(Los Angeles) The death of actor Matthew Perry, star of the series “Friends”, was caused by “the acute effects” of taking ketamine, the Los Angeles County forensic pathology office announced Friday .
However, other factors also contributed to his death, determined to be an “accident”, detailed the same source: “drowning”, “coronary heart disease”, and “effects of buprenorphine”, a medication used to treat opioid addiction. Ketamine is an anesthetic sometimes misused for stimulating or euphoric purposes.
“With the elevated levels of ketamine found in postmortem blood samples, the primary lethal effects are believed to come from both cardiovascular overstimulation and respiratory failure,” the forensic bureau report said.
Matthew Perry, 54, was found unconscious on October 28 by his assistant in a jacuzzi at his home in Los Angeles.
The man who played “Chandler Bing” in the sitcom “Friends” had struggled for years with his addiction to drugs and alcohol.
In his memoirs published last year, he confided having undergone 65 withdrawal sessions, spending more than nine million dollars.
He had also undergone several surgeries related to his drug addiction problems, including a seven-hour colon operation in 2018, going so far as to say one day: “I should be dead”.
His unexpected death sparked a flood of tributes, ranging from major Hollywood figures to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Cultural phenomenon
Matthew Perry, born in Massachusetts (north-east) to Canadian and American parents, was raised in Canada before moving to Los Angeles.
During a television appearance shortly before his death, the actor surprised the audience by admitting to having suffered from severe anxiety “every night” while filming “Friends.”
A true cultural phenomenon, the series broadcast between 1994 and 2004 left its mark on an entire generation of viewers.
It tells the adventures of a group of happy friends – Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Joey, Ross and Chandler – in New York, punctuated by romantic relationships, notably between Monica and Chandler and the endless saga between Rachel and Ross.
Alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer, Matthew Perry made the success of this television series adored by American youth and beyond.
In the end, the six heroes were paid around a million dollars per episode.
According to Variety, they even negotiated a fee of $2.5 million each for filming a reunion show in 2021.
During this episode, Matthew Perry aroused the fears of his fans, visibly stammering his words.
Two days after his death, the five other actors published a joint statement where they said they were “totally devastated”.
In addition to the success of “Friends” which brought him worldwide fame, Matthew Perry starred in films such as “Love at First Sight” and “My Neighbor Killer”.