LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥� 鈥淔riends鈥� star Matthew Perry, the Emmy-nominated actor whose sarcastic, but lovable Chandler Bing was among television鈥檚 most famous and most quotable characters, has died at 54.
The actor was found dead at his Los Angeles home, according to coroner's records. An investigation into how Perry died is ongoing, and it may take weeks before his cause of death is determined.
Perry's body was found in a hot tub at his home, according to unnamed sources cited by the and , which was the first to report the news. LAPD Officer Drake Madison told The Associated Press on Saturday that officers had gone to that block 鈥渇or a death investigation of a male in his 50s.鈥�
鈥淭his truly is The One Where Our Hearts Are Broken, 鈥滷riends" co-creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane, and executive producer Kevin Bright, said in a statement. 鈥淲e will always cherish the joy, the light, the blinding intelligence he brought to every moment - not just to his work, but in life as well. He was always the funniest person in the room. More than that, he was the sweetest, with a giving and selfless heart."
Perry's 10 seasons on 鈥淔riends鈥� made him one of Hollywood's most recognizable actors, starring opposite Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow and David Schwimmer as a friend group in New York.
As Chandler, he played the quick-witted, insecure and neurotic roommate of LeBlanc's Joey and a close friend of Schwimmer's Ross. During the show's hijinks, he could be counted on to chime in with a line like 鈥淐ould this BE any more awkward?鈥� or another well-timed quip.
Perry was open about his long and public struggle with addiction, writing at the beginning of his 2022 million-selling memoir: "Hi, my name is Matthew, although you may know me by another name. My friends call me Matty. And I should be dead.鈥�
鈥淔riends鈥� ran from 1994 until 2004, winning one best comedy series Emmy Award in 2002. The cast notably banded together for later seasons to obtain a salary of $1 million per episode for each.
Some of his 鈥淔riends鈥� guest stars paid tribute on social media, posting photos, GIFS and bloopers from their favorite episodes.
鈥淲hat a loss,鈥� actress Maggie Wheeler, who played Perry's on-again, off-again girlfriend Janice, wrote on Instagram. 鈥淭he joy you brought to so many in your too short lifetime will live on."
Actress Morgan Fairchild, who played Perry's mother on the show, said the loss of a 鈥渂rilliant young actor鈥� was a shock.
鈥淚鈥檓 heartbroken about the untimely death of my 鈥榮on,鈥欌�� she wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
By the 鈥淔riends鈥� finale, Chandler is married to Cox's Monica and they have a family, reflecting the journey of the core cast from single New Yorkers trying to figure their lives out to several of them married and starting families.
The series was one of television鈥檚 biggest hits and has taken on a new life 鈥� and found surprising 鈥� in recent years on streaming services.
Perry described reading the 鈥淔riends鈥� script for the first time in his memoir, 鈥淔riends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing.鈥�
鈥淚t was as if someone had followed me around for a year, stealing my jokes, copying my mannerisms, photocopying my world-weary yet witty view of life. One character in particular stood out to me: it wasn鈥檛 that I thought I could 鈥榩lay鈥� Chandler. I 鈥榳as鈥� Chandler.鈥�
On Sunday, Perry's book was ranked No. 1 on Amazon, supplanting .
Unknown at the time was the struggle Perry had with addiction and an intense desire to please audiences.
鈥�'Friends' was huge. I couldn鈥檛 jeopardize that. I loved the script. I loved my co-actors. I loved the scripts. I loved everything about the show but I was struggling with my addictions which only added to my sense of shame,鈥� he wrote in his memoir. 鈥淚 had a secret and no one could know.鈥�
鈥淚 felt like I was gonna die if the live audience didn鈥檛 laugh, and that鈥檚 not healthy for sure. But I could sometimes say a line and the audience wouldn鈥檛 laugh and I would sweat and sometimes go into convulsions,鈥� Perry wrote. 鈥淚f I didn鈥檛 get the laugh I was supposed to get I would freak out. I felt that every single night. This pressure left me in a bad place. I also knew of the six people making that show, only one of them was sick.鈥�
He recalled in his memoir that Aniston confronted him about being inebriated while filming.
鈥淚 know you鈥檙e drinking,鈥� he remembered her telling him once. 鈥淲e can smell it,鈥� she said, in what Perry called a 鈥渒ind of weird but loving way, and the plural 鈥榳e鈥� hit me like a sledgehammer.鈥�
In the foreword to Perry's memoir, Lisa Kudrow described him as 鈥渨hip smart, charming, sweet, sensitive, very reasonable, and rational.鈥� She added, 鈥淭hat guy, with everything he was battling, was still there.鈥�
An HBO Max reunion special in 2021 was hosted by James Corden and fed into huge interest in seeing the cast together again, although the program consisted of the actors discussing the show and was not a continuation of their characters' storylines.
Perry received one Emmy nomination for his 鈥淔riends鈥� role and two more for appearances as an associate White House counsel on 鈥淭he West Wing.鈥�
Perry also had several notable film roles, starring opposite Salma Hayek in the rom-com 鈥淔ools Rush In鈥� and Bruce Willis in the the crime comedy 鈥淭he Whole Nine Yards.鈥�
He worked consistently after 鈥淔riends,鈥� though never in a role that brought him as much attention or acclaim.
In 2015, he played Oscar for a CBS reboot of 鈥淭he Odd Couple鈥� that aired for two seasons. He told the AP that playing Oscar Madison, the character originally made famous by Walter Matthau in the 1968 movie, was a 鈥渄ream role.鈥� He also said he was surprised how much he enjoyed being filmed again in front of a live audience.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 realize I missed it really until it actually happened, til we actually shot the pilot and there was a studio audience there and I realized, 鈥榃ow, I really like this. This is nice,鈥欌�� he said. 鈥淵ou kind of ham up for the people in the audience. My performance never got better than when there was an audience there.鈥�
Perry was born Aug. 19, 1969, in Williamstown, Massachusetts. His father is actor John Bennett Perry and his mother, Suzanne, served as press secretary of Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and is married to 鈥淒ateline鈥� correspondent Keith Morrison.
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Associated Press writers Alicia Rancilio, Janie Har, Hillel Italie, Lindsey Bahr, Ryan Pearson and Anthony McCartney contributed to this report.
The Associated Press
