Already in his mid-twenties when he shot to stardom playing a James Dean-type high-school rebel on
Beverly Hills, 90210, Perry has, like most of the series' costars, struggled to shed his teen-idol image. Cute and brooding, if a bit one-note, the actor pursued a big-screen career and even took a two-season hiatus from
90210 in order to appear in a succession of big-screen projects. But most of his starring roles were in box-office duds (
Buffy the Vampire Slayer,
Lifebreath) and even his impressive turn as a bull-riding champion in
8 Seconds couldn't jump-start his film career. Perry wisely returned to the small screen, reprising his
90210 role until the series went off the air in 2000, and subsequently tackled a variety of parts on cable shows (a corrupt televangelist on
Oz, a postapocalyptic survivor on
Jeremiah) and on stage. In 2006 he returned to network TV with the ensemble drama
Windfall, in the decidedly mature role of an unhappily married lottery winner.
Luke Perry Fast Facts:- Voted Biggest Flirt his senior year of high school.
- Kept a tally of his 216 acting rejections before landing a stint on the ABC sudser Loving.
- Originally auditioned for the role of Steve Sanders on Beverly Hills, 90210.
- Made his Broadway debut as Brad in a revival of The Rocky Horror Show in 2001.
- Came to the aid of audience members when part of the London Theatre's ceiling collapsed during a 2004 production of the show When Harry Met Sally, in which he starred. He tended to some of the injured and helped with the theater's evacuation.
- Ranked No. 6 in a 2005 TV GUIDE list of TV's Greatest Teen Idols.
- Luke Perry Relationships:
- Amy Perry - Sister
- Ann Perry Bennett - Mother
- Coy Luther Perry II - Father
- Emily Bennett - Stepsister
- Jack Perry - Son
- Minnie Sharp - Ex-wife
- Sophie Perry - Daughter
- Steve Bennett - Stepfather
- Thomas Perry - Brother
