Actor Luke Perry, who rose to fame in the early 1990s with the popular Fox drama “Beverly Hills, 90210,” died Monday at the age of 52, his publicist confirmed to HuffPost.
He suffered a stroke at his Sherman Oaks, California, home last week. Perry’s friends and family were with him at the time of death, his publicist said in a statement.
Born in Mansfield and raised in Fredericktown, Ohio, Perry moved to Los Angeles shortly after high school in hopes of breaking into acting.
Although he appeared in soap operas like “Loving” and “Another World,” his star didn’t rise until he was cast as brooding loner Dylan McKay on “Beverly Hills, 90210” in 1990. Perry starred on the hit show for the first five seasons before leaving to attempt a film career.
Big screen fame didn’t happen despite major roles as a rodeo cowboy in “8 Seconds” and as Kristy Swanson’s boyfriend in the film version of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” Perry returned to “90210” in the show’s ninth and 10th seasons as a special guest, but declined to be involved in the CW network’s reboot of the series, which ran from 2008 to 2013.
Perry continued to work regularly, appearing on shows like “Oz” and doing voiceover work for cartoons. In 2017, he took on the role of Fred Andrews on the CW’s teen drama “Riverdale.”
He also filmed a role for “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood,” Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming movie about Charles Manson.
Many celebrities paid tribute to the actor on social media, calling him “truly one of a kind” and “a lovely guy.”
Perry was married to Rachel Minnie Sharp from 1993 to 2003. They have two children together.