Luke Perry

When Luke Perry passed away earlier this year, I’m sure most of the world was shocked. It wasn’t because he was a huge well-known celebrity. The shock was more so because of his age. He was only 52 when he died on March 4, 2019. I think all of us who are around the same age got a huge dose of reality. When we were kids, 52 seemed very old. We now know that 52 is not old at all.

Beginnings of Luke

Born Coy Luther Perry III on October 11, 1966 in Mansfield, Ohio, Luke was named after his father. His parents divorced when he was only 5 or 6 which had to be tough on him. Luke’s real father died in 1980. Luke was 14 at the time and although he wasn’t close with his bio dad, he did attend the funeral. Mom had custody of Luke and his siblings (Luke is a Jan Brady – a middle child). Luke’s mom later remarried and had a fourth child, so Luke has a half sibling as well.

Luke moved to Los Angeles right after high school to pursue his acting career after assuming there wouldn’t be much for him in his little town of Fredericktown, Ohio. Smart move. He struggled at first so took on many odd jobs to support himself. One of his earliest gigs was as an extra in Twisted Sister’s music video for their song Be Chrool to Your Scuel.

Luke continued to audition for roles and finally landed a recurring role on a few different soap operas. His first official role where he’s credited (not an extra) was in 1988 as Ned Bates in the soap Loving. The following year brought another recurring role as Kenny on the soap opera Another World. I think my grandma watched that soap.

Dylan McKay

Then Luke auditioned for the role of Steve Sanders in some new Aaron Spelling show. Sadly (but not really), he did not get the part. The role of Steve Sanders went to Ian Ziering. Luke’s role of Dylan McKay was not even an original cast member. The character first appeared in the second episode and was only supposed to be around for a short time. Coincidentally, episode two (Dylan’s first appearance) premiered on Luke Perry’s 24th birthday. Happy birthday! FYI, the people at Fox didn’t like the character of Dylan or Perry’s acting abilities (are they stupid?) and were going to can him. Aaron Spelling used his own funds to pay Luke Perry’s salary during those first episodes.

I remember a lot of people making fun of Luke Perry playing a high school student. He was only 23 when they started filming the show which I don’t think is a huge stretch. I think it was his high forehead that made him appear older. Ian Ziering (Steve Sanders) was 26 when filming began and Gabrielle Carteris (Andrea Zuckerman) was 29, yet Luke was the one the media made fun of.

If you watch the opening credits of Beverly Hills 90210, Luke is smiling a little bit less each season. I wonder if that was planned or if that’s just how he felt. The change in his attitude may have been a clue to us fans. Luke left the series after six seasons to pursue different roles.

Luke Perry Trivia

• Voted biggest flirt by his high school classmates. I’m sure Brenda would agree.
• He got that sexy scar on his eyebrow from running into a soda machine.
• Luke portrayed Linc Stark in the TV series John from Cincinnati in 2007.
• Luke Perry has two children. Jack was born in 1997 and Sophie in 2000.
• He portrayed Jeremiah in the TV series of the same name in 2003 and 2004.
• Luke portrayed Charlie Stafford in the TV Series Body of Proof in 2012 and 2013 and Tim Olson in the TV series Ties That Bind in 2015.
• He portrayed Peter Schaefer in the TV series Windfall in 2006.
• His final role was as Fred Andrews in the TV show Riverdale.

Death

Luke Perry suffered a massive stroke on February 27, 2019. I saw the news and assumed he would recover. He was a strong and healthy young man. I never in a million years thought this would be the end of him. After suffering a second stroke, the doctors recommended removal of life support. He died on March 4, 2019.

Luke said of his role as Dylan McKay: “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, you’re still linked with Dylan McKay. And I think you’re just fine with that.