Actor became a teen heart-throb for his role in 1990s high school TV series

Luke Perry actor b October 11, 1966 d March 4, 2019

Luke Perry, who has died aged 52, was the rebellious teen idol of the 1990s television series Beverly Hills, 90210, who in recent years has played the father of another high school heart-throb in the television drama Riverdale.

His publicist said Perry had suffered ‘‘a massive stroke’’, and had been hospitalised since last week, when an ambulance was called to his home in Los Angeles.

Perry was a frequent guest actor on television and was slated to appear in Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming mystery crime film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Since 2016, he had starred in Riverdale – based on the Archie Comics series – as Fred Andrews, the divorced father of Archie (played by Kiwi KJ Apa).

But it was

Beverly Hills, 90210 that defined him for a generation of viewers. Created by Darren Star and produced by Aaron Spelling, it centred on a pair of Minnesota twins, played by Jason Priestley and Shannen Doherty, who move to southern California and the glamorous (and fictional) West Beverly Hills High.

The series premiered in 1990 to dismal ratings and reviews but took off during a special ‘‘summer season’’ the following year. Drawing millions of viewers each week, it ran for 10 seasons, spawned a spinoff series,

Melrose Place, and served as a model for teen dramas such as Dawson’s Creek and The O.C.

Perry played Dylan McKay, Doherty’s offand-on love interest, a moody loner who struggles with alcoholism and a fractured relationship with his wealthy father. He appeared alongside Jennie Garth and Ian Ziering, who played spoiled classmates; Brian Austin Green, whose character aspired to join the popular crowd; and Tori Spelling, the producer’s daughter, who played a close friend of Doherty.

While the show addressed topics such as Aids, date rape, learning disabilities and teenage pregnancy, the principal draw for many viewers was its handsome male leads. With leather jackets, sideburns and a Rebel

Without a Cause persona, Perry was featured ina People magazine story that dubbed him ‘‘TV’s hottest heartbreaker’’ and was known to trigger riots at public appearances.

When he visited a mall in Seattle to sign autographs in 1991, he had to be spirited away in a laundry hamper after a crowd of young women rushed the barricades. Later that year, 21 people were injured as a crowd of more than 8000 fans rushed toward the stage to see him in south Florida. ‘‘I don’t know why it happened,’’ Perry joked to The Washington

Post. ‘‘I don’t even sing.’’

Coy Luther Perry III was born in rural Ohio, where he said his high school ‘‘had classes on giving birth to cows and driving tractors’’. His father was a steelworker, and his mother was a homemaker; they divorced when Luke was 6, and he was raised by his mother and constructionworker stepfather.

Among Perry’s earliest acting credits was a gig performing as Freddie Bird, his high school’s web-footed mascot. He moved to Los Angeles after graduation and held down odd jobs, selling shoes and working at a doorknob factory, while pursuing his dreams of becoming the next Paul Newman.

By his account, he was rejected 216 times before landing roles on the soap operas Loving and Another World. Through a failed audition for Ferris Bueller, a short-lived sitcom based on the movie starring Matthew Broderick, he met a casting director who suggested him for

Beverly Hills, 90210.

Seeking to demonstrate his range as an actor, Perry left that series for several years, saying in 1994, ‘‘The show does not challenge me.’’ He starred that year in the film 8

Seconds, as bull-riding champion Lane Frost. ‘‘Like earlier throbs (Matt Dillon in particular) he looks capable of rising above the fanzine drivel and proving himself a real actor,’’ film critic Roger Ebert wrote. ‘‘But this isn’t quite the movie.’’ He never found the star-making feature vehicle and went on to supporting parts in The Fifth Element (1997) and Dishdogz (2005).

Perry returned to Beverly Hills, 90210 for its final three seasons but did not appear in the show’s revival, 90210 which ran from 2008 to 2013. According to USA Today, Perry also did not sign on for a six-part Beverly Hills, 90210 reboot scheduled for this northern summer.

In 1993 he married Rachel ‘‘Minnie’’ Sharp, variously described as a former model and former furniture saleswoman. They had two children, and divorced in 2003. In addition to his children, survivors include his fiancee, Wendy Madison Bauer; his mother and stepfather; a brother; and a sister.

He said in 2018 that he had no illusions about his legacy and defining role on Beverly

Hills, 90210. ‘‘I’m going to be linked with him until I die, but that’s actually just fine. I created Dylan McKay. He’s mine.’’

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‘‘I’m going to be linked with him until I die, but that’s actually just fine. I created Dylan McKay. He’s mine.’’ Luke Perry on his Beverly Hills, 90210 character