At a Glance
- Tori Spelling grew up in a 56,500-square-foot mansion and landed her first TV role at 17 through her producer father, Aaron Spelling.
- Aaron died in 2006 at age 83 after complications from a stroke; Tori calls the final visit with him “a moment I’ll cherish forever.”
- After years of estrangement, Tori and her mother, Candy, now share what sources describe as “the best relationship it’s ever been.”
- Why it matters: The actress’s story shows how fame, fortune and family tensions can collide-and heal-under the glare of Hollywood lights.
Tori Spelling’s childhood blended extreme privilege with emotional complexity. Raised by theater actress Candy Spelling and legendary TV producer Aaron Spelling, she spent her earliest years in Los Angeles before the family moved into Spelling Manor, a 56,500-square-foot mansion completed when Tori was in her late teens.
Aaron built the estate for Candy. “He really built that because it was my mom’s dream, and he wanted her to be happy,” Tori said on her 90210MG podcast in February 2022. “He was so in love with her.”
The couple’s love story began in 1965 at a Beverly Hills nightclub. Candy recalled dancing with Aaron while both were on dates with other people. When he declared, “I’m going to marry you,” she thought it was a line. They wed on November 23, 1968, and remained married nearly four decades.
Within five years, they welcomed Tori on May 16, 1973, and Randy on October 9, 1978. Randy told News Of Losangeles in September 2023 that he and Tori “disagreed on a lot of things” as kids but stayed close. “I’m proud of her,” he said. “She is resilient.”
The siblings experienced a celebrity-style upbringing. Tori attended red-carpet events as a toddler, posed for photographers through the 1980s and lived in a home that featured a bowling alley, an arcade, a flower-cutting room and a gift-wrapping room. Guests included then-Prince Charles.
“I never saw every room, and I lived there for two years,” Tori admitted on the podcast. Despite the opulence, she felt uncomfortable. “People would make fun of me for my dad having money,” she said. “It was an embarrassment of riches.”
Aaron guided Tori into television. At 17 she joined Beverly Hills, 90210, the Fox hit her father produced. “I got the part from my dad,” she told Good Morning America in March 2008. Aaron kept her character, Donna Martin, a virgin until the series ended-something Tori learned only afterward. She later appeared in his shows The Love Boat and Fantasy Island.
In her 2008 memoir sTori Telling, Tori described moments that shaped her. When she asked Candy if she was pretty, her mother replied, “You will be when we get your nose done.” Tori, stunned, had the surgery at 16. During a school field trip to Aaron’s studio, he lifted her above classmates for a photo. “I just wanted to fit in,” she wrote.
Smaller memories lingered. Candy decorated for holidays, colored Easter eggs and carved pumpkins. Aaron made up stories while sitting with Tori in their Jacuzzi. “These were pure, sweet moments that weren’t about putting on a show,” Tori wrote.
Aaron died at age 83 on June 23, 2006, after a stroke. Two weeks earlier Tori and then-husband Dean McDermott visited him. “My dad gave me a big kiss on the lips and we said we loved each other,” she told News Of Losangeles in July 2006. “In the end he hugged Dean and said, ‘Take care of my baby.'”
Tori and Candy later became estranged but reconciled. When Tori and Dean separated in June 2023 after 17 years of marriage, a source told News Of Losangeles that Candy assured Tori she and her five children-Liam, Stella, Hattie, Finn and Beau-would be financially secure. “The children are Candy’s whole world,” the source added. The divorce was settled in November 2025.
By July 2023 an insider told News Of Losangeles that Tori and Candy’s “relationship is the best it’s ever been.” Tori “regretted” lost time and hoped “to make up for it.” For Candy’s 78th birthday in September 2023, Tori posted throwback photos on Instagram. “Grateful to be your daughter,” she wrote, recalling times they “were happy crying uncontrollably.”
Candy told SiriusXM’s Jeff Lewis Live in October 2022, “We’ve had a good relationship, but it’s like next-level right now.”
Key Takeaways
- Tori’s childhood combined Hollywood glamour with emotional hurdles, from mansion life to teenage rhinoplasty.
- Aaron’s influence launched her career yet created on-set awkwardness about storylines and cast dynamics.
- The final father-daughter visit remains a treasured memory for Tori.
- After periods of distance, Tori and Candy now share what multiple sources call an exceptionally close bond, strengthened during Tori’s recent divorce.
