Matthew Perry

Matthew Langford Perry (August 19, 1969 – October 28, 2023) was an American and Canadian actor, comedian, director and screenwriter. He gained international fame for starring as Chandler Bing on the NBC television sitcom ''Friends'' (1994–2004). Perry also appeared on '' Ally McBeal'' (2002) and received Primetime Emmy Award nominations for his performances in ''The West Wing'' (2003) and '' The Ron Clark Story'' (2006). He played a leading role in the NBC series '' Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip'' (2006–2007), and also became known for his leading film roles in '' Fools Rush In'' (1997), '' Almost Heroes'' (1998), '' Three to Tango'' (1999), '' The Whole Nine Yards'' (2000), '' Serving Sara'' (2002), '' The Whole Ten Yards'' (2004), and '' 17 Again'' (2009).

Perry was co-creator, co-writer, executive producer, and star of the ABC sitcom '' Mr. Sunshine'', which ran from February to April 2011. In August 2012, he starred as sportscaster Ryan King on the NBC sitcom '' Go On''. He co-developed and starred in a revival of the CBS sitcom '' The Odd Couple'' portraying Oscar Madison from 2015 to 2017. He had recurring roles in the legal dramas '' The Good Wife'' (2012–2013), and '' The Good Fight'' (2017). Perry portrayed Ted Kennedy in '' The Kennedys: After Camelot'' (2017) and appeared as himself in his final television appearance, '' Friends: The Reunion'' (2021). He voiced Benny in the video game '' Fallout: New Vegas'' (2010).

For most of his life, Perry suffered from severe addictions to drugs and alcohol. Through his recovery, he became an advocate for rehabilitation and a spokesperson for the National Association of Drug Court Professionals. In 2013, Perry received the Champion of Recovery Award from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. In 2022, he released his memoir, '' Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing''.

He died on October 28, 2023, at age 54, from accidental drowning caused by the acute effects of ketamine use. Five people were charged in connection with helping him acquire lethal doses of the drug.

Early life and education

Matthew Langford Perry was born in Williamstown, Massachusetts, on August 19, 1969. His mother, Suzanne Marie Morrison (, born 1948), is a Canadian journalist who was press secretary to Canadian prime minister Pierre Trudeau. His father, John Bennett Perry (born 1941), is an American actor and former model.

Perry's parents separated when he was a year old and his mother married Canadian broadcast journalist Keith Morrison. Perry was mostly raised by his mother in Ottawa, Ontario, but he also lived briefly in Toronto and Montreal. He attended Rockcliffe Park Public School and Ashbury College, a boarding school in Ottawa. He had four younger maternal half-siblings—Caitlin, Emily, Will, and Madeline—as well as a younger paternal half-sister named Maria. His siblings "would stand and applaud" him for early performances.

By the time he was 10, Perry started misbehaving. He stole money, smoked, let his grades slip and beat up fellow student and future Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau. Perry later attributed his behavior to his feeling like a family outsider who no longer belonged, once his mother began having children with Morrison. As Perry wrote, "I was so often on the outside looking in, still that kid up in the clouds on a flight to somewhere else, unaccompanied." At age 14, he began consuming alcohol and by the time he was 18, he was drinking every day. Perry practiced tennis, often for 10 hours per day, and became a top-ranked junior player in Canada with the possibility of a tennis career. But his prospects diminished when he moved from Ottawa, at age 15, to live with his father in Los Angeles, where competition was much tougher.

At 15, Perry began studying acting at the Buckley School, a college-preparatory school in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, from which he graduated in 1987. While in high school, he took improvisational comedy classes at L.A. Connection in Sherman Oaks.

Career

1979–1993: Early roles

Perry's first credited role was a small part in '' 240-Robert'' in 1979 as a child actor. Shortly after moving to Los Angeles, Perry started auditioning for roles. Perry made guest appearances on '' Not Necessarily the News'' in 1983, '' Charles in Charge'' in 1985, and ''Silver Spoons'' in 1986. In 1987 and 1988, he played Chazz Russell in the TV series '' Second Chance'' (later called ''Boys Will Be Boys''). Perry made his film debut in 1988 with '' A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon''. In 1989, he had a three-episode arc on ''Growing Pains'', portraying Carol Seaver's boyfriend Sandy, who dies in a drunk driving incident.

Perry was cast as a regular on the 1990 CBS sitcom ''Sydney'', playing the younger brother of Valerie Bertinelli's character. In 1991, he made a guest appearance on ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' as Roger Azarian. Perry played the starring role in the ABC sitcom '' Home Free'', which aired in 1993.

