After suffering a stroke last week, Luke Perry has died. The 90210 and Riverdale actor was taken from his home in Sherman Oaks to a Burbank hospital where he had been monitored since last Thursday. TMZ reported today that the actor was not able to recover, and his publicist confirmed the news in a statement issued to BuzzFeed. Perry was 52 years old.
The actor had picked up just a few TV roles in the 1980s before he was cast in 1990 as the generational heartthrob Dylan McKay on Beverly Hills, 90210. The show was a massive success, and Perry appeared in nearly 200 episodes over the course of its 10-year run. During his tenure as McKay, Perry did additional work around television, and starred in films such as the rodeo drama 8 Seconds and even the original film version of Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Though he stayed working consistently, Perry’s profile remained lower following the conclusion of 90210, but his popularity came surging back for a whole new audience with the launch of Riverdale on The CW. As Fred Andrews, Archie’s dad, Perry was the roguishly handsome working man who brought a veteran’s gravitas to the teen drama.
