Luke Perry’s Official Cause of Death Released Following Tennessee Burial

Luke Perry was laid to rest in Dickson, Tennessee on Monday, March 11, and the actor’s official cause of death was released after his burial on Wednesday.

TMZ obtained the actor’s death certificate on March 13, with the document stating that Perry died from an ischemic cerebrovascular accident, which is also known as a stroke. Perry passed away on March 4 after suffering a massive stroke on Feb. 27. He was rushed to the hospital from his home in Sherman Oaks, California, where he was sedated by doctors.

His body was transported to Tennessee, where he had lived part time and owned a farm since 1995. The certificate also states that Perry’s fiancée, Wendy Bauer, was listed as his next of kin, or “informant.”

The actor’s death was confirmed by his publicist in a statement.

“Actor Luke Perry, 52, passed away today after suffering a massive stroke,” the statement read, via PEOPLE. “He was surrounded by his children Jack and Sophie, fianceé 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.”

The 52-year-old had been starring on Riverdale as Archie’s dad, Fred Andrews, since the series’ pilot in 2017. Prior to his death, Perry had recently been shooting episodes of the show on a Warner Bros. lot in Los Angeles, and co-star Cole Sprouse offered a brief detail on how the show will address Perry’s death during an appearance on The View on Tuesday.

“I can’t go too much into the spoilers of it, but we do have something planned narratively,” Sprouse said. “We dedicated some of the episodes to him.”

“He was very well loved,” the 26-year-old added of Perry. “I mean, the whole world is mourning his passing. But, he was one of those guys that would rather have us all laughing about his great stories than mourning for too long.”

After Perry’s death, Riverdale shut down production for two days, with showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa sharing on social media that all future episodes of the CW drama will be dedicated to the late star.

“Going through pictures on my way to set,” Aguirre-Sacasa captioned a photo of Perry with a group of cast members. “From the early days. With Luke in the middle. Our heart, always. Tonight’s episode of #Riverdale finds Fred doing what he does best–helping Archie. It is dedicated to Luke, as all episodes will be for the rest of our run.”

Photo Credit: Getty / JB Lacroix