Luke Perry obit

Luke Perry Is Dead at 52

He was not on the list.

Luke Perry, the actor famous for playing brooding outsiders in indelible pop-culture hits like Beverly Hills, 90210, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and more recently the CW’s Riverdale, died on Monday at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Burbank, California, after suffering a stroke last week. He was 52. Representatives said that Perry “had been sedated by doctors to limit the trauma from his stroke, which reportedly occurred last Wednesday at his home in Sherman Oaks, but that the damage was too severe,” The Daily Beast reports.

Born Coy Luther Perry III in Mansfield, Ohio, to a steelworker and a homemaker, Perry grew up in Fredericktown, about an hour outside Columbus. He auditioned for several roles before landing 90210 and told an interviewer that his day job at the time was laying asphalt as part of a construction crew. (His lack of success with acting roles at the time notably didn’t affect his appeal: “If Fredericktown ever had a ladies’ man, it was Luke,” his mother told People magazine for a 1991 cover story. “It broke our hearts when he had to go off and pursue acting. But it left the phone free.”) Perry was a reluctant teen idol, telling People, “Man, I hate those two [bleep]ing words!” He had his reasons: The magazine went on to detail “the 2,000 fan letters he receives each week,” “the time he had to escape a mob of 4,000 screaming girls by hiding in a laundry hamper,” and “the stacks of unauthorized biographies with titles like Luke-Mania! and Loving Luke.” (“The show has changed my life immeasurably,” he told another interviewer in 1993. “Life is certainly never going to be the same. It has been good for the most part. It certainly has some drawbacks, but I’m not bitchin’.”)

For most of his career, Perry appeared to remain relatively unimpressed with the trappings of fame. “I love where I come from,” Perry told an interviewer in 1991. “The people there are good people. When they say thank you, they mean it. A lot of people say nice things to me out here because they’re getting paid to.” In the early years, the actor famously preferred his used Chevy Blazer to the fancy, foreign cars preferred by his costars. “Porsches are glorified Volkswagens, man,” he told People, before feeding his pet Vietnamese potbellied pig, Jerry Lee, an apple with his mouth. “Some people would say that I’m not an actor, simply because I don’t own a Harley-Davidson and I’ve never been to a poetry reading,” he says. “That s---- isn’t what I’m about.”

Perry remained on 90210 for five seasons, after which he left to try his hand at Hollywood, taking roles in the original film version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the rodeo drama 8 Seconds, Luc Besson’s sci-fi epic The Fifth Element, and work as a voice actor. He returned to 90210 for its last two years, from 1998 to 2000, and appeared in the 2003 reunion special. In the early 2000s, he played the Reverend Jeremiah Cloutier on Oz and the titular character on Jeremiah. He took roles on Broadway in a revival of The Rocky Horror Show and starred opposite Alyson Hannigan in a London production of When Harry Met Sally. At the time of his death, he was attached to Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and had an ongoing character arc as Archie’s father in Riverdale.

According to his rep, Perry died surrounded by his children, Jack and Sophie, his fiancée Wendy Madison Bauer, ex-wife Minnie Sharp, mother Ann Bennett, stepfather Steve Bennett, brother Tom Perry, sister Amy Coder, and other close family and friends.

