According to several American media, the actor was found lifeless at his home on Saturday.
He was part of the most famous group of friends on the small screen. Actor Matthew Perry, who played the character Chandler Bing in the American sitcom Friendsdied at the age of 54, several American media reported on Saturday October 28. According to Los Angeles Timesthe actor was found unconscious by his assistant, in his jacuzzi, at his home in Los Angeles (California). No signs of criminal activity were found, according to anonymous sources cited by the Los Angeles Times and the specialized media TMZ, which first announced his death.
Due to the separation of his parents, Matthew Perry, born in 1969 in Massachusetts, was raised between Montreal and Los Angeles. His mother, Suzanne Langford, is a Canadian journalist who worked for Justin Trudeau’s father, former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau. Matthew Perry’s father, John Bennett Perry, is also an actor. The two men notably played together in the film Love at first sight and consequences
He struggled with addiction for a long time.
Matthew Perry was best known for his role in the hit sitcom Friends, which recounted the adventures of a group of six New York friends: Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Joey, Ross and Chandler, an office worker with a sharp sense of humor. The ten seasons of the series, broadcast between 1994 and 2004 on NBC, total more than 230 episodes. It reached a new audience thanks to its broadcast on the Netflix streaming platform.
Matthew Perry received three nominations for the Emmy Awards, the American television awards, for his roles in Friends then in the series To the White House. He also played one of the main roles in the films My Neighbor the Killer and My Neighbor the Killer 2with Bruce Willis.
The actor had been battling an addiction to painkillers and alcohol for years. In his memoirs published in 2022, he confided having undergone detoxification treatment 65 times in recent years. He had also suffered several osurgical operations linked to his addiction problems, including a seven-hour colon surgery in 2018.
Hollywood salutes its “comic genius”
In a press release to Los Angeles Timesthe Warner Bros TV studio, which produced the iconic series, said “devastated” by the news of his death. “Matthew was an incredibly talented actor. (…) His comedic genius was felt around the world,” added the studio. For its part, NBC declared that it was “terribly saddened by the untimely death of Matthew Perry.” “He brought so much joy to hundreds of millions of people around the world (…) and his legacy will live on through many generations”according to the American channel.
Several personalities also reacted to the announcement of the actor’s death. Maggie Wheeler, who played his girlfriend Janice in Friendssaid to be “lucky to have been able to share all these creative moments” with Matthew Perry. “Everyone loved him, especially me.”said actress Selma Blair on the same social network.
The Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, a former classmate of the actor, also paid tribute to him. “The passing of Matthew Perry is sad and heartbreaking. I will never forget our schoolyard games, and I know people around the world will not forget the joy you brought them, he wrote on X (formerly Twitter). Thanks for all the laughs Matthew. You were loved, and you will be missed.”