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Vale: Matthew Perry

Actor Matthew Perry, best known for Friends, has died.

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Actor Matthew Perry, best known for Friends, has died, aged 54.

LA Times reports, “Authorities responded about 4 p.m. to his home, where he was discovered unresponsive. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing, did not cite a cause of death. There was no sign of foul play, the sources added.”

Authorities are investigating.

Perry is most famous for his role as Chandler Bing on the hit sitcom Friends, which ran for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004, which was so successful it led to the ensemble members each making $1 million per episode by 2002.

“There was steam coming out of my ears, I wanted to be famous so badly,” he told The New York Times in 2002. “You want the attention, you want the bucks, and you want the best seat in the restaurant.”

He featured in such television series as Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Go On and The Odd Couple and scored two Emmy nominations for his role as Joe Quincy in The West Wing.

Perry was the co-creator, executive producer and star of Mr. Sunshine, a short-lived 2011 comedy, alongside Allison Janney.

He got his start in on an episode of 240-Robert, then Charles in Charge, had a three-episode arc on Growing Pains in 1989 and was cast as a regular on the 1990 sitcom Sydney. Other credits included Highway to Heaven, Empty Nest, Who’s the Boss? Beverly Hills 90210, Silver Spoons, The Good Wife, The Good Fight, Cougar Town, Ally McBeal, The Simpsons, Caroline in the City.

Film credits included “A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon, Fools Rush In, Almost Heroes, Three to Tango, The Whole Nine Yards and its sequel The Whole Ten Yards, and Serving Sara.

But he also battled demons as the pressures of celebrity mounted, turning to alcohol to ease the tension. In 1997, he had a jet ski accident. This led to taking painkillers and years of abusing Vicodin, he said. He went into rehab in 2001. He admitted he remembered little about the final three seasons of Friends because of his drinking.

In a 2013 magazine story, he revealed that he didn’t become sober until he was 43. That year, he turned his former Malibu beach home into a men’s sober living facility named The Perry House. He began advocating for treatment over incarceration for drug offenders and devoted time and resources to helping other addicts.

“You can’t have a drug problem for 30 years and then expect to have it solved in 28 days,” he told The Hollywood Reporter in 2015. “I’ve had a lot of ups and downs in my life and a lot of wonderful accolades, but the best thing about me is that if an alcoholic comes up to me and says, ‘Will you help me stop drinking?’ I will say, ‘Yes. I know how to do that.’”

In 2021 he joined former cast mates for Friends: The Reunion which was widely acclaimed for its nostalgia, filmed during the pandemic.

 

Warner Bros. said in a statement,“We are devastated by the passing of our dear friend Matthew Perry. Matthew was an incredibly gifted actor and an indelible part of the Warner Bros. Television Group family. The impact of his comedic genius was felt around the world, and his legacy will live on in the hearts of so many. This is a heartbreaking day, and we send our love to his family, his loved ones, and all of his devoted fans.”

Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636
Lifeline: 13 11 14

Source: TMZ, Variety

16 Responses

  2. RIP Matthew, such a great actor, nailed the role of Chandler, what an iconic character, to be lost so young as well, after visiting the Friends Experience recently I’ve been rewatching the reruns and realising how great they all were together, will be sorely missed.

  4. Genuinely very devastated by this. The world has lost a great man.

    If you are a fan of him and haven’t read his book, I highly recommend. It explains so much of the struggle he went through, which I hope isn’t contributed towards this sad ending.

  5. I am in a state of shock. Even though Matthew had had a well-publicized battle with addiction, you still don’t expect them to die this young (whether the cause was due to his addiction or not).

    He was such a strong actor in Friends. His delivery was so specific to his character. Can’t believe one of the core group of “Friends” is gone.

    1. Similar for me, still a shock though and it’s partly because of the incident he talks about in that book from 2018, when his colon burst and he spent 2 weeks in coma on an ECMO doing all the all the breathing for his heart and your lungs. Like he says in that Doctors gave him a a two percent chance of living and he muses that: “There were five people put on an ECMO machine that night, and the other four died, and I survived. So the big question is why? Why was I the one? There has to be some kind of reason.”

      As mentioned in the article above Matthew “turned his former Malibu beach home into a men’s sober living facility named The Perry House,” you get in your mind that there is the reason he survived. So with this happening now, the shock is there because Matthew was a survivor and you kind of expected him to, this could have been so easily a report on him suffering a cardiac arrest in his hot tub and doing well in hospital.

  11. This is just so sad. I put this up there when hearing about Jock. I read Matthew’s book this year and it was very powerful and engrossing.

    In Chandler, Matthew gave us a funny and unforgettable character.

    Watching Friends won’t feel the same and I just feel for his fellow cast mastes who will definitely feel the loss.

    RIP Matthew

  12. Horrible news. For this to happen after he overcame his addictions is just tragic (early reports indicate there was no evidence of drugs or alcohol involved). Vale, Matthew. Your legacy will endure.

  13. I tend not to believe anything TMZ says. I usually wait for an official statement about whoever. But if this is true, that’s very sad. 54 is way too young. He left a great legacy with “Friends”. Sending love to his family, friends and fans.

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