Matthew Perry has passed away. He was 54.
The actor, best known for his role as Chandler Bing on Friends, was discovered dead at a residence in the Los Angeles region on Saturday.
According to TMZ, Perry was discovered in a jacuzzi inside the property, and no narcotics were discovered at the scene.
“We are devastated by the passing of our dear friend Matthew Perry,” Warner Bros. said in a statement. Matthew was a wonderful performer and an unforgettable member of the Warner Bros. Television Group family. His humorous talent was felt all across the world, and his legacy will live on in the hearts of millions. This is a tragic day, and we express our condolences to his family, loved ones, and loyal followers.”
A Los Angeles Police Department representative told PEOPLE that police responded to a report at Perry’s residence involving the death of a gentleman in his 50s but would not confirm the deceased’s name.
According to TMZ, there was no foul play involved, and emergency responders were rushed to the property for cardiac arrest.
Perry’s representatives did not immediately reply to people’s request for comment.
Perry was born on August 19, 1969, in Williamstown, Massachusetts, and raised in Ottawa, Canada, where he attended primary school with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Suzanne Morrison, Justin’s mother, was a journalist and press secretary to Justin’s father, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.
Keith Morrison from Dateline is Perry’s stepfather. His father, John Bennett Perry, was an actor and model; in 1979, the younger Perry appeared in an episode of his father’s cop drama 240-Robert.
As a youngster, Perry relocated to Los Angeles. He recurred as Chazz Russell on Boys Will Be Boys from 1987 to 1988 after a few TV cameo appearances. Following roles on Growing Pains and Sydney, his big break came in 1994 with NBC’s renowned comedy Friends.
Perry starred as the caustic commitment producer Chandler Bing for ten seasons and received an Emmy nomination in 2002. Friends was the most popular sitcom of the 1990s, with Perry and co-stars Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, and David Schwimmer receiving $1 million each episode.
“I was 24 when I got on the show,” he stated in the 2004 book Friends… ‘Til the End. “I’ll be 34 when it’s over, and those are really important years in somebody’s life.” So doing it all in public was challenging. Initially, there is a rush of ‘I’m famous, and this is precisely what I’ve desired my entire life.’ But then you go through the entire reclusive period when you think to yourself, ‘I want people to stop gazing at me.’ And then, ideally, you get through all of it. You find footing in your life, such as your family and excellent friends.”
Perry struggled with addiction behind the scenes, seeking treatment in 1997 and 2001 despite his success. In 2016, he told Britain’s BBC Radio 2 that he didn’t recall filming Friends seasons 3 through 6.
In a 2013 People cover story, the actor admits to misusing booze and Vicodin, which a doctor recommended to him following a Jet Ski accident in 1997.
“I had a big problem with alcohol and pills, and I couldn’t stop,” he told me. “Eventually things got so bad that I couldn’t hide it, and then everybody knew.”
Then “something clicked,” and at his former Malibu beach house, he started Perry House, a men’s sober living facility.
“The interesting reason that I can be so helpful to people now is that I screwed up so often,” he was quoted as saying. “It’s nice for people to see that somebody who once struggled in their life is not struggling anymore.”
He was honored for his efforts by the treatment center Phoenix House in 2015, saying to The Hollywood Reporter, “You can’t have a drug problem for 30 years and then expect it to be solved in 28 days.”
Before the release of his memoir Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing last year, the actor told people that he applauded his Friends castmates for rallying behind him throughout his addiction, saying, “They were understanding, and they were patient.”
“It’s similar to penguins.” When a penguin is sick or injured in nature, the other penguins surround it, support it, and wander around until that penguin can walk on its own. And that’s what the cast accomplished for him,” he said.
The bonds he formed with the ensemble have proven to be lifelong, as seen by their reunion at the HBO Max reunion program in 2021. He went on to say, “It’s a group that really is close and tight-knit and loves each other.”
Perry failed to find another small-screen hit when Friends ended in 2004; his next starring vehicle, Aaron Sorkin’s Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, ran on NBC for only 22 episodes from 2006 to 2007.
Mr. Sunshine, which he co-created in 2011, was canceled by ABC after nine episodes. In 2013, his NBC sitcom Go On aired for one season. From 2015 to 2017, he co-starred with Thomas Lennon in CBS’s The Odd Couple remake.
Perry also appeared in the London production of The End of Longing in 2016, in addition to film roles in Fools Rush In, The Whole Nine Yards, Serving Sara, and 17 Again.
The actor revealed his health issues in his biography, including a terrifying event in which he was hospitalized for five months after his intestines ruptured as a result of taking OxyContin.
“The doctors told my family that I had a 2% chance of survival.” “That’s when I really thought my life was going to end,” Perry told people of the horrific encounter.
Perry said that after the incident, he slipped into a coma for two weeks and awakened with a colostomy bag that he had to use for approximately a year. Perry’s experience inspired him to make one of his most important resolutions: to quit using prescription opiates.
“My therapist said, ‘The next time you think about taking OxyContin, just think about having a colostomy bag for the rest of your life,'” he recalled. “And a little window opened, and I crawled through it, and I no longer want OxyContin.”
Perry learned that “everything begins with sobriety” when it comes to appreciation. Because if you don’t have sobriety, you’ll lose everything you put in front of it; thus, my sobriety ranks high.”