Coy Luther "Luke" Perry III (October 11, 1966 – March 4, 2019) was an American actor. He became a teen idol for playing Dylan McKay on the TV series Beverly Hills, 90210 from 1990 to 1995, and again from 1998 to 2000. He also starred as Fred Andrews on the CW series Riverdale, had guest roles on notable shows such as Criminal Minds, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, The Simpsons, and Will & Grace, and also starred in several films, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992), 8 Seconds (1994), The Fifth Element (1997), and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019), his final feature performance.
Luke Perry was born on October 11, 1966 in Mansfield, Ohio, the second of three children to Ann Perry, a homemaker, and Coy Luther Perry Jr., a steelworker. His parents divorced in 1972, and his mother later married Steve Bennett, a construction worker, with whom she had another child. His biological father died of a heart attack in 1980. Perry was raised in Fredericktown, Ohio, and played Freddie Bird, the school mascot for Fredericktown High School.