Matthew Perry was a star of the epoch-making TV comedy “Friends”, but behind the scenes his life was a constant struggle with drug and alcohol addiction, DPA reveals.
The world-famous actor was found dead in the jacuzzi at his home in Los Angeles on Saturday, and no signs of violence were found at the scene, the American press reported.
SEE PHOTOS OF MATTHEW PERRY OVER THE YEARS HERE
Perry was one of the best-known and highest-paid TV stars of the decade since 1994, when the first episode of Friends aired, following the lives of a group of six twenty-something friends living in New York.
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Perry had comedic timing to perfection and never failed to inject his sense of humor into the role of Chandler Bing, which earned him an Emmy nomination in 2002 and helped create one of the most popular television shows of all time.
However, he secretly battled drug and alcohol abuse for decades.
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Massachusetts-born Perry grew up in Canada, where he studied alongside Justin Trudeau, who is now the country’s prime minister. After moving to Los Angeles, Perry starred as Chaz Russell in Boys Will Be Boys and also had roles in series including the sitcom Growing Pains before becoming a global superstar as Chandler.
“It was the only person who could play it,” Friends creator Martha Kaufman says in the special about the team’s 2021 reunion.
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Perry was a natural fit for the role of Chandler, loved for his sarcastic one-liners, and many of his mannerisms carried over to the actor himself.
In his memoirs, he says: “It was as if someone had been following me for a whole year, stealing my jokes, copying my mannerisms, copying my tired but witty outlook on life. One character in particular stood out: I didn’t think I could “play” Chandler. I ‘was’ Chandler.”
However, when he first appeared on Friends at the age of 24, his addiction to alcohol began to emerge. By the end of the hit show’s 10th series, he was “getting into a lot of trouble,” Perry revealed years later.
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In a 2016 interview, he stated that he did not remember filming three seasons of the series because he was “a bit beside himself” at the time. At one point during his time on Friends, Perry says he was taking 55 Vicodin painkillers a day and was down to about 65 pounds.
Along with co-stars Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow and David Schwimmer, Perry has become one of the most recognizable faces in Hollywood, reportedly earning $1 million per episode at the height of the show’s fame. He joined his former co-stars for the highly-anticipated Friends reunion special in May 2021.
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Although she hid her addiction from the public for years, Perry detailed her struggle in her 2022 memoir, Friends, Lovers And The Big Terrible Thing.
At the beginning of the book he writes: “Hello, my name is Matthew, although you may know me by another name. My friends call me Matty. And I should be dead.”
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After 15 stints in rehab and therapy sessions, in June 2022 Perry declared himself “healthy enough” and said he was motivated to help others struggling with addiction.
One of his main storylines on Friends was his character’s initially secret romance with Monica Geller (Cox), which blossomed into marriage and the couple adopted twins.
Perry also appeared in several films, including 17 Again with Zac Efron, Fast Work with Salma Hayek and Getting In with comedian Dave Chappelle.
He appeared in The Nine Yards and The Kid with Bruce Willis – who guest-starred in the sixth series of Friends.
Perry won a Golden Globe for Best Actor for his role in the miniseries The Ron Clark Story and has a total of 5 Emmy Award nominations.
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2023-10-29 14:54:00
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