TEEN YOUR ENTHUSIASM (19)
By:
May 27, 2023
One in a series of 25 enthusiastic posts, contributed by 25 HILOBROW friends and regulars, on the topic of heartthrobs from our adolescences). Series edited by Heather Quinlan.
LUKE PERRY
On October 4th,1990 the lives of every adolescent girl and boy changed forever with the very sounds of electric guitar and sights of the Southern California coastline coming from their TVs. Beverly Hills, 90210 was a paradigm shift leaving behind the teased Aqua Net hair and electric blue eyeliner of the ’80s for a more sleek look by way of Rodeo Drive. For a 14-year-old girl living in Queens, NY this life was totally captivating and no one made it more so than Dylan McKay.
McKay was an appealing James Dean manifestation driving his classic black Porsche to school and living his emancipated life in a mid-century Craftsman house having been abandoned by his white-collar criminal father and free-spirited hippie mom. He was the dark, mysterious loner to Brandon Walsh’s bright do-gooder knight in shining armor. These yin and yang characters set the hearts of teen girls everywhere aflame.
Luke Perry, who famously played McKay, went to Los Angeles from Ohio in 1984 straight out of high school to pursue acting. He landed a few bit parts here and there while working odd jobs, but it wasn’t until his role as brooding bad boy Dylan McKay that he rose to heartthrob status. George Michael’s Freedom! ’90 sums it up as he “was every little hungry school girl’s pride and joy.” This was made evident in August 1991 when 10,000 girls rioted at a mall autograph session that caused Perry to flee after only 90 seconds.
As a Gen-Xer I am loath to even utter the word “heartthrob,” but as Dylan McKay, Luke Perry set the bar for what we were to demand of a partner: maturity, smoldering good looks and a solid moral compass. Luke Perry, the man, set the bar for what a human should be. He was a good neighbor, father and role model. His kids tell stories of how he would drive them around to 99 Cent stores to buy all the cans of soup and drop them off at food pantries. Or when his daughter Sophie had an obsession with Sea World he painted her room to look like you were submerged with Shamu. When his son Jack decided he wanted to be a wrestler when he grew up (spoiler alert: he did) Perry took him for lessons and let Jack try moves out on him.
Of all the roles Perry played, and they were varied (Lane Frost in 8 Seconds; Pike in Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Chris Anderson in Normal Life; Reverend Jeremiah Cloutier in Oz; Fred Andrews in Riverdale and the iconic teen dream Dylan McKay) just being himself was by far the sexiest.
RIP Coy Luther “Luke” Perry III, October 11, 1966 – March 4th, 2019
TEEN YOUR ENTHUSIASM: INTRODUCTION by Heather Quinlan | Adam McGovern on ANDY GIBB | Crockett Doob on DREW BARRYMORE | Kathy Biehl on THE MONKEES | Josh Glenn on SHAUN CASSIDY | Catherine Christman on ELI WALLACH | Carlo Rotella on VALERIE BERTINELLI | Miranda Mellis on EDDIE VAN HALEN | Paul Finnegan on KIM WILDE | Heather Quinlan on MIKE PATTON | Mariane Cara on NKOTB | Mimi Lipson on ARLO GUTHRIE | Gabriela Pedranti on GUSTAVO CERATI | Michele Carlo on MICHAEL JACKSON | Ingrid Schorr on PAUL McCARTNEY | Carolyn Campbell on ROBERT REDFORD | Erin M. Routson on JOHNNY KNOXVILLE | Amy Keyishian on JIM MORRISON | Fran Pado on TONY DEFRANCO | Krista Margies Kunkle on LUKE PERRY | Lucy Sante on FRANÇOISE HARDY | Lynn Peril on DANNY BONADUCE | Jack Silbert on CHERYL TIEGS | Kelly Jean Fitzsimmons on CHRISTIAN SLATER | Cynthia Scott on LEONARD WHITING | Elizabeth Foy Larsen on OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN.
JACK KIRBY PANELS | CAPTAIN KIRK SCENES | OLD-SCHOOL HIP HOP | TYPEFACES | NEW WAVE | SQUADS | PUNK | NEO-NOIR MOVIES | COMICS | SCI-FI MOVIES | SIDEKICKS | CARTOONS | TV DEATHS | COUNTRY | PROTO-PUNK | METAL | & more enthusiasms!