Luke Perry's Real Name: Luke Perry

Quick answer: Luke Perry is known professionally as Luke Perry. The Library of Congress heading is "Perry, Luke, 1966-2019." He was an American actor best known as Dylan McKay on Beverly Hills, 90210. He died on March 4, 2019, at age 52, after a massive stroke, his publicist told the Associated Press (AP News).

Real name and early life

The Associated Press reported that Perry was born and raised in rural Fredericktown, Ohio. The Library of Congress heading dates his life 1966–2019, and a variant heading, Coy Luther Perry III, is recorded there from a New York Times obituary citation. This page keeps the public name in the title because that fuller form was not independently confirmed in the sources read in full here. Other citations in the same name record give conflicting birth years, including 1964 and 1965; the 1966 heading and his reported age of 52 in March 2019 are consistent with one another. In a 2006 AP interview he said he was partly inspired to act by a photograph of Paul Newman that his mother kept on her mirror.

Career highlights

Perry became widely known as Dylan McKay on Beverly Hills, 90210, which the AP said ran from 1990 to 2000. The same report described a later career that included the films The Fifth Element, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and 8 Seconds, a role on HBO's Oz, voice work, a Broadway turn as Brad in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and a West End appearance in When Harry Met Sally. In later television he starred in Ties That Bind and, most recently at the time of his death, spent three seasons on the CW series Riverdale as Fred Andrews, father of Archie Andrews.

The AP also noted that his next film role was to be in Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Death

Publicist Arnold Robinson told the AP that Perry died on Monday, March 4, 2019, after a massive stroke, and that he had been hospitalized since the previous Wednesday after a 911 call to his home in the Sherman Oaks section of Los Angeles. Robinson said he was surrounded by family and friends. He was 52.

Name notes for searchers

Luke Perry is the professional name used in Associated Press coverage and as the established Library of Congress heading. A variant heading, Coy Luther Perry III, appears in that record. Searchers looking for Dylan McKay or for Fred Andrews on Riverdale are usually aiming at the same person.