20/20 Friday: Growing Up a Spelling
Actress talks about growing up in a famous family, plus her new book.
March 3, 2008— -- For almost two decades, press coverage of Tori Spelling has told that classic Hollywood tale of the poor little rich girl. Perhaps best known for her role as Donna Martin on the hit television show "Beverly Hills 90210," Spelling had an almost make-believe childhood, where anything and everything was possible.
Spelling remembers one moment in particular: "It was, you know, probably eighty degrees out in L.A. and my dad took me outside and there was snow … At the time, I thought, 'Well, every kid doesn't have snow in their backyard on Christmas?'"
Her father, Aaron Spelling, was one of Hollywood's richest and most powerful television producers. Her mother, Candy Spelling, was a beautiful former model who Tori felt never gave her the unconditional support she so desperately craved. "Even when I was young, I just knew, I knew from the beginning it was just, it was complicated," Spelling said.
Spelling had a hugely successful television career, but it always came with criticism that her father had gotten her her roles. She admits she got the role of Donna Martin "from my dad," but says she worked hard to make what started out as a supporting role into a leading one. Her million-dollar wedding was featured on the covers of glossy magazines, and her marriage-ending affair was exposed in tabloids around the world. Tori Spelling's life has always seemed like it was scripted for the small screen … reminiscent of her father's famed shows.
But now, Tori Spelling wants to set the record straight. She has written a very candid and often funny memoir, "sTori Telling," where she reveals a new version of growing up Spelling — her own.
Watch Elizabeth Vargas' interview with Tori Spelling Friday on "20/20" at 10 p.m. ET.