Outpouring of grief and tributes for Luke Perry
Fans and friends from around the world remember Beverly Hills, 90210 and Riverdale star
Luke Perry, who gained instant heartthrob status as wealthy rebel Dylan McKay on the 1990s teen drama Beverly Hills, 90210, died Monday after suffering a massive stroke, his publicist said. He was 52.
Perry was surrounded by family and friends when he died, publicist Arnold Robinson said. The actor had been hospitalized since last Wednesday, after a 911 call summoned medical help to his home in the Sherman Oaks section of Los Angeles.
“The family appreciates the outpouring of support and prayers that have been extended to Luke from around the world, and respectfully request privacy in this time of great mourning,” Robinson said. At Perry’s bedside were his children, Jake and Sophie; fiancée Wendy Madison Bauer and his former wife, Minnie Sharp. Perry had played construction company owner Fred Andrews, father of main character Archie Andrews, for three seasons on Riverdale, the CW series that gives a dark take on Archie comics. A fourth season has been slated. Born Coy Luther Perry III on Oct. 11, 1966 and raised in rural Fredericktown, Ohio, Perry moved to Los Angeles shortly after high school to pursue an acting career, meanwhile working in construction to pay the bills. He also spent time in New York auditioning for theatre roles.
In an interview with Whoopi Goldberg in the 1990s, Perry said he auditioned for 215 acting jobs in New York before getting work on a TV commercial. After appearing in the music video Be Chrool to Your Scuel for the band Twisted Sister alongside Alice Cooper, Perry’s earliest roles were in the daytime soap operas Loving (1987-88) and Another World (1988-89).
But his breakthrough role came as the brooding millionaire’s son Dylan McKay on Beverly Hills, 90210, a soapy drama set in the affluent Los Angeles neighbourhood that ran on the Fox network from 1990 to 2000. He had originally auditioned for the role of Steve Sanders but lost to actor Ian Ziering. While starring on 90210, Perry won a supporting role in the original film version of Joss Whedon’s Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1992). On Twitter, Whedon called him “Funny, committed, and always gracious. He shouldn’t be gone.” Perry has had roles in a handful of other films, including The Fifth Element, 8 Seconds and American Strays.
He appeared in HBO’s prison drama Oz as the Rev. Jeremiah Cloutier and voiced cartoons including The Incredible Hulk and Mortal Kombat. Perry did considerable voice-over work for various animated series, often playing himself. He played himself (as Krusty the Clown’s half brother) in an episode of The Simpsons (1993). He voiced himself in an episode of Johnny Bravo, giving Johnny dating advice after Johnny saved him from a stampede of fan girls. Perry parodied himself in an episode of Family Guy, in which he was labelled as gay by Peter and sues the family.
Perry guest-starred as gay characters in the sitcoms Spin City (1997) and Will & Grace (2005). On Spin City, he appeared as Carter Heywood’s ex-boyfriend who subsequently fell in love with a woman. And on Will & Grace he played a geeky birdwatcher who caught the eye of Jack (Sean Hayes). In recent years he starred in the series Ties That Bind and Body of Proof. Perry appeared on Broadway in 2001, in a revival of The Rocky Horror Show, playing Brad Majors.
In 2004, he appeared in the London production of When Harry Met Sally as Harry, alongside Alyson Hannigan as Sally.
The same day he was hospitalized, Fox TV announced that it would be running a six-episode return of 90210 that features most of the original cast, but Perry was not among those announced.