Still their Dylan McKay. The cast and crew of Beverly Hills, 90210 has continued to keep Luke Perry’s memory alive since he passed away in 2019.
The late actor starred as Dylan on the ‘90s drama alongside Shannen Doherty (Brenda Walsh), Jason Priestley (Brandon Walsh), Tori Spelling (Donna Martin), Jennie Garth (Kelly Taylor), Brian Austin Green (David Silver), Ian Ziering (Steve Sanders) and Gabrielle Carteris (Andrea Zuckerman).
“[Aaron Spelling] had made a personal investment and an emotional investment in Luke Perry,” 90210 writer and executive producer Charles Rosin recalled on the “Beverly Hills, 90210 Show” podcast in October 2020, confirming that Perry’s role wasn’t locked in during season 1.
After solidifying his place in the cast, Perry became the third original star (after Doherty and Carteris) to leave the series with his 1995 exit, but he returned as a full-time cast member for seasons 9 and 10.
“Dylan McKay was not going to go to college. … So that was always a problem, but it wasn’t really a problem because we loved writing for him and he was challenging,” 90210 writer and producer Larry Mollin explained on the podcast in September 2020, referring to Perry’s season 6 exit. “Also, it gave us a chance, for the last year or two, to run a little bit of an action plot. We kind of really were able to work on some of [Dylan’s] demons. … So, he was an action character for us in a lot of ways. So, we lost that and there was really no one to replace that after he left.”
Perry died in March 2019 after suffering a stroke at the age of 52. He is survived by his two kids, Jack and Sophie, whom he shared with ex-wife Rachel “Minnie” Sharp, and fiancée Wendy Madison Bauer.
“The past 11 and 1/2 years with Luke were the happiest years of my life, and I am grateful to have had that time with him,” Bauer said in a statement at the time. “I also want to thank his children, family, and friends for their love and support. We have found comfort in one another and in the knowledge that our lives were touched by an extraordinary man. He will be dearly missed.”
Scroll through for the cast’s sweetest quotes about Perry:
