That was due to two reasons: many thought she won the role only because her father, Aaron, produced the series; and others thought she just couldn't act. She was born on May 16, 1973, in an era when her father ruled American TV. His hits included such classics as Starsky And Hutch, Charlie's Angels and Dynasty. So when, in 1990, he cast his own daughter as Donna in the much-hyped 90210, eyebrows were raised. And, admittedly, it wasn't much of a push for his daughter - a girl born and schooled in Beverly Hills playing a girl born and schooled in, um, Beverly Hills.
But the young Spelling, to her credit, took the criticism - and a touch of well-publicised plastic surgery - all in her stride. And she has now graduated from 90210 with a growing reputation, first for her work in the low-budget The House Of Yes, and now with a dizzy performance as a disastrous off-Broadway dancer-cum-singer in the comedy Trick.