Matthew Perry, who starred as sarcastic-but-sweet Chandler Bing in the hit series “Friends,” has died. He was 54.
“Friends” cast member Courteney Cox, left, gives Matthew Perry a kiss backstage as Lisa Kudrow looks on, after the actors won Outstanding Ensemble Performance in a Comedy Series at the 2nd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, Saturday, Feb. 24, 1996, in Santa Monica, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
In this Sept. 22, 2002, file photo the cast of “Friends” from left: Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, Lisa Kudrow, Courteney Cox Arquette, Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer appear during the 54th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.
(AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian, File)
Matthew Perry as Chandler appears in this scene from NBC’s “Friends,” in this undated publicity photo. (AP Photo/Warner Bros.)
File – Matthew Perry poses for a portrait on Feb. 17, 2015, in New York. Perry, who starred Chandler Bing in the hit series “Friends,” has died. He was 54. The Emmy-nominated actor was found dead of an apparent drowning at his Los Angeles home on Saturday, according to the Los Angeles Times and celebrity website TMZ, which was the first to report the news. Both outlets cited unnamed sources confirming Perry’s death. His publicists and other representatives did not immediately return messages seeking comment. (Photo by Brian Ach/Invision/AP)
FILE – Actor Matthew Perry arrives at a benefit screening of “Moonlight Mile,” Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2002, in Beverly Hills, Calif. Perry, who starred Chandler Bing in the hit series “Friends,” has died. He was 54. The Emmy-nominated actor was found dead of an apparent drowning at his Los Angeles home on Saturday, according to the Los Angeles Times and celebrity website TMZ, which was the first to report the news. Both outlets cited unnamed sources confirming Perry’s death. His publicists and other representatives did not immediately return messages seeking comment. (AP Photo/Chris Weeks, File)
FILE – In this May 5, 2002 file photo, Matthew Perry, from left, Courteney Cox Arquettte, David Schwimmer, Jennifer Aniston and Matt LeBlanc of the television show “Friends,” arrive at New York’s Rockefeller Center for NBC’s 75th Anniversary event. Perry, who starred Chandler Bing in the hit series “Friends,” has died. He was 54. The Emmy-nominated actor was found dead of an apparent drowning at his Los Angeles home on Saturday, according to the Los Angeles Times and celebrity website TMZ, which was the first to report the news. Both outlets cited unnamed sources confirming Perry’s death. His publicists and other representatives did not immediately return messages seeking comment. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg, File)
FILE – Matthew Perry arrives at the premiere of “Ride” at The Arclight Hollywood Theater in Los Angeles in 2015. Perry, who starred Chandler Bing in the hit series “Friends,” has died. He was 54. The Emmy-nominated actor was found dead of an apparent drowning at his Los Angeles home on Saturday, according to the Los Angeles Times and celebrity website TMZ, which was the first to report the news. Both outlets cited unnamed sources confirming Perry’s death. His publicists and other representatives did not immediately return messages seeking comment. (Photo by Rich Fury/Invision/AP, File)
FILE – Actor Matthew Perry poses in his hotel bedroom in New York, Aug. 7, 2002. Perry, who starred Chandler Bing in the hit series “Friends,” has died. He was 54. The Emmy-nominated actor was found dead of an apparent drowning at his Los Angeles home on Saturday, according to the Los Angeles Times and celebrity website TMZ, which was the first to report the news. Both outlets cited unnamed sources confirming Perry’s death. His publicists and other representatives did not immediately return messages seeking comment. (AP photo/Gino Domenico, File)
The Emmy-nominated actor was found dead of an apparent drowning at his Los Angeles home Saturday, according to the Los Angeles Times and celebrity website TMZ, which was the first to report the news. Both outlets cited unnamed sources confirming Perry’s death.
His publicists and other representatives did not immediately return messages seeking comment. Asked by AP to confirm police response to what was listed as Perry’s home address LAPD Officer Drake Madison told The Associated Press that officers had gone there “for a death investigation of a male in his 50s.”
Perry’s 10 seasons on “Friends” 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. By the series’ end, Chandler is married to Cox’s Monica and they have a family, reflecting the journey of the core cast from single New Yorkers to married and starting families.
The series was one of television’s biggest hits and has taken on a new life — and found surprising popularity with younger fans — in recent years on streaming services.
“Friends” ran from 1994 until 2004, and the cast notably banded together for later seasons to obtain a salary of $1 million per episode for each.
Unknown at the time was the struggle Perry had with addiction and an intense desire to please audiences.
“’Friends’ was huge. I couldn’t 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,” he wrote in his memoir, “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing.” “I had a secret and no one could know.”
“I felt like I was gonna die if the live audience didn’t laugh, and that’s not healthy for sure. But I could sometimes say a line and the audience wouldn’t laugh and I would sweat and sometimes go into convulsions,” Perry wrote. “If I didn’t 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.”
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 “Friends” role and two more for appearances as an associate White House counsel on “The West Wing.”
Perry also had several notable film roles, starring opposite Salma Hayek in the rom-com “Fools Rush In” and Bruce Willis in the the crime comedy “The Whole Nine Yards.”
Staff writer Emily Holshouser contributed to this story.
