Luke Perry

Actor

October 11, 1966 – March 4, 2019

Luke Perry, star of the hit shows “Beverly Hills, 90210” and “Riverdale” passed away on March 4, 2019, after complications from a stroke. Perry became a teen idol in the early ’90s when he was cast as teen heartthrob Dylan McKay.

It was not an easy road for Perry to get into acting. It took him more than 250 auditions before he finally received his first acting job. Perry’s early roles included small parts on daytime soap operas.

In 1990, Perry auditioned for the role of Steve Sanders on 90201 but lost the job to actor Ian Ziering. Instead, producers offered him the part of Dylan McKay. 90201 opened a lot of doors for Perry. In 1992 Perry won a supporting role in the film version of Joss Whedon’s, Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

After departing from 90210, Perry wanted to establish himself as a more mature actor. He would go on to star in several films and TV movies over the next three years. Then in 1998, Perry returned to 90210 to reprise his role.

When speaking about his role on the show, Perry has gone on record to say: “I’m going to be linked with him until I die, but that’s actually just fine. I created Dylan McKay. He’s mine.”

After leaving 90210 again in 2000, Perry starred in the HBO prison drama Oz. He would spend much of the next decade and a half playing various roles on television shows. Throughout his career, Perry did considerable voice-over work for cartoons often playing himself.

In 2017, Perry was cast as Frederick “Fred” Andrews in the hit Netflix show, Riverdale.

Perry was married once in his life. On November 20, 1993, he married Rachel Minnie Sharp. Together the couple had two children, a son, and daughter. In 2003 the couple separated.

In recent years, Perry was said to have prioritized his health after a colonoscopy revealed pre-cancerous growths. Perry had the growths treated and went on to be an advocate for men getting tested for colorectal cancer.

On February 27, 2019, Perry suffered a massive stroke at his home. He ended up passing away 5 days later after complications from the stroke. At the time of his death, Perry was engaged to Wendy Madison Bauer.

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