Biography
Luke perry's whole name is Coy Luther Perry the 3rd. He was born in Mansfield Ohio, October 11th, 1966. Luke is the second child born to Coy Luther Perry and Ann Perry (now Ann Bennett). Luke has an older brother Tom and a younger sister Amy. Once Ann remarried she and her husband Steve Bennett had a daughter giving Luke a half sister named Emily. Luke's parents were divorced when he was six, and at nine years of age he and his family re located to Fredericktown, Ohio. Something people are always so fascinated to know about his how Luke received his scar above his eyebrow. When he was a little kid he banged his head against a soda machine at a bowling alley. As a child Luke was quite the prankster and a bit of a daredevil. His mother has been quoted telling of one of his many pranks, "He took a bedspread, a few pairs of my panty hose and went 'skydiving' out a second story window!" He managed to walk away from that unscathed. Luke had this to say looking back on his childhood, "I love my family. They've been very tolerant of me. Growing up with me...was not a picnic. I was not a happy camper out there in Redneckville, although I did chew tobacco rather well." Luke managed to get himself into a lot of hot water with his pranks and jokes. He's been known to put on a mask, take out a fake plastic gun, and hold people up at school to get his friends out of detention. He was also kicked out of the school play for making an obscene gesture at a photographer. The stunt he seems most proud of his landing a helicopter in the middle of the football field and coming out dressed as the school mascot "Freddie Bird." Luke's high school was nothing like the fictional West Beverly, he's been reported saying, "We had classes on helping cows give birth and driving tractors." Though Luke might have had a little bit of Dylan McKay in him. He was the type of boy that wound up with two dates to the prom, of course that situation worked itself out, and Luke was able to go with the girl he had wanted to go with in the first place. Like every high school there were the senior polls, and what was Luke tagged as you wonder? Biggest Flirt of course!
After graduation Luke went out to California. The first thing he did was enroll himself into acting class. While doing this he was able to find himself an acting coach, David Beaird, who also became his mentor. Luke did not only stay in California, but he found some work in New York City. He was on Soap Operas such as "Another World" and "Loving". These jobs did not come easily to him. He had many odd jobs that he did. He was laying pavement, or working in a door knob factory, he was a cook, and he sold shoes, Luke worked in a hotel making beds, and managed a video store, at one point he was even on telephone sales. It's been said that Luke auditioned 217 times before landing a role. He had left Ohio in 1985, and come 1990 he landed the role that would change his life forever. Luke Perry was given the role of Dylan McKay.
When Luke first auditioned for a role on "Beverly Hills 90210". He tried out for the part of Steve Sanders, and even he knew the role was not right for him. This role was given to Ian Ziering, who Luke had met before in the Soap Opera world. The producers liked Luke so much they later called him up and asked him to audition for the new role of Dylan McKay. When he was given this role for the first season of "Beverly Hills 90210" it's been rumored that Aaron Spelling paid Luke out of his own pocket. Through the coming years Luke became a teen heart throb. His face and his costars faces were everywhere. Luke eventually departed from "Beverly Hills 90210" in 1995 to peruse a movie career. He did films such as "Lifebreath", "Robin Cook's Invasion", "Indiscreet", "The Heist", "Normal Life", etc. He also did the "Rocky Horror Show" Broadway play in New York City. When "Beverly Hills 90210" went into it's Ninth Season Luke decided to return just as his best friend in real life and on the show departed, Jason Priestly. The cast was very happy to have him back, and he stayed on till the end of the series run in 2000.
Since the departure of the show Luke has done amazing things with his career. He had a stint on "OZ" which earned him some of the Best Reviews of his career. He got a part on a show called "Jeremiah" which aired on show time. He produced it, and was the lead character "Jeremiah". Luke worked along side his best friend Malcolm Jamal Warner (The Cosby Show) who played "Kurdy". These two have been best friends since 1991 and are still friends to this day. When this show went off the air due to problems with Show Time, Luke Perry went on to star in the shows like "Windfall" and "John From Cincinnati". Recently, he's been nominated for a People's Choice Award for his guest role on "Law and Order: SVU" where he played a foster parent accused of abusing his foster child. He also guest starred on "Criminal Minds". He's done many movies since the end of "Beverly Hills 90210" such as "A Gunfighter's Pledge", "Supernova", "Alice Upside Down", "Descent", and many more. Over in London in 2004 he worked alongside Alyson Hannigan (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, How I Met Your Mother) in the play "When Harry Met Sally". A lot of great achievements has fallen into Luke's lap over the years. Not only has he been in so many projects, but he's nailed so many different personality types. He truly is a rare talent.
Random Facts
-Luke has two Children with his ex wife (married for ten years).
-His daughter's name is Sophie (Born June of 2000)
-His son's name is Jack (Born June of 1997)
-He has two boxer dogs named Casey and Mac
-He has a potbellied pig named "Jerry Lee", named after Jerry Lee Lewis.
-He loves to fish
-He was listed in People magazine's "Greatest Actors of our Time" back in 2004.
-He was ranked number six in TV Guide's list of "TVs 25 Greatest Teen Idols" in 2005.
