Luke Perry: Rosanna and Patricia Arquette Recall His 30-Year Friendship With Late Sister Alexis Arquette

In the wake of his death, Rosanna and Patricia Arquette recently spoke out about Luke Perry’s 30-year friendship with their late sister, Alexis Arquette.

While speaking to ET, the sisters discussed Perry and Alexis’ long-time relationship, which began before either of them were famous.

“They were so close. I mean Luke was always there for Alexis all of the time. He loved Alexis to death,” Patricia told the outlet. “Early on, when Luke started having success with Beverly Hills, 90210, there were stories like, ‘Luke Perry is gay. He’s having a relationship with Alexis Arquette.’ And Luke never said it wasn’t true.”

“When he was asked about it later, he said, ‘Well, to deny that would be saying there is something wrong with it. And there is nothing wrong with that,’ ” Patricia continued. “So Luke was way ahead of his time.”

Shortly after news broke that Perry had died from a massive stroke, Arquette took to Twitter to share fond memories between the actor and her sibling, Alexis alongside a heartfelt message to his family.

“Luke Perry – Irreplaceable beautiful and kind human being, incredible friend, generous actor and adoring father to Jack and Sophie and loving partner to Madison we are all heartbroken. You are the love and you are the light,” she wrote.

Alexis was a transgender actress and activist who passed away in September 2016 from complications related to HIV/AIDS. She was only 47 years old at the time of her death.

The following year, Perry honored her at at the 28th Annual GLAAD Awards — where Patricia was named the year’s Vanguard Award recipient — and spoke candidly about their relationship while backstage.

“Look when you love somebody, you love them. Bottom line,” Perry explained to ET. “And I loved Lex and Lex loved me, and I don’t need to explain that to anybody. That’s how love works, and that’s what’s so special about the message Patricia spreads.”

“When you can get that love out there and bring that love into your work place, and you can hire them and look past all that stuff and get to the person that’s inside, that’s what Alexis was about,” he said. “That opened that whole entire part of my life up — to be able to see the world like that. So, I owe a huge debt of gratitude and an awful lot of love.”

Sadly, Perry passed away earlier this week after suffering a stoke in February. He was 52 years old at the time of his death.

Photo Credit: Getty / Jeff Kravitz