Luke Perry, who rose to fame playing bad boy Dylan McKay onBeverly Hills, 90210,died of a stroke Monday at age 52, PEOPLE confirms.
The original cast, many of whom have remained close in the nearly 20 years since the show’s final episode in 2000, shared their grief and paid tribute to Perry’s legacy on social media after news of his death.
Jennie Garth, who played love interest Kelly Taylor, tells PEOPLE exclusively, “My heart is broken. He meant so much to so many. Such a very special person. I share my deep sadness with his family and all who loved him. Such a terrible loss.” Since then,the outpouring of love from castmates hasn’t ceased.
A source close to Perry told PEOPLE that the cast has an uncommonly strong bond from sharing the meteoric rise to superstardom in their youth.
Beverly Hills, 90210.Snap/REX/Shutterstock
According to the network, the show will follow the stars as they reunite onscreen for the first time in two decades in an attempt to get a90210reboot going.
“We’re all really excited to get back to work with each other every day,” said Spelling, 45. “We’ve come full circle and it feels really great. This is the ultimate high school reunion and we’re going to be back together every day and I’m so excited.”
RELATED PHOTOS: Luke Perry’s Life in Photos
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“In a way, as cool as this is for you guys, it is for us too. Because it’s like family, friends and seeing them all again. Obviously we’ve all been friends over the years but seeing them all in the same room? This is a first for us,” Spelling revealed during the panel.
“None of us are up here today without Shannen,” Perry said during the reunion. “She’s been through a lot. She’s not doing well right now but sometimes her contributions are minimized.”
“She’s been thrown under the bus,” he continued. “I’ve been accused of driving it. But she’s a very big part of the success of this show. She taught me a lot. I’m glad she was my scene partner. She was great at what she did in the character with me.”
Beyond their reunions, Spelling and Jennie Garth, who played Donna Martin and Kelly Taylor on the show, havebecome even closersince the end of the show, and Spelling revealed in 2014 that their kids were also becoming friends. The longtime BFFs often share sweet tributes to mark birthdays and other celebrations. For Garth’s 46th birthday in April 2018, Spelling shared a montage of hilarious throwbacks of the duo to Instagram.
Spelling added a slew of hashtags to the post, including #sisters4life, #oldladiesinrockers, #kellyanddonna and #our2ndchapterwillbeourfinest.
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Ziering has also remained close with his former costars, including Garth and Doherty, who jetted off to Las Vegas together in July 2013 to catch him as a Chippendales dancer.
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“We’ve always been very supportive of each others’ endeavors, and when they heard what I was up to, they wanted to come support,” added Ziering.
source: people.com
