Donna Martin
| Donna Martin Sliver | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise character | |||||||||||
| File:Donna Martin 90210.JPG Donna, portrayed by Tori Spelling | |||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Tori Spelling | ||||||||||
| First appearance | October 4, 1990 (Beverly Hills, 90210, "Class of Beverly Hills") | ||||||||||
| Last appearance | As Star: May 17, 2000 (Beverly Hills, 90210, "Ode to Joy") As Special Guest: April 21, 2009 (90210, "Between a Sign and Hard Place") | ||||||||||
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Donna Martin is a fictional character from the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise, introduced in Beverly Hills, 90210 and portrayed by Tori Spelling from 1990 to 2000. In 2009, Spelling reprised the role in the spin-off 90210.
Beverly Hills, 90210
Donna was introduced in the first season as Kelly Taylor's best friend. For the early part of the first season, the Donna character was a supporting role, but gradually became a main character with her own storylines. Donna grew up in a very wealthy Beverly Hills household, the only child of Dr. John Martin, a successful physician and her mother Felice Martin, a socialite. Donna grew up as a strict Catholic, and her mother's strict rules on morality would be a running storyline for much of the show. Because of this, Donna by choice remained a virgin for much of the show's run, until she was well into college.
In high school, Donna discovered she had dyslexia and struggled at exams. She also almost failed to graduate after she was caught drinking alcohol at the senior prom. This led to a student demonstration to support her, and the slogan of her classmates.
Donna graduated from the show's fictional California University with a degree in Fashion & Marketing and would later go on to run her own fashion boutique. In the final season, Donna discovered that her cousin Gina Kincaid, with whom she had a troubled relationship, was actually her half-sister. Then,when Donna's father died, she blamed Gina for his death, but they eventually made up at the funeral.
During the late 90s, she and long time friend Kelly Taylor opened a clothing store, Now Wear This.
Relationships
Donna first became romantically involved with David Silver in high school, after going to a dance together. After they had been dating for a couple of months, David tried to get Donna to have sex with him, at which point Donna admitted to being a virgin and revealed that she wanted to wait until marriage. David agreed to respect Donna's wishes, and they continued dating. David cheated on Donna the next summer, but he apologized. Finally, at the senior prom, Donna agreed to have sex with David, but was then caught drinking and her punishment disrupted their plans.
The next year, David's pressures on Donna finally led her to agree to have sex with him, but she changed her mind at the last minute, and David got upset and broke up with her. David then started doing drugs, including crystal meth. and when Donna found out, she tried to help him. Because of this, Donna and David got back together. Unfortunately, a few months later, Donna found David in the back of a limo, having sex with someone else and they split up once again.
The following year after entering college, Donna met Griffin Stone (Casper Van Dien), and they began dating. Donna became romantically involved with Ray Pruit, a construction worker and budding singer. Donna was dating Griffin Stone while talking to Ray Pruit. Donna was then stuck with both guy's but did not know who to choose. She then dumped Griffin Stone for trying to sleep with her. Ray agreed to respect Donna's virginity, and wrote a song for her. Ray told Donna that he wasn't going to pressure her into doing anything she was uncomfortable doing.
A few months later, a man named Garret Slan tried to rape her at knifepoint. She was rescued by David, but she and Ray continued dating. Donna and Ray celebrated the holidays together and their relationship got more intimate. Donna dated Ray for a year, but he eventually became abusive. He knocked her down a flight of stairs in Palm Springs but she lied about what happened and stayed with him. It was only when she learned that Ray had cheated on her with Valerie Malone that she broke up with him. She then got involved with Joe Bradley (Cameron Bancroft). A jealous Ray then started to harass the newly formed couple, but decided to drop the charges against Joe then he left town. Joe proposed to Donna, but she tearfully refused and they broke up, because Donna wasn't ready to move away with him.
After a fire she got to know fireman Cliff Yeager (Greg Vaughn), whom she dated for a while. Cliff had to move away because he got a job offer. After that Donna and David fell in love again, but their love was tested, when Cliff came back on valentine's day. David wanted them to be together but Donna wasn't sure about her feelings. When her parents invited Cliff to lunch on their boat, David sent her a note telling her that he loves her. There she finally made her decision to be with David.
Finally, on their college graduation night, Donna and David had sex and decided to move in together, causing a rift with her mother over this decision. But when David forged a check using Donna's name, Donna broke up with him once again. She then had a serious romance with Noah Hunter, but that eventually ended and in the final season, she got back together with David again.
Donna and David got married in the show's series finale in 2000.
Missing Years
Some time after 2000, "Now Wear This" went bankrupt, causing Donna and Kelly to sell the store. It then became a store that sold medical marijuana. Sometime later, Donna and David eventually moved to Japan. There, Donna becomes a famous fashion designer and becomes significantly wealthy, owning her own stores and being a high in demand designer. She and David eventually have a baby girl, named Ruby. However, their relationship began to hit a rough patch as they are unable to decide where to raise Ruby, Japan or Beverly Hills. She has kept in contact with both Kelly and Brenda.
90210
In episode 4 Kelly and Brenda crack a joke about being back at West Beverly and still hearing "Donna Martin Graduates." Also, in conversation Kelly and Brenda mention that Donna's baby and that it's "so cute."
In episode 19, Donna returned to Beverly Hills, bringing Ruby along while visiting Kelly and her sister-in-law Erin. She later met writer Diablo Cody and provided her with a Donna Martin original. Cody wore the dress to a red-carpet premiere, which Donna accompanied her to as Kelly and Silver proudly watched on television. Afterwards, Donna introduced Cody to Kelly and Silver, who happened to be a fan of hers. Later, Donna revealed to Kelly that she and David were separated.
In episode 20, While planning a new store, Donna began looking for a building to lease in town. She also explained that while David had grown content with living in Japan, she'd come to miss Beverly Hills. This brought her a great degree of anxiety and sorrow with regards to the relationship, though Kelly provided her with comfort. Eventually, the two decided to spend an evening out together. Following a session of drinking and dancing, Donna found a building to lease as her new store. After talking to David, she is shocked when he decides to pick staying in Japan than moving back with her. Donna cries in Kelly's arm, telling her that she expected David to pick her not Japan. At Donna's opening of her new store, she receives flowers and a card from David, which he said "Thinking of You". Donna is unsure on how to take this.