Luke Perry Dies at 52 Years Old

Riverdale -- Image Number: RVD_Fred_GRAY_097rb.jpg -- Pictured: Luke Perry as Fred Andrews -- Photo: Marc Hom/The CW -- Ì?å© 2017 The CW Network. All Rights Reserved

Marc Hom/The CW

Riverdale — Image Number: RVD_Fred_GRAY_097rb.jpg — Pictured: Luke Perry as Fred Andrews — Photo: Marc Hom/The CW — Ì?å© 2017 The CW Network. All Rights Reserved

Jillian Thibodeau, Editor

52 year-old actor Luke Perry had a massive stroke on Wednesday, February 27th and was rushed to Saint Joseph’s Medical Center in Burbank, California. Perry passed away on Monday, March 4th, a sad day for his friends, family, and fans. As the actor was most known for his role as Dylan McKay on ‘Beverly Hills 90210’ and Fred Andrews on ‘Riverdale,’ many generations were fans of his and were sad to see him go. Although Perry died way too young, he still had a very successful career. Here’s an inside look at what Perry achieved in his short, but successful life:

Perry was cast in many different television shows and movies, but his first big break came from playing Dylan in ‘Beverly Hills 90210.’ He started playing the character in 1990 until 1995. Then he took a three year break and played his beloved character again from 1998 to 2000. Perry’s character was the show’s ‘bad boy’ and many were big fans of him back in the day, but he could not be any more different than his character. One of his co stars from the show, Gabrielle Carteris, says that Perry was a “tremendous force” and a “sensitive soul” which is very different than his character. However, he still shared some similarities with his character Dylan, he just wasn’t the bad boy type in real life. This relates back to his most recent role as Fred Andrews in the show Riverdale.

In 2017, Perry began playing Archie’s father in the teen drama ‘Riverdale’. In the show, Fred has been important to plot of the show, like in part of season one and the beginning of season two (you’ll know what I’m talking about if you watch ‘Riverdale’). But, unlike Dylan in ‘90210’, Perry’s ‘Riverdale’ character is  more innocent and isn’t as involved in the drama. The writers of the show saved that for the teenagers. The show is still going on today and is on it’s third season.

Fans of  ‘Riverdale’ and Perry’s work on the show wonder what will happen to Fred Andrews on the show. When asked what they think the writers will do with Perry’s character, South Windsor High School students have answers that vary. First of all, Freshman, Cora Brownbill states that, “I’m guessing they may just kill him off. That sounds so bad, but they really have no choice. They could always replace him with another actor, but no one could ever live up to how well he played Fred.” On the other hand, Junior, Sara Wills thinks that, “they will try to have his character leave on a more positive note, such as pursuing an opportunity elsewhere, rather than killing his character off the show.”