Matthew Perryappeared to be in a very good place. The belovedFriendsstar, who battled alcohol and drug addiction for decades, had moved into anewly renovated homeoverlooking the ocean in the L.A. neighborhood of Pacific Palisades. He’d also just signed on to star in a new drama film,Unworthy, and was toying around with an idea for a series featuring a Batman-esque character namedMattman. He was traveling with friends — including to theFrench Open in June— andplaying pickleballalmost every day. “He was having fun,” says a source close to him. “And he was incredibly happy.”
That promising future came to a devastating end on Oct. 28 when Perry wasfound deadat age 54 in a hot tub in the backyard of his home. The L.A. County Medical Examiner’s Office has not established the cause of death. According to reports, no illegal drugs were found at the scene, and no foul play was suspected; atoxicology report is pendingfollowing his autopsy.
Matthew Perry PEOPLE cover.Nigel Parry/Trunk Archive
Nigel Parry/Trunk Archive
Perry, who releasedhis memoirFriends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thinglast year, was always candid about his struggles with addiction in hopes of helping others. With 15 rehab stints under his belt, he insisted that he’d mostly been sober since 2001 “with about 60 or 70 little mishaps over the years,” as hetoldPeoplein September 2022.
He was a passionate advocate for treatment over incarceration for drug offenders and testified before a House subcommittee to help secure funding. According to a source, Perry was even in the process of establishing a foundation to further support those suffering from substance abuse.
“I’ve helped 100,000 people in a weekend, but I’ve also helped one guy. And it’s the same amount of juice that I get from it,” he said. “It doesn’t matter when you see the lights go on in somebody’s eyes who’s been hammered or on drugs for 10 years. That’s what makes your heart grow. And that’s a wonderful thing.” It also became a driving force in his life. “When I die, I don’t wantFriendsto be the first thing that’s mentioned,” he said on theQ With Tom Powerpodcast in November 2022. “I want [helping others] to be the first. And I’m gonna live the rest of my life proving that.”
And yet, of course, he also captured millions of hearts around the world with his era-defining show.
Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing on ‘Friends’ in 1994.Reisig & Taylor/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty
Reisig & Taylor/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty
In 1994Friendslaunched as a simple sitcom about a sixsome figuring out life together over bottomless cups of coffee. Among the cast ofJennifer Aniston,Courteney Cox,Lisa Kudrow,Matt LeBlancandDavid Schwimmer, Perry was the youngest at 24. His character, Chandler Bing, often was given the best punch lines because Perry had the skill to deliver them with both sharp timingandvulnerability.
Perry once said that his performance was so authentic because he too had the innate ability to mask pain and fill silence or discomfort with humor. When he read the script, “it was as if someone had followed me around for a year, stealing my jokes, copying my mannerisms, photocopying my world-weary yet witty view of life,” he wrote in his memoir. “It wasn’t that I thought I could play Chandler, IwasChandler.”
When the series ended 10 seasons later in 2004, it had become one of television’s highest-rated shows, and the cast’s salaries had soared to $1 million an episode. A hit in syndication and on streaming services even after its finale, the series “changed my life in every way,” Perry said. “The show ended when I was 34. It formed my life. And it was the time of my life.”
Jeff Lipsky/CPi Syndication
Born Aug. 19, 1969, in Williamstown, Mass., Matthew Langford Perry was the only child ofSuzanne, a Canadian journalist and onetime press secretary to Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, andJohn, a character actor known for his Old Spice commercials. After their divorce before he turned 1, Perry shuttled between them in Los Angeles and Ottawa for much of his youth. His mother marriedDatelinejournalistKeith Morrisonwhen Perry was around 10 and proceeded to have four morechildren: Caitlin, Emily, Will and Madeline.
Matthew Perry and Tracey Gold on ‘Growing Pains’ in 1989.
But it was a guest role on the HBO comedyDream Onin 1992 that caught the attention of its creators,Marta Kauffman and David Crane. They remembered Perry when they were piecing together their next series,Six of One, which eventually becameFriends. “When Matthew reads that dialogue, it sparkles and it comes alive,” Kauffman said in 2021.
