The Beverly Hills, 90210 family is mourning the loss of one of their own.
Tori Spelling and Jennie Garth honored their co-star Denise Dowse, who played the vice principal Mrs. Teasley on the iconic ‘90s show, after her sister, Tracey Dowse, announced that she passed away from meningitis last week.
"We're so shocked," Garth shared on the Aug. 16 episode of their 90210MG podcast. "She was only 64 years old. This came out of nowhere. I read that she was suffering, battling meningitis. And like, it caused her body to shut down and go into a coma and she never woke up from the coma. It's unbelievable to me, and I can't imagine how devastating her family is, her sister. Everyone that knew her. It was just shocking, shocking news. These kinds of deaths are the hardest."
The women reminisced on their time on set working with Dowse, with Garth saying that she "was like your oldest friend and she just would show up on set and then she'd be in a scene and then it would be like, it was just so natural being around her and working with her so easy."
Spelling—who played Donna Martin on Beverly Hills, 90210—added that she can "100 percent" remember Dowse's smile.
"I think my first big scene with her was when Donna had a learning disability," the Scary Movie 2 actress recalled. "And I was so nervous. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I have to do drama.' I hadn't done much aside from being like the sidekick on the show. And she was so easy to work with and so encouraging and she knew I was super nervous and that was the day that I was just like, ‘Oh my gosh, thank goodness my big scene was with her.'"
On Aug. 13, Dowse's sister announced that the actress had passed away, just days after previously sharing that she was hospitalized and in a coma while battling a severe case of meningitis.
Following her death, several stars paid tribute to the former Insecure actress, including Issa Rae, who wrote on Instagram that she will be "forever grateful for her guidance."