Matthew Perry, best known for his role as Chandler Bing on Friends, died at the age of 54. On October 28, he was discovered unresponsive in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home. Police were called around 4 p.m. and confirmed the incident without providing any additional information.
No signs of foul play were found at first, and an investigation is underway. Matthew Perry became famous for playing Chandler Bing on the highly successful TV show Friends, which aired from 1994 to 2004 and made its cast international stars.
Friends is about six close friends sharing apartments in New York City. One significant storyline focuses on Chandler, including his secret relationship with Monica, Ross’s sister, leading to their marriage. Matthew Perry, born in 1969 to actor John Bennett Perry and Suzanne Marie Langford, grew up between Montreal and Los Angeles. He was classmates with future Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau.
He began acting at a young age and rose to fame as Chandler Bing on the hit television show Friends, where he was known for his wit and humor in 234 episodes. In 2002, he received an Emmy nomination for the role. Chandler’s character on the show progressed from a socially awkward young man who struggled with women to a responsible family man capable of genuine moments of sincerity.
He was well-known for delivering a good number of the show’s most memorable lines and jokes, some of which he wrote himself. Together with co-star LeBlanc, he forged a humorous partnership as Monica and Rachel’s best friends, Chandler and Joey. His romantic encounter with Monica in London, his love triangle, and his on-again, off-again relationship with Janice were all noteworthy storylines.
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A lot of people observed how much Perry mirrored his persona. He even believed that his clever and wisecracking jokes had been plagiarized. In 1994, Perry’s acting friends asked him for advice on auditions, and he thought they were copying him. He purposefully used unconventional emphases for his own audition, which turned into one of Chandler’s defining characteristics.
He candidly discussed his fears with the cast in a pre-production interview prior to the start of filming. He used his sense of humor as a self-defense mechanism. In fact, he would get very upset if a joke failed to make the audience laugh.
Three weeks prior to his Friends audition, Perry recalled a time when he had knelt down and prayed. This incident was recounted in his memoir, “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing,” where he also discussed his struggles with addiction and career memories.
“God, you can do whatever you want to me,” he begged. “Just please make me famous.”
Perry starred in TV series such as Boys Will Be Boys, Growing Pains, Beverly Hills 90210, The West Wing, Scrubs, and The Odd Couple, but he never achieved the same level of success as he did on Friends. In addition, he starred in films including 17 Again, The Kid, and Fools Rush In.
In 2017, he decided to take a break from acting. Then, soon after proposing to literary manager Molly Hurwitz in 2021, he called it quits on their engagement.
