In the wake of Luke Perry’s tragic death, there are some details resurfaced details about his parents Ann and Steve Bennett that fans might be interested to know about.
When Perry was young, his biological father — Coy Luther Perry, Jr. — was abusive toward his mother. When the actor was 6 years old Ann left Perry’s father and got a divorce. She married Bennett about six years later.
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“She’s a fighter. Her life ain’t been easy, but she don’t walk around with her heart on her sleeve. She stuck it out. She never bailed,” Perry once said of his mom, as reported by Heavy.
The actor spoke candidly of his birth father in a past interview as well, telling journalists their relationship “sucked,” while adding, “I used to be very bitter about it, but I’m not now. It’s not worth my time… I don’t like anybody who hurts my mom.”
In a later conversation, he elaborated, saying, “He was a drunk. He treated my mother very poorly. Had I been big enough at the time, I would have beat his a—. But I wasn’t. So I always felt that I should have been able to protect her better, but I was a six-year-old kid. That’s where my frustration stems from… Looking back at it all now, it was pretty frightening… I saw what was going on. I knew what was happening as much as they tried to shelter me from it. I was aware.”
Perry, Jr. passed away when he was only 35 years old. Perry was just a teenager at the time and did not attend the funeral as the two never reconciled.
Bennett, on the other hand, had a great relationship with Perry, and the two were said to be very close. “[Steve] is the greatest man I know. I love him. I wish he was my real father. He’s the one who taught me the important things I needed to know about being a man,” Perry once said of Bennett.
Ann also spoke fondly of the relationship between her husband and son, recalling, “Steve used to take Luke and his brother to work with him on weekends, and they learned a lot about the construction business. They learned what it really was to put in a hard day’s physical labor.”
Perry suffered a stroke last week and both Bennett was at his side when he passed.
“He 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… 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,” a statement from the family read.
