Remembering a great. Tom Hanks and Samantha Lewes’ son, Colin Hanks, said he “only met” the late Luke Perry “once,” but their interaction was nothing short of incredible.
The Life in Pieces star, 41, shared a heartwarming story about the late actor — who died on Monday, March 4, after suffering a massive stroke less than a week prior — giving balloons to distraught children on a flight.
“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 eachother [sic],” Colin wrote via Instagram on Monday. “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.”
The Roswell alum explained that the children’s fight continued “for close to two hours,” but it became “real bad” minutes before the plane landed. He recalled: “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.”
Colin still didn’t know who the mystery balloon-provider was when they got off the aircraft, but quickly realized while waiting on line in customs that the “balloon man/hero” was the Riverdale actor.
“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,” Colin noted. “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 added, “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 had a stroke at his Los Angeles-area home on Wednesday, February 27. He was taken to the hospital via ambulance for treatment, but died five days later. He was 52. His rep confirmed his passing in a statement to Us Weekly on Monday.
“[Perry] 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 statement read. “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.”
