Matthew Perry, who played Chandler Bing on Friends, has died at the age of 54.
TMZ and the Los Angeles Times report that Perry was found Saturday at his Los Angeles-area home around 4:00 p.m. local time. Law enforcement sources told TMZ that the actor apparently drowned in his hot tub, possibly after suffering cardiac arrest. TMZ adds that no drugs were found at the scene, and there was no sign of foul play.
Update – December 15th: Perry’s cause of death was due to “the acute effects of ketamine,” according to a newly released report from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Perry was born in Plymouth, Massachusetts and raised in Canada, as his mother, Marie Morrison, served as press secretary to former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. His father, John Bennett Perry, is also an actor.
At the age of 15, Matthew Perry moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting. His first role came on the short-lived Fox sitcom Second Chance, which aired in 1987. In the years that followed, Perry landed minor roles on shows like Growing Pains and Beverley Hills, 90210. In the early 1990s, he was cast as a series regular on Sydney and Home Free — both of which were canceled after one season.
Perry finally caught his big break after auditioning for the role of Chandler Bing on Friends. The NBC sitcom of course went on to become one of the most popular sitcoms in television history. At no point during its 10 season run between 1995 and 2004 did the show average less than 22 million viewers, while its season finale drew 52.5 million viewers. For his performance as Bing, Perry received a Golden Globe nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series in 2002.
Amidst Friends’ run, Perry showed off his dramatic acting chops with a three-episode guest arc on Aaron Sorkin’s The West Wing. His portrayal of Associate White House Counsel Joe Quincy earned him nominations for Outstanding Guest Actor at the 2003 and 2004 Emmy Awards.
In 2006, Sorkin reunited with Sorkin to star on Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, which ran for one season. His other post-Friends projects included comedy pilots Mr. Sunshine and Go On; a three-season run on CBS’s revival of The Odd Couple; and as Ted Kennedy on the mini-series The Kennedys: After Camelot.
In 2021, Perry reunited with his Friends co-stars for a one-off HBO Max special. The following year he published his memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, in which he detailed his life-long battle with substance abuse. Perry had been sober since May 2021.
Update: In a joint statement, Perry’s Friends co-stars said they were “utterly devastated” by Perry’s death.
