Matthew Perry, the actor well-known for playing Chandler Bing on the hit NBC sitcom “Friends,” has hit the internet with sad news. Fans are really sad and worried because they need to know what exactly happened to the Friends star actor.
Perry was found in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home, law enforcement sources told the Los Angeles Times (a news agency). Authorities found him unresponsive around 4 p.m., and there were no signs of foul play or drugs on the scene of the incident. It’s all going to be emotional in the next section.
What Happened to Matthew Perry?
Friends star Matthew Perry, an Emmy-nominated actor whose sarcastic but lovable Chandler Bing was one of TV’s most famous and quoted characters, died at age 54.
He passed away and was found drowned in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home on Saturday, as per the Los Angeles Times and celebrity website TMZ, which was the first to report the news. Both media outlets cited anonymous sources corroborating Perry’s death.
Matthew Perry’s Early Days
Matthew Perry was born in Williamstown, a place in Massachusetts. He is the son of an actor and a journalist, and moved to Ottawa, Canada, as a child after his parents divorced.
Perry grew up to pursue his passion for tennis and became Canada’s top tennis player. Like his father, young Perry became interested in acting after moving to Los Angeles to live with him as a teenager. Perry’s first role was a bit part in the 1979 drama 240-Robert.
From there, she went on to play supporting roles on shows like “Charles in Charge,” “Silver Spoons,” and “The Tracey Ullman Show.”
His first film role was while he was still in high school, co-starring River Phoenix in the 1988 film “One Night with Jimmy Reardon”.
The year before this film was released, Perry starred in the sitcom Second Chances (later renamed Boys Will Be Boys), in which a young man, played by Perry, returns to Earth in search of a dead younger version of himself to care for.
Although the series failed to find an audience, Perry continued to land high-profile roles in television projects such as Growing Pains, Who’s the Boss, and Beverly Hills, 90210.
Was Perry Married?
From trustworthy sources, we know that in the 1990s, Matthew Perry dated Julia Roberts and Yasmine Bleeth. Even though he was really close to his friends on and off the screen in “Friends,” he did not get married or have kids in real life.
Matthew Perry and Addiction
Even after Matthew Perry became famous for his role as Chandler Bing on Friends, he wasn’t afraid to talk about his struggles.
“When [celebrity] shows up, it’s like Disneyland for a while. For me, it takes about eight months for that feeling to become, ‘I’m done, I’m excited, there’s nothing wrong with the world.’
And I realized that it doesn’t help anything and certainly doesn’t bridge the gap into your life,” he told The New York Times in 2002, a year after he got sober.
“I didn’t get sober because I felt like I was going to get drunk. I stopped getting sober because I was scared that I was going to die the next day.”
Perry’s addiction began after his 1997 jet ski accident, and he became addicted to Vicodin. This eventually led to alcohol abuse, to the point where he often had hangovers at work. She was hospitalized in 2000 with pancreatitis caused by alcohol abuse.
The actor recalled that while undergoing detoxification treatment, he often trembled and sweated after filming. His sixth season finale of Friends, “The One with the Proposal,” aired in May 2000.
The seventh season premiere, “The One With Monica’s Thunder,” aired five months later. However, as the storyline resumed later that day, fans noticed how much Perry’s appearance had changed during the break.
What is Matthew Perry’s Net Worth?
Matthew Perry has a total of 120 million dollars. He gets most of his money from being an actor, executive producer, and also a person who writes for the screen.
As part of the 2000 contract negotiations, performers were able to request back-end credits for their shows, which allowed them to earn royalties from syndicated sales of their shows.
Before this, only Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Cosby had been TV stars on the show. “Friends” still makes more than 1 billion dollars every year from people paying to show it on TV and on streaming websites.
In some years, it is reported that each performer can earn 10 million dollars and 20 million dollars in royalties alone.
Special Tributes from Friends
The verified Friends account on Instagram posted a heartfelt tribute to Perry on Saturday night, writing: “Shocked to learn of Matthew Perry’s passing. He was a true gift to all of us.” I spelled it out.
“What a loss,” Maggie Wheeler, who played Chandler’s on-again, off-again girlfriend Janice in the series, wrote on her Instagram.
“The world will miss you, Matthew Perry,” she continued. “The joy you brought to so many people in your all-too-short life will always live on. I feel so blessed for all the creative moments we shared.”
Selma Blair, who also appeared on Friends, called Perry her “oldest friend” on her Instagram. “We all loved Matthew Perry, but I especially loved him—every day. I loved him unconditionally. And he is me. And I broke down. My heart hurts. Sweet dreams, Matty.”
Michael Rapaport, who played Gary in four episodes of the series, wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that Perry was “always so sweet, cool, relaxed, and talented.” He added, “They are part of American culture and will be forever.”
Perry’s “The Odd Couple” co-star Yvette Nicole Brown wrote in X that “the show’s family suffered a huge loss today. So did the entire entertainment world.”
She also wrote that Perry “was a sweetheart who was worth more peace in this world. He is too young at 54.” Perry is survived by his parents. May his soul rest in peace. Amen.
