Actor Matthew Perry, best known for playing wisecracking Chandler Bing in the hit ’90s TV sitcom Friends, has died at the age of 54.
He was found dead at his home in Los Angeles, law enforcement sources told media.
Friends, which followed the fortunes of six young friends living in New York City, aired from 1994 until 2004.
Its final episode was watched by 52.5 million in the United States, making it the most watched TV episode of the 2000s.
The LA Times and TMZ, which first reported that Matthew Perry had died, said the actor was found unresponsive in a hot tub at his house.
Warner Bros, which produced the long-running show whose global reruns were loved by new generations of viewers, described Matthew Perry as a “true gift to us all”.
Image source: Wikimedia Commons
Born in Massachusetts in 1969, Matthew Perry was raised in Ottawa, Canada, where he attended elementary school with Justin Trudeau, who later became Canadian prime minister.
Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, wrote on X: “Matthew Perry’s passing is shocking and saddening. I’ll never forget the schoolyard games we used to play, and I know people around the world are never going to forget the joy he brought them. Thanks for all the laughs, Matthew. You were loved – and you will be missed.”
Matthew Perry moved to Los Angeles as a teenager. He starred as Chazz Russell in Boys Will Be Boys and also had roles in shows including Growing Pains.
But he became an international star on Friends, a show which followed the lives of six New Yorkers navigating dating, careers and friendship.
The comedy, co-starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc and Lisa Kudrow, became one of the most successful shows of all time.
Matthew Perry was cast as the awkward Chandler Bing, famous for his sarcastic one-liners and his childish behaviour with room-mate Joey Tribbiani. The role earned him an Emmy nomination in 2002.
While at the height of his fame, Matthew Perry was battling with addiction to painkillers and alcohol, and attended rehabilitation clinics on multiple occasions.
He also appeared in several films, including Fools Rush In, Almost Heroes and the Whole Nine Yards – but never found a screen project which came anywhere near matching the huge success and fame he found in Friends.
His later TV work, however, achieved some acclaim.
His role as associate White House counsel Joe Quincy in Aaron Sorkin’s The West Wing earned him two Emmy nominations for outstanding guest actor in a drama series in 2003 and 2004. He played the lead role in Sorkin’s later series, Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip, then wrote and produced his own show called Mr. Sunshine in which he also played the lead character.
Matthew Perry’s final significant TV project – other than the Friends reunion – was a TV reboot of The Odd Couple, which lasted on American screens for three seasons.
In 2017, Matthew Perry tweeted he found out it was being canceled when he arrived on set and discovered his face on the stage door had been painted over with green paint.
