LUKE’S legacy
FAMILY, FRIENDS & FANS MOURN THE ACTOR’S SHOCK DEATH
He was the heartthrob who had millions of teenage girls swooning over his portrayal of bad boy Dylan McKay on the 1990s hit TV show Beverly Hills, 90210.
And those same women, now all grown up, have been left shocked by the death of Luke Perry, who passed away last week after suffering a massive stroke at the age of 52.
A new generation of fans, who knew him as Archie Andrews’ dad Fred in Riverdale,
the TV adaptation of the Archie comic books, are also grieving the actor’s passing.
Luke was taken to hospital after becoming ill at his Los Angeles home, coincidentally on the day it was announced that Beverly Hills, 90120 would be revived. He was placed in a medically induced coma and died four days later in hospital, surrounded by his children Jack (21) and Sophie (18), fiancée Wendy Madison Bauer (44), ex-wife Rachel Sharp (49), and other family members and close friends.
Tributes to Luke included one from his Beverly Hills, 90210 co-star Jennie Garth (46), who played Kelly Taylor: “My heart is broken. He meant so much to so many. Such a very special person. Such a terrible loss.”
Gabrielle Carteris (58), who played Andrea Zuckerman, described the actor as a “sensitive soul who was kind and generous, and fought for the underdog”.
Luke’s film credits included the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Fifth Element, and he was set to return to the big screen this year in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
But it’s the smouldering, poetry-reading, James Deanesque Dylan he’ll always be remembered as, and Luke knew that.
“I’m going to be linked with him until the day I die, but that’s actually just fine,” he said in an interview. “I created Dylan McKay. He’s mine.”