1 week Ago
Sarah Michelle Gellar is marking a bittersweet birthday this year. The Buffy the Vampire Slayer alum shared a tribute to her late friend Shannen Doherty on the Charmed alum's 54th birthday April 12. It marks the first since her 2024 death and comes two days before Sarah will turn 48.
"For as long as I can remember, we have celebrated our birthdays together @theshando," Sarah wrote on Instagram , alongside a pic of the actresses at their 2024 celebration. "This year I will keep that tradition, and celebrate you. I am so glad we were all together on this day last year, not knowing it would be the last like this.
Happy Birthday Shannen." The Dexter: Origin Sin actress also shared a never-before-seen video of the two blowing out the candles on their birthday cakes at the party. Three months after the event, Shannen died after battling cancer for years .
The Beverly Hills, 90210 alum was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015, went into remission two years later and revealed in 2020 that it had returned . Also that year, her bond with Sarah grew as the Scooby Doo actress and her family joined hers in a "Covid pod" during the pandemic. A post shared by Sarah Michelle (@sarahmgellar) "You gave my children such a life in Covid," Sarah—who shares daughter Charlotte , 15, and son Rocky , 12, with husband Freddie Prinze Jr.
—said on Shannen's podcast Let's Be Clear , released five months before her death, "and I was really struggling with how to give them that freedom and that room to be kids and to have adventures." Sarah continued, "You opened your home to us in Covid in a way that I will for the rest of my life be grateful for." Shannen noted that Sarah and her family helped her during that time as well by just being there.
"It's hard being isolated, especially as someone who's immunocompromised," she said, "and you were all so incredibly careful about who you were around and all of that in order to actually come here and hang out and go swimming and do wine challenges." Sarah had shared a touching tribute to Shannen following her July 2024 death on social media. “How do you possibly find the right words to sum up 30 years of friendship?" the actress wrote alongside several photos of the pair on Instagram .
"I keep reminding myself it only hurts this much because, there was so much love. Thank you, for all your kind words and support. I love all the messages about how @theshando was important to you.
So let's honor her." Gellar noted that her friend loved animals and specifically dogs and encouraged fans to support local charities in her memory. "Whether that’s donating money, stopping by your local shelter and just offering cuddles and walks to animals housed there or even just tagging them in the comments so other people can learn about their work," she continued.
“I know that would make our girl happy (and illicit [sic] that deep throaty laugh we all loved)." Look back at Shannen's life in pictures..
..
