Tori Spelling paid tribute to her late Beverly Hills, 90210 costar Luke Perry on what would have been his 57th birthday.
“Could be a million people in the room but he always made you feel like you were the only one,” Spelling, 50, wrote via her Instagram Story on Wednesday, October 11, alongside a throwback photo of the pair. “Good kind humans are a rare breed. I don’t know that many sadly. He was one. Happy Birthday. Missing you always.”
Perry died of a stroke at the age of 52 in March 2019, one month after Us Weekly confirmed he was taken to the hospital in Los Angeles following a 9-1-1 call. Perry is survived by his son Jack, 26, and daughter Sophie, 23, whom he shared with ex-wife Rachel “Minnie” Sharp.
“[Perry] was surrounded by his children Jack and Sophie, fiancée Wendy Madison Bauer, ex-wife Minnie Sharp, mother Ann Bennett, stepfather Steve Bennett, brother Tom Perry, sister Amy Coder and other close family and friends,” his rep said in a statement to Us at the time. “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. No further details will be released at this time.”
Perry most recently starred as Fred Andrews in the CW hit series Riverdale, but he was best known for his role as Dylan McKay on Beverly Hills, 90210, alongside Spelling, Jennie Garth, Jason Priestley, Ian Ziering, Brian Austin Green, Gabrielle Carteris and Shannen Doherty. The Fox series ran for a total of 10 seasons from 1990 to 2000.
Shortly following his death, a Beverly Hills, 90210 reboot — titled BH90210, in which the actors portrayed heightened versions of themselves — was announced by Fox. Every member of the original series returned for the show, paying tribute to Perry during the series premiere.
“We’re not all gonna be here forever, “ Spelling says during the episode, which aired in August 2019. “But we made something that will be.” With that, Priestley, 49, raises a champagne glass with a toast: “To Luke.” The episode closes out with Garth, 51, and Spelling watching an old episode of Beverly Hills, 90210, with the tribute “For our friend Luke Perry. 1966 – 2019) at the bottom of the screen.
Wednesday’s shoutout isn’t the first time Spelling has taken to social media to honor her longtime friend and costar. For Perry’s 55th birthday, she described the Oz alum as a “friend” and “brother.”
“I remember meeting you as a young insecure teen girl,” she wrote via Instagram in October 2021. “You were the first boy to ever make me feel worth as a human, a female, and a comedienne. As a friend and big brother. You stood up for me fiercely. Went to brawl literally for me when I was in a verbally abusive relationship and sat and talked me thru the most insecure moments of a teen angst girl’s life.”
She added: “You had a way of making every single human feel confident, heard, and special the minute they met you. Your energy was pure selfless love. A giver in this ungiving life. Your loving nature carried thru decades.”
BH90210 wasn’t the only show to honor Perry following his death. Doherty, 52, made a special appearance on the season four premiere of Riverdale in 2019, which reflected on Perry’s legacy.
“I am deeply honored to pay tribute to Luke on Riverdale,” Doherty, who is currently battling stage four cancer, captioned an Instagram photo of the pair on the 90210 set at the time. “The care in which this show takes in honoring his memory is beautiful. He is missed. Today. Tomorrow. Forever.”
