Luke Perry

Luke Perry
Luke Perry
Born	Coy Luther Perry III October 11, 1965 (1965-10-11) (age 43) Mansfield, Ohio, United States

Luke Perry (born Coy Luther Perry III on October 11, 1965, in Mansfield, Ohio)^[1] is an American actor.

He was raised in Fredericktown, Ohio, where Perry was the school mascot, the Fredericktown High School Freddie. He likes to get home yearly for the Fredericktown Tomato Show, an annual street fair. For the 2009 Tomato Show, he has agreed to be Grand Marshall of the parade. Perry starred as Dylan McKay in the long-running TV series Beverly Hills, 90210, a role he played from 1990-95, and then from 1998-2000. Much publicity was garnered over the fact that even though he was playing a sixteen year old when 90210 began, Perry was actually in his mid-twenties at that time. Perry returned to 90210 in 1998 (this time billed as a permanent "Special Guest Star") and remained with the series until its conclusion in 2000. In 2001 he released an album titled Baby I Need You.

Biography

Television and film career

After appearing in the music video "Be Chrool To Your Scuel" for the band Twisted Sister alongside Alice Cooper, Perry's earliest roles were in the daytime soap operas Loving (1987-88) and Another World (1988-89). In an interview with Whoopi Goldberg, he confirmed that he'd auditioned for 217 jobs before landing his first role on a daytime drama.

Following this, he then won the role of brooding millionaire's son Dylan McKay on Fox’s appealing teen drama, Beverly Hills 90210. Ironically, he had auditioned for the role of Steve Sanders, a role that went to actor Ian Ziering before being cast as McKay. While starring on 90210, Perry then won a supporting role in the original film version of the Joss Whedon-written Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1992). Although the film was not a success, Perry had already become a popular teen idol in the early 1990s.

Perry starred as Lane Frost in 8 Seconds in 1994. In an attempt to find more mature roles, he decided to leave Beverly Hills 90210 in 1995. In the same year, he took a part in the Italian movie Vacanze di Natale '95, playing himself. Although he announced that 90210 was behind him, his departure would eventually turn out to be for only three years. During that time, Perry starred in the TV sci-fi movie Invasion (1997), a Rodney King-era drama Riot (1997) and also had a small role in Luc Besson's sci-fi adventure film The Fifth Element (1997). Perry also starred in the 1999 film 'Storm. He then went on to star in a 2002 television movie called The Triangle.

From 2002 to 2004, he starred in the post-apocalyptic TV series Jeremiah. In 2006, Perry co-starred in the ensemble drama series Windfall, about a group of friends who win the lottery. The series ran for 13 episodes during the summer of 2006 on NBC. In 2007, he landed the role of Tommy "Santa" Santorelli on the film The Sandlot: Heading Home and in the 2008 western A Gunfighter's Pledge.

Perry appeared in the HBO series John from Cincinnati, which premiered on June 10, 2007, and ran for 10 episodes, with the series finale airing on August 12, 2007. Perry also stars in the Swedish film Midsommarfesten (The midsummer party) which is due to be released summer 2009. Most filming took place in the small town of Trosa in late summer 2008 and the film is directed by Ian McCrudden. In the film Perry plays an American visitor who realizes that all prejudices he has about Sweden and Swedish girls are true.

Guest work

Perry has done considerable voice-over work for various animated series, often playing himself. He played himself (as Krusty the Clown's half brother) in an episode of The Simpsons (1993). He voiced himself in an episode of Johnny Bravo, giving Johnny dating advice after Johnny saved him from a stampede of fan girls. Perry then voiced himself once again in an episode of Family Guy, where he was labeled as gay by Peter and sues the family. Peter tries to seduce Perry into revealing his homosexuality and fails. However, by the end of the episode Perry is seen with Mayor Adam West, about to engage in sex. His other voice work includes The Incredible Hulk, Biker Mice from Mars, and Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm.

Aside from his self-parodying role on Family Guy, Perry has also guest-starred as gay characters in the sitcoms Spin City (1997) and Will and Grace (2005). He appeared as Carter Heywood's ex-boyfriend who subsequently fell in love with a woman on Spin City, and played a geeky birdwatcher who caught the eye of Jack McFarland on Will & Grace. In 2005, Perry was reunited with former 90210 co-star Jennie Garth when he guest starred in What I Like About You, where he played a character who claimed he had been dating Kelly's (Jennie Garth) best friend when he and Val became romantically involved (clearly a parody of the 90210 "Brenda years"). He guest-starred as Rev. Jeremiah Cloutier in the HBO television series Oz. He was also featured in a full-frontal nudity scene in Oz. In 2008, Perry guest-starred as rapist Noah Sibert, in the season premiere of the television series Law & Order: SVU.^[2] He also guest-starred as cult leader Benjamin Cyrus in an episode of Criminal Minds.

The stage

Perry appeared on Broadway in 2001 in a revival of The Rocky Horror Show playing Brad Majors. ^[3]

In 2004 he appeared in the London production of When Harry Met Sally as Harry, alongside Alyson Hannigan as Sally.^[4]

Endorsements

In 2004, Luke Perry was the ambassador of Serengeti Sunglasses brand.^[5]

Personal Life

Perry was married to former model Rachel Minnie Sharp from 1993–2003, until they divorced. The couple share joint custody of their two children, Jack (born June 1997) and Sophie (born June 2001).

He is an avid fan of crossword puzzles and is frequently seen working on them. In addition, he has amassed a large collection of historical ballpoint pens. In the fall of 2008 he appeared at rally with Bruce Springsteen and encouraged people to vote for Barack Obama.

References

External links

• Luke Perry at the Internet Movie Database