu (2007), Kiss the Bride (2007) and Izzie's Way Home (2016). She reprised her role of Donna Martin in Beverly Hills, 90210's spin-off, BH90210, in 2019. Spelling's autobiography, Stori Telling, topped the New York Times Best Seller list.
Spelling was born in Los Angeles. She is the daughter of Candy and Aaron Spelling. She has a younger brother, Randy, a former actor who, as of 2009, 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 graduated from the elite all-girls private school, the Westlake School, which after her graduation merged into the Harvard-Westlake School in 1991.
At age six, Spelling was given acting lessons from an acting coach hired by her father, and was subsequently given guest spots on television series 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 (1996), 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).
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: Home Sweet Hollywood, originally Tori & Dean: Inn Love, 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 the Beverly Hills, 90210 spin-off 90210. She appeared in the nineteenth and twentieth episodes of the first season as a special guest star.
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 the 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 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 co-starred in the TV movie Mother, May I Sleep with Danger? alongside James Franco. Beginning June 24, 2018, Spelling hosted the TV series The Look: All Stars. During that time, she appeared in the successful TV movie The Last Sharknado: It's About Time. On January 30, 2019, Spelling competed in the first season of The Masked Singer as "Unicorn". Also in 2019, Spelling reunited with her original Beverly Hills, 90210 castmates Jenny Garth, Jason Priestley, Shannon Doherty, Gabrielle Carteris, Ian Ziering, and Brian Austin Green for BH90210, which was a six-episode series in which the cast played heightened, fictionalized versions of themselves. The series aired on FOX in August and September 2019 and was canceled after one season. In November 2020, Spelling began a podcast with Beverly Hills 90210 co-star Jennie Garth titled 9021OMG, where the two re-watch and share memories from their time on the show and chat about their experiences, along with TV and radio personality Sisanie Villaclara. In 2022, Spelling appeared as a guest on the Australian and French versions of The Masked Singer. In 2023, she competed in the Spanish version of The Masked Singer as "Harlequin". In September 2024, Spelling was announced as one of the celebrities competing on season 33 of Dancing with the Stars. She is partnered with Pasha Pashkov.
