25 Unique Facts And Stories About Luke Perry That Will Make You Laugh And Cry

    The beloved actor died today at age 52.

    1. Luke is actually his stage name, his full name is Coy Luther Perry III.

    2. In 2013, Luke told the Sway in the Morning show that he had to do 256 auditions before he landed his first gig.

    3. During the same interview with Sway, he also told them he is really good friends with Henry Winkler...someone he grew up admiring.

    4. One of his first gigs was in 1986, as an extra in the music video for Twisted Sister's "Be Chrool to Your Scuel."

    5. From 1987–88 he played the character of Ned Bates on the soap opera Loving.

    6. In 1989 he had a 10-episode arc as Kenny in the long-running soap opera, Another World.

    7. Right before he landed the role of Dylan McKay on Beverly Hills, 90210, he was working construction — laying down asphalt in parking lots.

    8. The character of Dylan was not in the first episode of 90210.

    9. Dylan was introduced in the second episode and his character was only meant to be part of a two-episode arc.

    10. Fox did not like the character of Dylan and wanted him off the show (after his two episodes), however the show's executive producer, Aaron Spelling, liked the character and made him a series regular.

    11. The episode that introduced Dylan aired on Oct. 11, 1990, which also happened to be Luke's 24th birthday.

    12. Luke was the third oldest of the "teen cast" members — Ian Ziering and Gabrielle Carteris were the two that were older than him.

    13. During the early years of 90210, Luke got constantly compared to James Dean (a comparison he did not like).

    14. In 1991 he made a pact with Jason Priestley to not let fame go to their heads.

    15. He once was at a fan event at a mall in Denver, but it got so crazy where people started to break glass and mannequins, and to make it out safely he hid in a clothes bin, with clothes on top, and they wheeled him out of the mall.

    16. In 1992 Luke co-starred in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (which was also written by Joss Whedon).

    17. The soul patch he had in Buffy was actually fake and the studio really didn’t want him to have it, but he fought for it. And, one time, when they were eating lunch, he took off the fake soul patch and his co-star Kristy Swanson's cat ATE IT.

    18. In 1992 he also modeled for the Gap.

    19. The first time he ever "pissed away" his money on something was during the third season of 90210, when he bought a brand new F-350 Ford pickup truck (it was the only time he ever bought a new car).

    20. In 1993 he had a cameo on The Simpsons, where it was revealed that he is Krusty the Clown's half-brother.

    21. He owned the Mattel doll of Dylan — which he kept in his daughter's closet, in a box.

    22. Luke also did voiceover work, voicing such characters as the villainous Napoleon Brie on Biker Mice from Mars and Stewart Waldinger on Pepper Ann.

    23. Luke co-starred with Alyson Hannigan in a West End stage production of When Harry Met Sally, in 2004.

    24. He was very skeptical when he first got the script for Riverdale, then halfway through reading it he realized that it would be different than the comic books it was based on.

    25. And finally, years after the show ended, Luke not only remained friends with his 90210 co-stars, but also the crew from the show.