American producer, director, writer, film and TV actor Luke Perry died on 4 March 2019 at St. Joseph's Hospital in Burbank, California, from complications of a stroke he suffered last week. Luke had a prolific acting career on TV and in films. He became a household name as Dylan McKay on the hit coming-of-age series Beverly Hills 90210 (1990-1995; 1998-2000). He also starred as Fred Andrews on the drama series Riverdale (2017). He was 52.
![Luke Perry (1966-2019)]()
Italian postcard by Gruppo Editoriale Il Vecchio, Genova. Photo: publicity still for the TV-seriesBeverly Hills 90210.
Luke Perry was born Coy Luther Perry III in Mansfield, Ohio in, 1966. His parents were Ann Bennett, a homemaker, and Coy Luther Perry Jr., a steelworker.
He was raised in the small community of Fredericktown. Perry moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting soon after graduating from high school. There he worked a series of odd jobs as he tried to break into the business.
After appearing in the music video Be Chrool to Your Scuel for the band Twisted Sister alongside Alice Cooper, he scored an appearance as Ned Bates on the soap opera Loving (1987-1988), which required him to move to New York City.
Perry then landed a role on another soap, this time portraying Kenny on Another World (1988-1989). But it was his role as seemingly bad boy Dylan McKay on Beverly Hills 90210 in 1990 which made Perry a popular teen idol.
Perry had auditioned for the role of Steve Sanders, but the role eventually went to Ian Ziering before Perry was cast as Dylan McKay. Perry's character was not an original cast member of the show, and he was first featured in the show's second episode. He was originally intended to only appear in one story arc, for one or two episodes.
Fox was initially reluctant to have him included as a regular, but producer Aaron Spelling felt differently and gave Perry a bigger role during the first two years until the network was won over. The actor famously left the show in Season 6, seeking to break away from the Dylan character and to pursue more mature roles, but he returned in Season 9, apparently due to financial reasons.
![Luke Perry (1966-2019)]()
Italian postcard by Gruppo Editoriale Il Vecchio, Genova. Photo: publicity still for the TV-series Beverly Hills 90210, with Luke Perry and Jason Priestley.
Luke Perry also appeared often in the cinema. In 1992, he won a co-starring role in the film version of Joss Whedon's Buffy The Vampire Slayer (Fran Rubel Kuzui, 1992), with Kristy Swanson.
It follows a Valley girl cheerleader named Buffy who learns that it is her fate to hunt vampires. It was a moderate success at the box office but received mixed reception from critics.
The film was taken in a different direction from the one its writer Joss Whedon intended, and five years later, he created the darker and acclaimed TV series of the same name.
Perry played roles in such films as Terminal Bliss (Jordan Alan, 1992), the biographical drama 8 Seconds (John G. Avildsen, 1994) about rodeo legend Lane Frost, and the crime drama Normal Life (John McNaughton, 1996) with Ashley Judd. He had a small role in Luc Besson's Science-Fiction adventure The Fifth Element (1997) with Bruce Willis and Milla Jovovich.
Perry guest-starred as gay characters in the sitcoms Spin City (1997) and Will & Grace (2005); he appeared as Carter Heywood's (Michael Boatman) ex-boyfriend who subsequently fell in love with a woman on Spin City and played a geeky birdwatcher who caught the eye of Jack McFarland (Sean Hayes) on Will & Grace.
![Luke Perry (1966-2019)]()
Italian postcard by Gruppo Editoriale Il Vecchio, Genova. Photo: publicity still for the TV-series Beverly Hills 90210.
Luke Perry made his Broadway debut in 2001 as Brad in a revival of The Rocky Horror Show. He also starred in the London West End adaptation of 'When Harry Met Sally'. But it was television that showed the actor the most love.
From 2001 to 2002, he starred in the prison drama Oz, as the Reverend Jeremiah Cloutier. From 2002 to 2004 he acted in the post-apocalyptic TV series Jeremiah. And in 2006 Perry co-starred in the ensemble drama series Windfall, about a group of friends who win the lottery.
In 2008, Perry guest-starred as rapist Noah Sibert in the television series Law & Order: SVU, and he also guest-starred as cult leader Benjamin Cyrus in an episode of Criminal Minds.
From 2017 until his death, Perry took on the role as Archie Andrews' (K.J. Apa) dad Fred in the hit drama Riverdale, based on the characters from the Archie comics.
Perry also played a role in Quentin Tarantino's upcoming Charles Manson film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. It is one of the most anticipated and promising film projects of the year with also Al Pacino, Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio in the cast.
In 1993, Perry married actress Rachel 'Minnie' Sharp and the couple welcomed son Jack (1997) and daughter Sophie (2000). They divorced a decade later. At the time of his death, Perry was engaged to Wendy Madison Bauer.
