{"id":19125,"date":"2023-10-29T10:08:09","date_gmt":"2023-10-29T10:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/matthew-perry-friends-actor-dies-at-54\/"},"modified":"2023-10-29T10:08:09","modified_gmt":"2023-10-29T10:08:09","slug":"matthew-perry-friends-actor-dies-at-54","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/matthew-perry-friends-actor-dies-at-54\/","title":{"rendered":"Matthew Perry: ‘Friends’ actor dies at 54"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Actor Matthew Perry, who gained fame in the 1990s as the wise-cracking Chandler Bing in the top-rated US television comedy \u201cFriends\u201d and chronicled his decades-long battle with substance abuse in a memoir last year, died on Saturday at age 54.<\/strong><\/p>\n

His death was confirmed in a statement posted by NBC, the broadcast network that aired \u201cFriends\u201d for 10 years, on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are incredibly saddened by the too soon passing of Matthew Perry,\u201d NBC Entertainment said. \u201cHe brought so much joy to hundreds of millions of people around the world with his pitch perfect comedic timing and wry wit. His legacy will live on through countless generations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Los Angeles Times and TMZ.com, both citing unnamed law enforcement sources, reported that the American-Canadian performer was found dead in a hot tub or jacuzzi.<\/p>\n

NBC News, citing an unnamed representative of Perry and a law enforcement source, reported the actor was found dead of an apparent drowning at his home in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

Ironically, Matthew Perry\u2019s last post on Instagram, on Oct. 23, was a photo of him sitting by a pool or jacuzzi at night, with him writing, \u201cOh, so warm water swirling around makes you feel good? I\u2019m Mattman.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perry was best known for his longtime role as Chandler in the hugely successful \u201cFriends,\u201d which ran for 10 seasons on the NBC network from 1994 to 2004, co-starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc and Lisa Kudrow.<\/p>\n

The series made international celebrities out of all six castmates, playing a close-knit group of young adults who shared space in one another\u2019s apartments and met for coffee at the \u201cCentral Perk,\u201d a fictional Manhattan cafe.<\/p>\n

Read more: Rachel Zegler debuts as \u2018Snow White\u2019 in first look of film<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

One of the major story lines involved a clandestine romance between Chandler and Monica Geller, the character played by Cox, which the four other friends \u2013 Rachel, Joey, Phoebe and Ross \u2013 each discovered one by one. The two characters eventually marry.<\/p>\n

The entire group came back together 17 years after the series finale for a much-ballyhooed reunion special that aired on HBO Max in 2021.<\/p>\n

But none ever managed to rekindle quite the level of individual stardom and commercial success they garnered as the ensemble cast of what was for a time the most watched U.S.<\/a> television program in prime time. Each reportedly earned $1 million per episode at the height of the show\u2019s popularity.<\/p>\n

Hidden from the public\u2019s view during much of the original run was Perry\u2019s prolonged struggle with addiction to prescription drugs and alcohol, which he detailed in his 2022 memoir, \u201cFriends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHi, my name is Matthew, although you may know me by another name. My friends call me Matty. And I should be dead,\u201d Perry wrote in the opening of the book.<\/p>\n

In a New York Times interview published in October 2022, Perry said he had been clean for 18 months, telling the newspaper: \u201cI\u2019ve probably spent $9 million or something trying to get sober.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matthew Perry recounted in his book that he had to be driven back to rehab right after shooting the episode of Chandler and Monica\u2019s wedding.<\/p>\n

Following \u201cFriends,\u201d Matthew Perry went on to star in three more network television ventures that proved short-lived \u2013 \u201cStudio 60 on the Sunset Strip,\u201d \u201cMr. Sunshine\u201d and \u201cGo On.\u201d<\/p>\n

Through his career, he also logged guest appearances or recurring roles in other hit TV shows, including \u201cThe West Wing,\u201d \u201cAlly McBeal,\u201d \u201cScrubs\u201d and \u201cBeverly Hills, 90210.\u201d His motion picture credits included \u201cFools Rush In,\u201d \u201cThe Whole Nine Yards,\u201d \u201cAlmost Heroes\u201d and \u201cThree to Tango.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Massachusetts-born actor grew up in Ottawa after his mother, a Canadian journalist who once served as press secretary to former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, divorced Perry\u2019s father and married a Canadian broadcast personality.<\/p>\n

Trudeau\u2019s son and incumbent Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau paid tribute to his boyhood friend, calling Perry\u2019s death \u201cshocking and saddening.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll 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,\u201d Trudeau wrote on X.<\/p>\n

As a youngster, Mathew Perry became a top-ranked junior tennis player before moving to Los Angeles to pursue acting and improvisational comedy.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n