In some sad news, Luke Perry died on Tuesday, March 4, days after suffering a severe stroke in his home. At the time of his passing, Perry, 52, was working on the popular The CW television series Riverdale as Fred Andrews, the father of Archie Andrews.
However, while that was the role many kids today best know him for, Perry had a long and distinguished acting career that stretched back into the ’80s. After picking up some roles in television commercials and as an extra in the music video for the Twisted Sister/Alice Cooper collaboration, “Be Chrool to Your Scuel,” he picked up a pair of soap opera roles and then got the biggest break of his career.
Dylan McKay, Beverly Hills, 90210
When looking at the career of Luke Perry, while younger fans know him from Riverdale, his career starts and stops with the discussion of Beverly Hills, 90201. In possibly the most successful young-adult soap of all-time, Perry portrayed bad boy Dylan McKay.
Dylan was the son of a wealthy tycoon and then started a relationship with Brenda Walsh (Shannen Doherty) before his character moved into more dangerous storylines involving the mafia. His character was also involved in some serious drug-related storylines. Perry starred on the show for six seasons before leaving to try to achieve more varied movie roles. He came back for the final two seasons.
Oliver Pike, Buffy The Vampire Slayer
After getting his big break on the small screen with Beverly Hills, 90210, Luke Perry was also cast in a movie in 1992. The movie was none other than the Joss Whedon-scripted Buffy the Vampire Slayer. While not to be confused with the television show that came years later, the movie starred Kristy Swanson as the Slayer and Donald Sutherland as her Watcher.
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Perry was Oliver Pike, the love interest for Buffy. While not the vampire bad boys that Buffy was attracted to on the TV show, Oliver was someone willing to fight beside Buffy against the undead but was usually outmatched. In some fun trivia, while Perry was one of the stars, Ben Affleck had a role as an uncredited basketball player in the movie.
Lane Frost, 8 Seconds
Luke Perry got his most prestigious role in 1994 when he starred as real-life professional bull rider Lane Frost in the movie 8 Seconds. The name of the movie is a reference to the amount of time a person needs to stay on the bull to receive a score in the competition. The movie was about the life and accomplishments of Frost.
Perry took on the role of Lane Frost with great aplomb and turned in a great role, taking him from a young bull rider learning all the tricks to a beloved legend on the circuit, and finally to his death doing what he loved most – riding the bull.
Rev. Jeremiah Cloutier, Oz
Luke Perry wasn’t able to really find a lot of success in movies so he returned to television. However, he passed on the teen-fare that he was known for in Beverly Hills, 90210, and went in the completely opposite direction. He starred in one of HBO’s groundbreaking adult series, Oz.
On the prison-based series, Perry starred as a preacher named Jeremiah Cloutier who was arrested and sente3nced to prison for embezzling funds from his church. In the show, he kept preaching but crossed the Biker gang and ended up dying offscreen after two seasons on the series, sealed alive behind a wall.
Jeremiah, Jeremiah
Following his stint on Oz, Luke Perry got to star in his own television show again on Showtime called Jeremiah. It was also a new beginning for another ’90s actor in Malcolm-Jamal Warner, who portrayed Theo Huxtable on The Cosby Show.
Jeremiah, which is also the name of Perry’s character, is a post-apocalyptic show that had Jeremiah looking to try to help rebuild civilization while searching for the mythical Valhalla Sector that might be the refuge from the dying world. The show lasted two seasons and was the creation of sci-fi mastermind J. Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5)
Luke Perry, Family Guy
Believe it or not, Luke Perry has done some big voice-over roles, and most of the times, he plays an over-the-top version of himself. It started in 1993 where he voiced himself in The Simpsons episode “Krusty Gets Kancelled.” In 2000, he was on Johnny Bravo in “Luke Perry’s Guide to Love.”
However, that same year, he was on Family Guy in the episode “The Story on Page One” where Peter Griffin tries to help Meg get a huge scoop for her school newspaper and writes a story about Luke Perry being gay, which brings about a lawsuit for libel. Interestingly, Perry had some noteworthy roles as a gay man on both Spin City in 1997 and Will & Grace in 2005.
Linc Stark, John From Cincinnati
While not as popular as his roles on Beverly Hills, 90210, Oz and Jeremiah, Luke Perry was also a key character in the 2007 HBO series John from Cincinnati. This HBO series only lasted one season, with 10 episodes, and focused on the surfing community in Imperial Beach, California.
Considered a “Noir” by HBO, Perry starred as Linc Stark, a surf talent scout as well as a manager and agent. He owned Stinkweed USA in the show until his backers bought it out from him. He had a large role in the past, as he managed Shaun’s dad before he lost his career to drugs, something that Shaun’s family still blames Linc for.
Benjamin Cyrus, Criminal Minds
It says a lot about an actor to appear in one episode of a television series that lasted for over 300 episodes and leave such a big impression. However, that is what happened when Luke Perry took on the role of Benjamin Cyrus in Criminal Minds season 4 episode, “Minimal Loss.”
Perry portrayed a cult leader who was based on the Branch Davidians, with Cyrus the show’s version of David Koresh. Somehow, Perry is able to make Cyrys a sympathetic character despite the evidence against him. He was so important, that despite his death, he returned in spirit for the show’s 300th episode where his followers return to kidnap both Prentiss (Paget Brewster) and Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler) for revenge.
Billy Masterson, The Fifth Element
In between leaving Beverly Hills, 90201, and eventually returning, Luke Perry went to Hollywood to try to make his name in movies. While he had fun roles over his career such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and some impressive roles, such as 8 Seconds, he also got a chance to appear in a big budget sci-fi movie.
The movie was the 1997 Luc Besson feature The Fifth Element, starring Bruce Willis and Milla Jovovich. It was the most successful movie Perry appeared in, making over $263 million at the box office. Billy was an assistant to Professor Pacoli in 1914 Egypt and he shot one of the aliens trying to steal the elements.
American Inspector Spacetime, Community
Inspector Spacetime is a television series that has been running on British television since 1962. It is a series that is basically a carbon copy of Doctor Who. With that said, Community offered up what many American fans thought was a fake television show in the season 3 episode “Biology 101.”
In this case, it was an American version and it reunited two Beverly Hills, 90210 alums in Luke Perry as American Inspector Spacetime and Jennie Garth as his ensign. When the classmates sat around and watched an episode, it was clear that Perry loved hamming it up every second he was on screen.
