Perry was even granted the privilege of directing two episodes during the 1999 season. The media commonly compared him to actor James Dean, who had also been known for his brooding good looks, his cool demeanor and his role as a rebellious but inwardly tormented teen. With Perry on board, Fox Network’s ratings soared, largely due to his overwhelming appeal as a teen heartthrob.
In 1990 Perry returned to Los Angeles to start shooting 90210. Beverly Hills, 90210 creator Darren Star told Rolling Stone magazine, “When Luke walked into the audition, it was like ‘Wow, that’s the person.’” Perry had auditioned for the role of the jock, Steve Sanders, but was chosen to play bad boy Dylan McKay instead. Just a year later, Perry landed the part that catapulted him to stardom, when he was cast in Aaron Spelling’s teen drama series, Beverly Hills, 90210. In 1988 he scored another dramatic role in New York, on the soap opera Another World. The role required him to move to New York City.
After three years of auditioning and 216 rejections, Perry got his first break in 1987, landing the role of Ned Bates in the daytime TV drama Loving. Luke Perry arrived in Hollywood in 1984, where he worked a string of odd jobs - from paving asphalt to peddling shoes - in order to pay for acting classes. Perry has shared custody of their two children - a son, Jack, and a daughter, Sophie.
In 1993 Perry married actress Rachel Sharp, but the couple later divorced in 2003. Of his rural education at Fredericktown High School, Perry told Rolling Stone magazine, “We had classes on giving birth to cows and driving tractors.” After sticking it out until graduation, Perry left Fredericktown for Hollywood in 1984. Known by his teachers as a daydreamer, Perry lacked enthusiasm for his high school’s farming curriculum.