Matthew Perry: ‘Friends’ star dies at 54
The blockbuster TV series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions and Warner Bros. Television. The Los Angeles Times and celebrity news site TMZ first broke the news, citing anonymous sources.
They reported that first responders found Perry unconscious in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home. They were unable to revive him.
There was no indication of foul play, the media outlets said. Perry was 54. The investigation is ongoing and details about his death were not immediately available.
Perry received one Emmy nomination for his role in “Friends” and two more for appearances as an associate White House counsel on the “The West Wing.”
Perry writes book about addiction
Last year, Perry released his memoir, “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir,” about his battle with alcohol and addiction.
He spend more than half his life in rehab and treatment centers, detoxing more than 65 times and paying millions trying to get sober.
He wrote about his near-death experience in 2018, when his colon burst.
Perry’s early life and his big break on ‘Friends’
Born in 1969, Perry grew up between Montreal and Los Angeles after his parents separated when he was a baby, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Perry first tried his hand at playing tennis and he was successful at a young age, but he left the sport to pursue a career in acting.
He began acting young and appeared in hits like “Beverly Hills, 90210,” and “A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon” opposite actor River Phoenix.
But his big break came on “Friends” that premiered in 1994 and where he starred opposite Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow and David Schwimmer.
Perry played the role of Chandler Bing, a character known for his witty one-liners, on the 90’s TV sitcom that followed the lives of six single New Yorkers navigating adulthood.
The last episode of “Friends” aired in 2004 after a 10-year run that turned Perry and his cast mates into global celebrities. The show remains one of the most popular TV shows to date.
“Friends’ was huge, I couldn’t jeopardize that. I loved the script. I loved my co-actors. I love the scripts… but I was struggling with my addictions which only added to my sense of shame,” Perry wrote in his memoir. “I had a secret and no one could know,” he wrote.
Source: DW
