Patricia Arquette praises Luke Perry for beautiful friendship with her late sister Alexis

Patricia Arquette has heaped praise on Luke Perry for his boundary-breaking friendship with her late sister Alexis.

The Riverdale star and former Beverly Hills, 90210 actor passed away on Monday (04Mar19), five days after suffering a stroke, leaving the Hollywood community in shock.

Transgender activist Alexis also died abruptly from cardiac arrest, at 47, in 2016, and Perry's death brought back painful memories for Patricia, who recalls both stars were good friends.

"He was a beautiful, beautiful, incredible person," the Oscar winner gushed to news show Entertainment Tonight, before reflecting on Luke's friendship with Alexis.

"They were so close," she added. "I mean Luke was always there for Alexis all of the time. He loved Alexis to death. Early on, when Luke started having success with Beverly Hills, 90210 (in the 1990s), there were stories like, 'Luke Perry is gay. He’s having a relationship with Alexis Arquette'. And Luke never said it wasn't true."

Patricia respects Luke for the way he stood up for his LGBT friend Alexis, at a time when doing so put his career at risk.

"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 shared. "So Luke was way ahead of his time."

Luke opened up about the pain of losing his friend Alexis in 2017, telling ET at the 28th Annual GLAAD Awards, "When you love somebody, you love them. Bottom line. And I loved Lex and Lex loved me, and I don't need to explain that to anybody. That's how love works."