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Shannen Doherty's Father Dies

Actress Shannen Doherty with partner Mark Ballas on "Dancing With the Stars." (ABC/ADAM LARKEY) ABC/Adam Larkey

LOS ANGELES (CBS/AP) Thomas Doherty, who sat in the "Dancing with the Stars" audience last season to watch his daughter, actress Shannen Doherty, compete, had died after battling a series of health issues.

Shannen Doherty was eliminated from "Dancing'" in March after just one week of competition. But she said after her elimination she considered her stint on the show a success because her father, who had suffered a stroke, was in the audience watching her perform.

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"I did it for my dad," the 39-year-old "90210" star said at the time.

On Sunday, she issued a statement saying John Thomas Doherty died Friday at age 66 after a series of health issues.

In the statement, issued through her publicist, the actress called her father the "greatest man in the world."'

She added: "I love him with every inch of my being and cannot imagine life without him." Her father was a banker and had later worked in the family transportation business.

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