Performing artist Luke Perry, who rose to distinction as a heartthrob in the hit 1990s TV series Beverly Hills, 90210, died on Monday (March 4) at the age of 52 after suffering a massive stroke, his agent said.
Perry, who was hospitalized in the Los Angeles zone a week ago, died encompassed by his children Jack and Sophie, his fiancee, former wife, his folks, kin and other close family and friends, his agent Arnold Robinson told AFP.
“The family appreciates the outpouring of support and prayers that have been extended to Luke from around the world, and respectfully request privacy in this time of great mourning,” Robinson added, in a statement.
Perry had been in Los Angeles taking a shot at the TV series Riverdale, an adjustment of the Archie comic books in which he plays Archie’s dad Fred Andrews, when he endured the stroke last Wednesday.
He was hospitalized that day Fox reported it was rebooting 90210, featuring six of the first stars including Jason Priestley, Jennie Garth and Tori Spelling – however there was no affirmation Perry, who played Dylan McKay on the long-running show, would be a piece of the reboot.
News of Perry’s hospitalization had set off an overflowing of help from big celebrities including his previous co-stars on the long-running high teen drama.
“My friend. Holding you tight and giving you my strength. You got this,” Shannen Doherty, who played Brenda Walsh in the series that ran from 1990 to 2000, said on Instagram.
In her post, Doherty shared an old cast photograph of the two performers secured a grasp – their characters were one of the show’s supercouples.
Grief and condolence
As news of his demise broke on Monday, those messages of help transformed into cries of melancholy and sympathy.
“My heart is broken, I will miss you so much Luke Perry,” tweeted Molly Ringwald, the star of the 1980s motion pictures The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles, who additionally showed up in Riverdale with Perry.
Ian Ziering, a fellow cast member of Beverly Hills, said “Dearest Luke, I will forever bask in the loving memories we’ve created over the last thirty years.”
The producers of Riverdale said in a statement that Perry had been “a father figure and mentor to the show’s young cast, Luke was incredibly generous and he infused the set with love and kindness”.
Perry, the child of a steelworker from Ohio, got his enormous break playing Dylan McKay on Beverly Hills in 1990, a role that made him a worldwide household name.
The show kept running for 10 series and pursued the lives and romantic entanglements of teenagers living in an affluent area of Los Angeles. It became a huge international hit.
Perry left the show in 1995 to search for progressively develop roles in movies pictures yet returned three years after the fact. He proceeded to play the affection enthusiasm for the original movie of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, just as featuring in the rodeo show 8 Seconds and assuming a littler role in Luc Besson’s sci-fi film The Fifth Element starring Bruce Willis.
He likewise showed up in the hit sitcoms Will and Grace and Spin City, just as doing voice-overs in various animated series, including an appearance as himself in the hugely successful show The Simpsons.
He wedded Rachel Sharp in 1993 and the couple had two kids before separating years after the fact. His child Jack is an expert wrestler who battles under the ring name Jungle Boy.