![Luke Perry (1966-2019)]()
Italian postcard by Gruppo Editoriale Il Vecchio, Genova. Photo: publicity still for the TV-series Beverly Hills 90210 with Luke Perry, Jason Priestley, Ian Ziering and Brian Austin Green.
Sources: Lisa Respers France (CNN), Westerns... All' Italiana, Wikipedia and IMDb.
Italian postcard by Gruppo Editoriale Il Vecchio, Genova. Photo: publicity still for the TV-seriesBeverly Hills 90210.
Seemingly Bad Boy
Luke Perry was born Coy Luther Perry III in Mansfield, Ohio in, 1966. His parents were Ann Bennett, a homemaker, and Coy Luther Perry Jr., a steelworker.
He was raised in the small community of Fredericktown. Perry moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting soon after graduating from high school. There he worked a series of odd jobs as he tried to break into the business.
After appearing in the music video Be Chrool to Your Scuel for the band Twisted Sister alongside Alice Cooper, he scored an appearance as Ned Bates on the soap opera Loving (1987-1988), which required him to move to New York City.
Perry then landed a role on another soap, this time portraying Kenny on Another World (1988-1989). But it was his role as seemingly bad boy Dylan McKay on Beverly Hills 90210 in 1990 which made Perry a popular teen idol.
Perry had auditioned for the role of Steve Sanders, but the role eventually went to Ian Ziering before Perry was cast as Dylan McKay. Perry's character was not an original cast member of the show, and he was first featured in the show's second episode. He was originally intended to only appear in one story arc, for one or two episodes.
Fox was initially reluctant to have him included as a regular, but producer Aaron Spelling felt differently and gave Perry a bigger role during the first two years until the network was won over. The actor famously left the show in Season 6, seeking to break away from the Dylan character and to pursue more mature roles, but he returned in Season 9, apparently due to financial reasons.
Italian postcard by Gruppo Editoriale Il Vecchio, Genova. Photo: publicity still for the TV-series Beverly Hills 90210, with Luke Perry and Jason Priestley.
A Valley Girl Cheerleader named Buffy
Luke Perry also appeared often in the cinema. In 1992, he won a co-starring role in the film version of Joss Whedon's Buffy The Vampire Slayer (Fran Rubel Kuzui, 1992), with Kristy Swanson.
It follows a Valley girl cheerleader named Buffy who learns that it is her fate to hunt vampires. It was a moderate success at the box office but received mixed reception from critics.
The film was taken in a different direction from the one its writer Joss Whedon intended, and five years later, he created the darker and acclaimed TV series of the same name.
Perry played roles in such films as Terminal Bliss (Jordan Alan, 1992), the biographical drama 8 Seconds (John G. Avildsen, 1994) about rodeo legend Lane Frost, and the crime drama Normal Life (John McNaughton, 1996) with Ashley Judd. He had a small role in Luc Besson's Science-Fiction adventure The Fifth Element (1997) with Bruce Willis and Milla Jovovich.
Perry guest-starred as gay characters in the sitcoms Spin City (1997) and Will & Grace (2005); he appeared as Carter Heywood's (Michael Boatman) ex-boyfriend who subsequently fell in love with a woman on Spin City and played a geeky birdwatcher who caught the eye of Jack McFarland (Sean Hayes) on Will & Grace.
Italian postcard by Gruppo Editoriale Il Vecchio, Genova. Photo: publicity still for the TV-series Beverly Hills 90210.
It was television that showed him the most love
Luke Perry made his Broadway debut in 2001 as Brad in a revival of The Rocky Horror Show. He also starred in the London West End adaptation of 'When Harry Met Sally'. But it was television that showed the actor the most love.
From 2001 to 2002, he starred in the prison drama Oz, as the Reverend Jeremiah Cloutier. From 2002 to 2004 he acted in the post-apocalyptic TV series Jeremiah. And in 2006 Perry co-starred in the ensemble drama series Windfall, about a group of friends who win the lottery.
In 2008, Perry guest-starred as rapist Noah Sibert in the television series Law & Order: SVU, and he also guest-starred as cult leader Benjamin Cyrus in an episode of Criminal Minds.
From 2017 until his death, Perry took on the role as Archie Andrews' (K.J. Apa) dad Fred in the hit drama Riverdale, based on the characters from the Archie comics.
Perry also played a role in Quentin Tarantino's upcoming Charles Manson film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. It is one of the most anticipated and promising film projects of the year with also Al Pacino, Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio in the cast.
In 1993, Perry married actress Rachel 'Minnie' Sharp and the couple welcomed son Jack (1997) and daughter Sophie (2000). They divorced a decade later. At the time of his death, Perry was engaged to Wendy Madison Bauer.
Italian postcard by Gruppo Editoriale Il Vecchio, Genova. Photo: publicity still for the TV-series Beverly Hills 90210 with Luke Perry, Jason Priestley, Ian Ziering and Brian Austin Green.
Sources: Lisa Respers France (CNN), Westerns... All' Italiana, Wikipedia and IMDb.