Looking back, Perry described himself at that time as “just a guy desperate for fame. Just ‘on’ all the time. It wasn’t until my mid-thirties that I realized I don’t have to do that all the time, because, first of all, it’s probably annoying to people. But I thought being funny all the time was how I would get through. I thought it was going to fix everything. It didn’t. And the disease was just getting started right around then.”
He’d been drinking since he was a teen — then got hooked on opioids after a Jet Ski accident during the production of his 1997 filmFools Rush In. “I hadn’t had a pill before that,” he explained. “That first high from it was euphoria. And then I didn’t need to drink, which made you sweat and made you smell of alcohol.” At the height of his addiction, Perry was taking 55 Vicodin a day and dropped to 128 lbs.
Matthew Perry and Salma Hayek in ‘Fools Rush In’.Columbia Pictures/Getty
Still, his career flourished. His most successful film, 2000’sThe Whole Nine Yards,costarring Bruce Willis, grossed $100 million worldwide and led to a 2004 sequel. He earned an Emmy nomination forFriendsin 2002 and two more for his work onThe West Wingas a Republican lawyer. In 2007 he received his fourth Emmy nomination, forThe Ron Clark Story, in which he portrayed a real-life teacher in the New York City public school system.
He followed a string of short-lived series—including 2006’sStudio 60 on the Sunset Strip,Mr. Sunshinein 2011 and 2012’sGo On—with three seasons ofThe Odd Couple, a reboot of the classic 1970s comedy, alongside Thomas Lennon and Wendell Pierce. “He was smart, funny and so very kind,” says Pierce.
Perry also guest-starred as a politician in 2012 onThe Good Wifeand its 2017 spinoffThe Good Fight. In between, he wrote the playThe End of Longingand starred in it as an embellished version of himself, a lost soul who drinks his life away.
“AfterFriendsand getting typecast as Chandler, what I tried to do for about 10 years was play against that and do some drama work and had some success in that,” he said. “And then I realized there’s no getting away from [Friends]. People still love it as much as they loved it a long time ago.”
Matthew Perry in 2012.Jeff Lipsky/CPi Syndication
Even as he continued acting, Perry was still fighting his demons. When he was 49, he was hospitalized for five months after his colon burst following years of opioid abuse. The ordeal left him even more determined to support others. After 14 surgeries on his stomach, he saw his scars as a blessing. “That’s a lot of reminders to stay sober,” he said.
Another reason: He toldPeoplein 2022 that he had been inspired to stop drinking after having what he called a religious experience in his kitchen when he sensed God. “There was just this light,” he recalled. “The kitchen disappeared, and I felt loved and understood. . . . Maybe when you die, it’s not the end. I hope that’s the case.”
Perry was open to the notion of falling in love again. While hispast girlfriendsincludedJulia Roberts, the actor — who was briefly engaged in 2020 to literary managerMolly Hurwitz— insisted he was “not afraid” of letting his guard down anymore. “Through a lot of work I’ve gotten over that fear,” he said in 2022. He also looked forward to having kids someday. As a dad, “I think I’d be great. I really do,” he added. “I grew up with a lot of little kids around me, and that’s probably why, but I can’t wait.”
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Matthew Perry in 2022.
His journey in life—though dark at times—made the actor stronger “in every way,” he said, and he truly believed “everything happened for a reason.”
At his new home, which he called “heaven” to friends, Perry was most drawn to the breathtaking view. “When I was 5 years old, my parents put me on a plane alone from Montreal to Los Angeles. And I was terrified, my feet didn’t even touch the floor,” he explained. “And then when I saw the lights of the city, I knew we were landing and my dad was going to be there and I’d be parented again. That’s why views of the ocean or city lights have always given me a feeling of safety.”
One can only hope that in his final hours, Perry looked out again at the vista before him and felt safe—and loved—one last time.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, please contact the SAMHSA helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.
source: people.com
