Luke Perry, to the very left, along with the cast of Beverly Hills 90210.
by Sara Tran
On March 4, television actor Coy Luther “Luke” Perry III, or known as just Luke Perry, abruptly passed away at the age of 52 after being admitted to the hospital following a fatal stroke a few days before in his home. Perry was well-known as Dylan McKay in Beverly Hills 90210 and Fred Andrews in Riverdale.
Unfortunately, Perry has lost his life at such a young age so suddenly that it has left everyone shocked and disheartened. Perry was described as an “incredibly caring person with a giant heart” by his co-stars of Beverly Hills. Fox did declare that Beverly Hills 90210 is returning a month before Perry’s death. Now that he is no longer with them, the cast will attain a way to honor him in the show.
Originally, Perry was not going to be in Beverly Hills’ comeback due to his role as Fred Andrews in Riverdale. This generation knows Perry through the CW’s Riverdale, but the older generations know him as Dylan McKay, the 90s heartthrob in Beverly Hills. Freshman Martena Ayaad described Perry as “a kind person and a great actor that I came to know of through Riverdale.”
The cast of Riverdale partook in condolences towards Perry’s family and paid tribute to his death. As of March 5, the show’s production has been shut down in a result of his death and he will be honored in the show’s revival. Ayaad also shared, “I was shocked and devastated– I wondered what was going to happen to the Riverdale show now.” Riverdale has not yet mentioned how they were going to handle Perry’s character.
Perry led a quiet life in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Luke Perry was worth $10 million. He created a will in 2015, leaving behind everything to his two children, Sophie Perry, and Jake Perry. Since Perry’s fiancé, Wendy Madison Bauer did not marry him before he passed away, she did not inherit anything. Perry had been legally prepared for his death.
Perry’s father died from a heart attack in his mid-30s, which could have also contributed to Perry’s death. Perry created his will when he discovered precancerous cells in 2015 and sadly passed away at a slightly young age from a stroke four years later.
The family decided to take Perry off of life support when there were no signs of him possibly recovering after reportedly suffering from a second stroke. The hospital allowed his family to remove life support, which meant Perry had already filed proper legal documents for this difficult decision. If he had not done this, the family would have needed to go to court to terminate life support for Perry, which would have been an emotional process that would prolong his loved ones’ suffering.
Aside from his role as a celebrity actor, Perry will be remembered as a father, brother, friend, mentor, and as a tender person with a tender heart. “It was really sad because he played a big part in the show and based on the couple interview clips I saw, he seemed like a kind-hearted person,” said Freshman Lyly Nguyen.
Although Perry’s death was unforeseen, he performed many admirable actions which caused everyone around him to be grateful for his existence in all. Perry departed pleasantly, surrounded by his children, fiancé, and ex-wife, mother, siblings, and many other beloved ones.