Filmography

Film

Year       Title       Role       Notes

1991      Scorchers             Ray Ray               

1992      Terminal Bliss    John Hunter      

1992      Buffy the Vampire Slayer              Oliver Pike          

1994      8 Seconds            Lane Frost          

1995      Vacanze di Natale '95 (Christmas Holidays '95)    Himself

1996      Normal Life         Chris Anderson

1996      American Strays                Johnny

1997      The Fifth Element             Billy Masterson

1997      Last Breath         Martin Devoe   

1998      Indiscreet            Michael Nash    

1999      The Heist             Jack       

1999      The Florentine   Frankie

1999      Storm    Dr. Ron Young   Direct-to-video

2000      Attention Shoppers         Mark Pinnalore

2001      The Enemy          Dr. Michael Ashton        

2001      Dirt        Attorney             

2002      Fogbound            Bob       

2003      Down the Barrel               David     Direct-to-video

2005      Dishdogz              Tony     

2007      The Sandlot: Heading Home        Tommy "Santa" Santorelli             Direct-to-video

2007      Alice Upside Down           Ben McKinley    

2009      Äntligen midsommar!     Sam      

2009      Upstairs                Ward Weaver   

2009      Silent Venom     Lt. Comdr. James O'Neill               Direct-to-video

2009      Sam Steele and the Junior Detective Agency        The Cat                

2010      Redemption Road            Boyd     

2010      The Final Storm                 Silas Hendershot              Direct-to-video

2010      Hanna's Gold      Cole      

2010      Good Intentions               Chester Milford                

2013      Red Wing             Carl Blanton      

2013      Scoot and Kassie’s Christmas Adventure                Paul Stevenson

2014      Beat Beneath My Feet   Max Stone          

2015      Dudes & Dragons             Lorash  

2018      The Griddle House           Older Jack          

2019      Once Upon a Time in Hollywood                Wayne Maunder              Posthumous release

Television

Year       Title       Role       Notes

1982      Voyagers!            Union Prisoner Episode: "The Day the Rebs Took Lincoln"

1988      Loving   Ned Bates            Unknown episode

1988–1989          Another World Kenny[ 10 episodes

1998–2000          Beverly Hills, 90210         Dylan McKay      199 episodes

1993      Saturday Night Live         Himself (host)    Episode: "Luke Perry/Mick Jagger"

1993      The Simpsons    Himself (voice)                  Episode: "Krusty Gets Kancelled"

1994–1995          Biker Mice from Mars     Napoleon Brie (voice)     6 episodes

1996      Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm                Sub-Zero(voice)                13 episodes

1996–1997          The Incredible Hulk         Rick Jones (voice)             4 episodes

1997      Spin City               Spence Episode: "Kiss Me, Stupid"

1997      Riot        Boomer                Television film

1997      Invasion               Beau Stark           Television film

1999      The Night of the Headless Horseman       Brom Bones (voice)         Television film

1999–2000          Pepper Ann        Stewart Waldinger (voice)[          3 episodes

2000      Johnny Bravo     Himself (voice)                  Episode: "Luke Perry's Guide to Love"

2000      Family Guy          Himself (voice)                  Episode: "The Story on Page One"

2001      Night Visions      Dr. Michael Sears             Episode: "Now He's Coming Up the Stairs"

2001      The Triangle       Stu Sheridan       Television film

2001–2002          Oz           Rev. Jeremiah Cloutier   10 episodes

2002      Johnson County War       Harry Hammett                 Television film

2002–2004          Jeremiah              Jeremiah              35 episodes

2003      Clone High          Ponce de León (voice)    Episode: "Litter Kills - Literally"

2005      Will & Grace       Aaron    Episode: "The Birds & the Bees"

2005      What I Like About You    Todd      3 episodes

2005      Descent                Dr. Jake Rollins Television film

2005      Supernova          Dr. Chris Richardson        Television film

2006      Windfall               Peter Schaefer 13 episodes

2007      Biker Mice from Mars     Napoleon Brie (voice)     Episode: "Once Upon a Time on Earth"

2005      John from Cincinnati       Linc Stark             10 episodes

2008      Law & Order: Special Victims Unit             Noah Sibert        Episode: "Trials"

2008      A Gunfighter's Pledge    Matt Austin        Television film

2008      A Very Merry Daughter of the Bride         Charlie Television film

2018      Criminal Minds Benjamin Cyrus                 2 episodes

2009      The Storm           Stillman                2 episodes

2009      Angel and the Badman   Laredo Stevens                 Television film

2010      Leverage              Dalton Rand       Episode: "The Future Job"

2010      Generator Rex   Jacob (voice)      Episode: "The Architect"

2010      FCU: Fact Checkers Unit                 Luke       8 episodes

2011      Pound Puppies Fang (voice)        Episode: "Rebel Without a Collar"

2011      Goodnight for Justice     John Goodnight                Television film

2012      Goodnight for Justice: The Measure of a Man      John Goodnight                Television film

2012      Goodnight for Justice: Queen of Hearts John Goodnight                Television film

2012      Raising Hope      Ghost of Arbor Day          Episode: "Arbor Daze"

2012–2013          Body of Proof     CDC Officer Dr. Charlie Stafford 5 episodes

2013      Community         American Inspector Spacetime   Episode: "Conventions of Space and Time"

2014      Major Crimes     Jon Worth           Episode: "Cutting Loose"

2015      Welcome Home                Stewart Paylor   Television film

2015      Jesse Stone: Lost in Paradise       Richard Steele   Television film

2016      Love in Paradise                Avery Ford          Television film

2016      The Edge and Christian Show That Totally Reeks of Awesomeness              Himself         Episode: "The 90's"

2017–2019          Riverdale             Fred Andrews    46 episodes