Beverly Hills 90210 and Riverdale star Luke Perry dies days after massive stroke

TV star Luke Perry has died in hospital, surrounded by his family, five days after suffering a major stroke.

The Beverly Hills 90210 and Riverdale star was 52.

Perry's family issued a statement saying: "He was surrounded by his children Jack and Sophie, fiancé Wendy Madison Bauer, ex-wife Minnie Sharp, mother Ann Bennett, step-father Steve Bennett, brother Tom Perry, sister Amy Coder, and other close family and friends.

"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, who rose to fame in the 1990s for his role on the hit television series Beverly Hills 90210 was hospitalised in California after suffering a "massive" stroke at his home in Sherman Oaks last week.

The 52-year-old actor was rushed to a Los Angeles-area hospital where his condition reportedly worsened.

Prior to his stroke Perry was said to be experiencing "bad back problems", which had to be surgically fixed, according to the actor's neighbour.

Perry's last major health scare was in 2015, when precancerous growths were found in his body following a colonoscopy, prompting the actor to speak out about checking for colorectal cancer.

His role as Dylan McKay on Beverly Hills 90210 made him one of TV's top heartthrobs of the 1990s.

Perry got his start with a 10 episode stint on the popular series Another World, but shot to fame in the early 1990s thanks to his role on 90210.

That show ran for 10 seasons beginning in 1990 and still lives on in reruns, with Perry filming 199 episodes.

He played the show's leading man, the handsome loner Dylan McKay, alongside co-stars Shannen Doherty, Jennie Garth, Jason Priestley and Tori Spelling.

While the show addressed topics such as Aids, date rape, learning disabilities and teenage pregnancy, the principal draw for many viewers was its handsome male leads. Sporting leather jackets, sideburns and a "Rebel Without a Cause" persona, Perry was featured in a People magazine cover story that dubbed him "TV's hottest heartbreaker" and was known to trigger riots with his public appearances.

When he visited a mall in Seattle to sign autographs in 1991, he had to be spirited away in a laundry hamper after a crowd of young women rushed the barricades. Later that year, 21 people were injured as a crowd of more than 8,000 fans rushed toward the stage to see him in South Florida.

At the same time, he also appeared in a number of films, including the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Fifth Element and Scorchers.

He was also an accomplished voice actor, filming episodes for animated series including Mortal Kombat, The Simpsons, Johnny Bravo, The Incredible Hulk and more.

Perry had recently filmed a role in Quentin Tarantino's latest film Once Upon A Time In Hollywood alongside Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio and Margot Robbie.

He was hospitalised last week on the same day a six-episode revival of 90210 was announced, featuring returning cast members Jason Priestley, Jennie Garth, Ian Ziering, Gabrielle Carteris, Brian Austin Green, and Tori Spelling. Perry had not been announced to return.

While Perry's acting credentials were extensive he said he had no illusions about his legacy and defining role on Beverly Hills, 90210.

"I'm going to be linked with him until I die, but that's actually just fine," he told the news service United Press International in 2008. "I created Dylan McKay. He's mine."

The actor had been in Los Angeles working on the television series Riverdale, an adaptation of the Archie comic books in which he plays Archie's father Fred Andrews.

He played the onscreen father of Kiwi actor KJ Apa in Riverdale.

Perry married Rachel Sharp in 1993. They were together for a decade and welcomed two children, 21-year-old Jack and 18-year-old Sophie, before splitting in 2003.

He was born in Mansfield, Ohio, on October 11, 1966, and grew up in nearby Fredericktown. Perry's father was a steelworker and his mother a homemaker. They divorced when Perry was 6 and he was raised by his mother and construction-worker stepfather.

Perry moved to Los Angeles after graduation and held down odd jobs, selling shoes and working at a doorknob factory, while searching for work as an actor, guided by dreams of becoming the next Paul Newman.

By his account, he was rejected 216 times before landing roles on the soap operas Loving and Another World. Through a failed audition for Ferris Bueller, a short-lived sitcom based on the movie starring Matthew Broderick, he met a casting director who suggested him for Beverly Hills, 90210.

- With wires and Washington Post