Luke Perry

Coy Luther Perry III, known professionally as Luke Perry, was born on October 11, 1966, in Mansfield, Ohio, the second of three children born to Ann Perry, a homemaker, and Coy Luther Perry Jr., a steelworker. He had an older brother, Thomas, and a younger sister, Amy. His parents divorced in 1972, and his father died of a heart attack in 1980. Perry grew up in Fredericktown, Ohio, where he attended Fredericktown High School and served as the school mascot, Freddie Bird.

Following high school, Perry relocated to Los Angeles in 1984 to pursue an acting career, supporting himself through jobs that included work at an asphalt paving company and a doorknob factory. He appeared in the 1985 Twisted Sister music video for "Be Chrool to Your Scuel" before eventually moving to New York, where his first credited roles came on daytime television: one episode of Loving between 1987 and 1988, and ten episodes of Another World from 1988 to 1989. Perry auditioned for 256 roles before landing his first acceptance in 1988.

In 1990, Perry was cast as Dylan McKay, a brooding millionaire's son, on the Fox teen drama Beverly Hills, 90210, a role he had not originally sought — he had auditioned for the part of Steve Sanders, which went to Ian Ziering. The character made Perry a prominent teen idol; an autograph session at The Fashion Mall at Plantation in August 1991 drew approximately 10,000 fans and resulted in a riot, forcing Perry to leave after 90 seconds. While appearing on the series, he took a supporting role in the 1992 film adaptation of Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer and starred in Terminal Bliss that same year. In 1994, he played rodeo champion Lane Frost in 8 Seconds. Perry departed Beverly Hills, 90210 in 1995 in pursuit of more varied roles, appearing in the Italian film Vacanze di Natale '95 as himself and starring opposite Ashley Judd in the independent film Normal Life. He also had a small role in Luc Besson's 1997 science fiction film The Fifth Element. After a three-year absence, Perry returned to Beverly Hills, 90210 in 1998 as a permanent special guest star, remaining through the show's final season in 2000.

Perry appeared on Broadway in 2000 in the revival of The Rocky Horror Show, playing the role of Brad Majors. The production marked his credited Broadway appearance. In 2004, he crossed to the London stage, taking on the role of Harry in a West End production of When Harry Met Sally, alongside Alyson Hannigan as Sally.

His television work following Beverly Hills, 90210 was extensive. From 2001 to 2002, he starred as Reverend Jeremiah Cloutier in the HBO prison drama Oz, and from 2002 to 2004 he appeared in the post-apocalyptic series Jeremiah. In 2006, he co-starred in the NBC ensemble drama Windfall, which ran for 13 episodes. Perry guest-starred in episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Criminal Minds, and Will & Grace, and had a recurring voice role as Rick Jones in the animated series The Incredible Hulk from 1996 to 1997. His other voice work included Biker Mice from Mars, Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm, and The Night of the Headless Horseman. He also parodied himself in animated appearances on The Simpsons, Johnny Bravo, and Family Guy. In 2009, Perry participated in Thomas Nelson's audio Bible production The Word of Promise, voicing both Saint Stephen and Judas Iscariot alongside an ensemble that included Jim Caviezel, Jon Voight, Gary Sinise, and Marisa Tomei, among others.

Beginning in 2017, Perry starred as Frederick "Fred" Andrews, Archie's father and owner of Andrews Construction, on The CW series Riverdale, a role he held until his death. His final feature film performance was in Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019), in which he played actor Wayne Maunder in a story set around 1960s Hollywood during the period of the Tate–LaBianca murders. The performance earned him a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination.

Perry died of a stroke on March 4, 2019, at the age of 52. All episodes of Riverdale that aired after his death were dedicated to him.