Luke Perry death: Tom Hanks' son Colin recalls heartwarming meeting with Riverdale star in touching tribute

Tom Hanks’ son Colin recalled the moment Luke Perry stepped in to entertain two crying children on a flight as he paid a touching tribute to the Riverdale star in the wake of his death.

Perry, 52, died on Monday, five days after suffering a massive stroke at his Los Angeles home.

Colin, 41, posted a picture of Perry, who he described as a “true gent” and told of the time the actor prevented “WWIII” on a flight to the US from Mexico by leaving first class to blow up balloons for two disgruntled brothers to play with.

The Fargo actor described how the siblings’ parents were “powerless” as their sons sat “beating the hell out of each other” before “out of nowhere, a man comes from first class. Hat, beard, sunglasses, blowing up a balloon.”

He continued: “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 said he realised it was Perry as they stood next to each other on disembarking the plane, with Colin telling fans he turned to his wife and said: “Holy s***. I think that balloon man/hero is Luke Perry.”

Colin continued: “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… 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.”

Colin finished: “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 Beverly Hills 90210 co-star Ian Ziering led the tributes, saying the late star needs a seat ‘close to God’.

Christine Elise McCarthy, who played his onscreen love interest in the show, said his time was “far too short”.

Ryan Seacrest, Joss Whedon and Seth Green were also among those who paid tribute.

Perry is survived by his children Jake and Sophie, fiancé Wendy Madison Bauer and ex-wife Minnie Sharp.