Fredericktown grad who starred in ‘90210’ dies following stroke
FREDERICKTOWN — Before he hit it big on TV, Luke Perry performed locally as the Freddie Bird.
The venue was Fredericktown High School; the audience, his classmates, their parents, and members of the Fredericktown community.
These folks were shocked and saddened to hear of Perry’s death Monday at age 52. His publicist, Arnold Robinson, confirmed Monday that Perry died after suffering a massive stroke. Perry had been hospitalized since last Wednesday, after a 911 call summoned medical help to his home in the Sherman Oaks section of Los Angeles.
“He was kind of a care-free guy, he had an infectious smile. He was always fun to be around.”Scott Mast
“The family appreciates the outpouring of support and prayers that have been extended to Luke from around the world, and respectfully request privacy in this time of great mourning,” Robinson said in a statement. Those at Perry’s bedside included his children, Jake and Sophie; fiancée Wendy Madison Bauer; former wife, Minnie Sharp, and mother Ann Bennett.
Perry was born in Mansfield, and his family moved to Fredericktown when he was in elementary school. He graduated with the Class of 1984.
Perry was the second FHS student to don the Freddie Bird costume after the mascot was revived in the early 1980s. (FHS student Kurt Eshelman was the first.) Perhaps his best-known performance was when he arrived in the suit at a football game in a helicopter owned by a local business where his step-father worked.
Betty Weller was the cheerleading advisor when the Freddie Bird was brought back.
She remembers Perry as a young man with a lot of spirit.
Scott Mast was in the locker room when Perry made the Freddie Bird helicopter flight. But Mast said he had plenty of opportunities to enjoy Perry’s hijinks.
“You never knew what he was going to do next,” Mast, who was in Perry’s graduating class, said. “He was kind of a care-free guy, he had an infectious smile. He was always fun to be around.”
Tina Doup, who also graduated in 1984 with Perry, said the loss will be felt by all who knew him.
“I was stunned because we’d heard his condition had stabilized,” Doup said. “It’s a really big loss for the class of 1984, and it still would have been even without his being a celebrity. There were no social divisions with him. He talked to everybody.”
Doup said no one was really surprised when Perry landed a role on “Beverly Hills, 90210.”
“He always said he was going to be an actor,” Doup said.
Perry was voted “biggest flirt” by the senior class. In addition to playing the Freddie Bird, Perry was also on the yearbook staff.
Former Fredericktown Police chief and current Mayor Jerry Day got a call from Perry years ago when he decided to run for sheriff.
“Evidently when he was a kid, I must have done something right for him to remember to keep me in mind when I ran for sheriff,” Day said. “He called me — I didn’t call him — and he said, ‘I hear you’re running for sheriff’ and I said ‘yeah’ and he said ‘I’d like to support you.’ I said ‘I have no problem with that. Sounds like a good deal.’”
Luke then recorded video endorsements and sent Jerry three minutes of video that Jerry used. Luke shot them himself and sent them to Day.
“My thoughts and prayers are with the family,” Day said. “I know his family and his mom really well. If there’s anything I can do for her or for (his step-father), I’d be more than glad to do it.”
Many who knew Perry from his high school days expressed condolences on Facebook Monday. Fredericktown Local Schools posted on its website that Perry’s “memory is still very much alive here. FLS will always be proud to be Luke Perry’s Alma Mater.”
The Fredericktown Police Department shared a news story on Perry’s death, noting his past as the school mascot.
Nationally, Perry was best-known for his role as Dylan McKay, the wealthy rebel kid of the “90210” gang. On the original series, Perry’s character went from loner to part of a close-knit circle that included twins Brenda and Brandon Walsh (Shannen Doherty, Jason Priestley), but also endured a string of romantic, family and other setbacks, including drug addiction. Perry left the series in 1995 to pursue other roles, returning in 1998 for the rest of the show’s run as a guest star.
He also enjoyed a prolific film and television career. Most recently, he played construction company owner Fred Andrews, father of main character Archie Andrews, for three seasons on “Riverdale,” the CW series that gives a dark take on “Archie” comics. A fourth season has been slated.
In a 2006 interview with The Associated Press, Perry said he was partly inspired to pursue acting by a photo of Paul Newman his mother kept on her mirror.
He played out the memory of hearing his mother say, “He’s the most beautiful man in the world, honey ... he’s a movie star.”
“I thought, ‘OK, that’s cool.’ I watched him and, ‘Yeah, man, who didn’t want to be Paul Newman!’”
But Perry expanded his interests far beyond acting, identifying history as a passion and family a priority.
“When you are younger you can have only work, and I did for a long time,” he told the AP in 2006. “But it doesn’t command my attention that way anymore. A lot of the mysteries and the questions I had about it I’ve figured out, but life offers up mysteries every day.”
Perry will make a posthumous appearance in Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time In Hollywood,” which is slated for release in July.
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Mount Vernon News City Editor Nick Sabo and News Reporter John Wareham contributed to this article.
