Actor Colin Hanks has shared a touching anecdote about Luke Perry following the 90210 star’s death aged 52.
Riverdale actor Perry died on Monday after suffering a stroke, his publicist said.
Hanks was among the Hollywood stars to pay tribute and remember Perry.
Alongside a photograph of Perry on his Instagram account, Hanks told his nearly 300,000 followers about a good deed Perry had done on an aeroplane.
He explained: “I only met him once but the story is too good not tell given todays sad events.
“My wife and I are on a plane back from Mexico. Couple of rows ahead of us, these two brothers, young kids, are beating the hell out of each other. Their poor parents are powerless to stop the crying, yelling and screaming.
“If you’re a parent you understand. Sometimes there’s nothing you can do. It was like this for close to two hours. Then about 10 minutes before landing it starts to get real bad.
“Out of no where, a man comes from first class. Hat, beard, sunglasses, blowing up a balloon. He ties it off, hands it off like he’s holding out a sword to a king. Kneeling, Head down, arms up. Kids calm down in milliseconds.
“Plane damn near bursts into applause. 15 minutes longer and it probably would have started WWIII, but we landed before that could happen. We get off the plane, are waiting on line in customs.
“Finally get a good look at the guy and I say to my wife ‘Holy shit. I think that balloon man/hero is Luke Perry’.
“As luck would have it we end up standing next to each other. Out of the blue he turns to me and says some kind words about Fargo, which kinda blew my mind.
“I start singing his praises about how long I’ve admired him and also about the move with the balloon.
“‘That’s a pro move! You can’t teach that!’ I say. He tells me he always flies with a couple of balloons for that very reason, to give to screaming kids.
“Don’t know if that’s true, but have no reason to believe it wasn’t. Guy seemed like a true gent.
“Gone way too damn soon. Also, I’ll be damned if I don’t start traveling with some spare balloons 🎈🎈🎈 #promove #rip #lukeperry #truegent”.
Perry’s publicist Arnold Robinson said the star was surrounded by his family when he died, including his children Jack and Sophie, fiancee Wendy Madison Bauer, ex-wife Minnie Sharp, mother Ann Bennett, stepfather Steve Bennett, and his siblings Tom Perry and Amy Coder.
Perry will be seen on the big screen in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time in Hollywood, which reportedly has a UK release date in August.
