NNA – Actor Matthew Perry, beloved star of the top-rated 1990s U.S. television sitcom quot;Friendsquot; as the wise-cracking Chandler Bing, died on Saturday after apparently drowning in a hot tub. He was 54.
The Los Angeles Times and TMZ.com, citing law enforcement sources, reported that the American-Canadian performer was found dead in a jacuzzi at his Los Angeles home. NBC, which broadcast quot;Friendsquot; for 10 years, confirmed his demise in a statement on social media platform X.
The news brought an outpouring of grief from fellow celebrities and other high-profile personalities.
Actor Mira Sorvino said on X: ldquo;Oh no!!! Matthew Perry!! You sweet, troubled soul!! May you find and happiness in Heaven, making everyone laugh with your singular wit!!!rdquo;
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who was a former schoolmate of Perry#39;s in Ottawa, described the latter#39;s passing as quot;shocking and saddeningquot;.
quot;I#39;ll 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,quot; Trudeau said on X. quot;Thanks for all the laughs, Matthew. You were loved – and you will be missed.rdquo;
NBC News, citing an unnamed representative of Perry and a law enforcement source, said he was found dead at his home in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles.
quot;We are incredibly saddened by the too-soon passing of Matthew Perry,quot; NBC Entertainment said. quot;He 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.quot;
Perry#39;s last post on Instagram, on Oct. 23, included a photograph of him sitting by a pool or jacuzzi at night, with the words: quot;Oh, so warm water swirling around makes you feel good? I#39;m Mattman.quot;
Perry was best known for his longtime role as Chandler in the internationally successful quot;Friends,quot; which ran for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004, co-starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc and Lisa Kudrow.
The series made international celebrities out of all six castmates, who played a close-knit group of young adults who spent time at each other#39;s apartments and at quot;Central Perk,quot; a fictional Manhattan cafe.
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 – Rachel, Joey, Phoebe and Ross – each discovered one by one. The pair eventually marry.
The group reunited in 2021, 17 years after the series finale, for a much-hyped special that aired on HBO Max.
The show was, for a time, the most watched U.S. television program in prime time, with each actor earning $1 million per episode at the height of its popularity.
Hidden from the public#39;s view during much of the original run was Perry#39;s prolonged struggle with addiction to prescription drugs and alcohol, which he detailed in his 2022 memoir, quot;Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing.quot;
quot;Hi, my name is Matthew, although you may know me by another name. My friends call me Matty. And I should be dead,quot; Perry wrote in the opening of the book.
In a New York Times interview published in October 2022, Perry said he had been clean for 18 months: quot;I#39;ve probably spent $9 million or something trying to get sober.quot;
Perry recounted in his book that he had to be driven back to rehab right after shooting the episode of Chandler and Monica#39;s wedding.
Following quot;Friends,quot; Perry went on to star in three more network television ventures that proved short-lived – quot;Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,quot; quot;Mr. Sunshinequot; and quot;Go On.quot;
He also logged guest appearances or recurring roles in other hit TV shows, including quot;The West Wing,quot; quot;Ally McBeal,quot; quot;Scrubsquot; and quot;Beverly Hills, 90210.quot; His motion picture credits included quot;Fools Rush In,quot; quot;The Whole Nine Yards,quot; quot;Almost Heroesquot; and quot;Three to Tango.quot;
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#39;s father and married a Canadian broadcasting personality.
Perry was a top-ranking junior tennis player before he moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting and improvisational comedy. — Reutersnbsp;
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