1994–2004: Breakthrough with ''Friends''

Perry's commitment to a pilot for a sitcom called ''LAX 2194'', set in the baggage handling department of Los Angeles Airport 200 years in the future, initially made him unavailable for a role in another pilot, ''Six of One'', later called ''Friends''. After the ''LAX 2194'' pilot fell through, he had the opportunity to read for a part in ''Six of One'' and was cast as Chandler Bing. At age 24, he was the youngest member of the main cast. After making the pilot and while waiting for the show to air, Perry spent the summer of 1993 performing at the Williamstown Theater Festival alongside Gwyneth Paltrow.

''Friends'' was hugely successful, and it made Perry an international celebrity. By 2002, he and his co-stars Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, and David Schwimmer were making $1 million per episode. The program earned him an Emmy nomination in 2002 for the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series award. Perry appeared in films such as '' Fools Rush In'', '' Almost Heroes'', '' Three to Tango'', '' The Whole Nine Yards'' and its sequel '' The Whole Ten Yards'', and '' Serving Sara''. In 1995, he and Jennifer Aniston appeared in a 60-minute-long promotional video for Microsoft's Windows 95, released on VHS on August 1.

For his performance as Joe Quincy in ''The West Wing'', Perry received two Emmy nominations for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series in 2003 and 2004. He appeared as attorney Todd Merrick in two episodes of '' Ally McBeal.'' In 2004, he made his directorial debut and acted in an episode of the fourth season of the comedy-drama '' Scrubs'', an episode which included his father.

2005–2022: Later work

Perry starred in the TNT movie '' The Ron Clark Story,'' which premiered August 13, 2006, and received a Golden Globe and Emmy nomination for his performance. From 2006 to 2007, he appeared in Aaron Sorkin's drama '' Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip''. Perry played Matt Albie alongside Bradley Whitford's Danny Tripp, a writer-director duo brought in to help save a failing sketch show.

In 2006, Perry began filming '' Numb'', a film based on a man suffering from depersonalization disorder. The release was postponed several times, but it was finally released on DVD on May 13, 2008. Perry also appeared on stage in London in David Mamet's '' Sexual Perversity in Chicago''. In 2008, Perry starred in the independent film '' Birds of America''. Showtime passed on a pilot called ''The End of Steve'', a dark comedy starring, written, and produced by Perry and Peter Tolan.

In 2009, Perry starred in the film '' 17 Again'' playing a 37-year-old man who transforms into his 17-year-old self ( Zac Efron) after an accident. The film received mixed reviews and was a box-office success. A review on WRC-TV found Perry miscast in his role, emphasizing the disbelief in Efron growing up to resemble Perry, both physically and behaviorally — a sentiment echoed by other critics.

In 2009, Perry was a guest on ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'', when he presented Ellen DeGeneres with an Xbox 360 video game console and a copy of the game '' Fallout 3''. The gesture led to game studio Obsidian Entertainment casting him in '' Fallout: New Vegas'' as the voice of Benny.

Perry's new comedy pilot, '' Mr. Sunshine'', based on his original idea for the show, was bought by ABC. He played the lead role as a middle-aged man with an identity crisis. ABC canceled the series after nine episodes in 2011.
In 2012, Perry starred in the NBC comedy series '' Go On'', written and produced by former ''Friends'' writer/producer Scott Silveri. Perry portrayed Ryan King, a sportscaster who tries to move on after the death of his wife through the help of mandatory therapy sessions. In the same year, he guest-starred on the CBS drama '' The Good Wife'' as attorney Mike Kresteva. He reprised his role in the fourth season in 2013.

In 2014, Perry made his British TV debut in the one-off comedy program ''The Dog Thrower'', which aired on May 1 as part of Sky Arts' ''Playhouse Presents''. He portrayed "a charismatic man" who enchanted onlookers by throwing his dog in the air. From 2015 to 2017, Perry starred in, co-wrote, and served as executive producer of a reboot of the sitcom '' The Odd Couple'' on CBS. He played Oscar Madison opposite Thomas Lennon as Felix Unger.

Perry played the lead role in the world premiere production of his play '' The End of Longing'', which opened on February 11, 2016, at the Playhouse Theatre in London. Its limited run proved successful despite mixed reviews. Perry restructured the play and appeared alongside Jennifer Morrison in its second off-Broadway production, which opened at the Lucille Lortel Theatre on June 5, 2017. It closed on July 1 after receiving poor reviews. Years later Perry described the play as "a personal message to the world, an exaggerated form of me as a drunk. I had something important to say to people like me, and to people who love people like me."

In March 2017, Perry again reprised his role as attorney Mike Kresteva in '' The Good Fight'', a sequel show to the CBS drama '' The Good Wife''. Later that year, he starred as Ted Kennedy in the mini-series '' The Kennedys: After Camelot''.

In May 2021, he participated in the special episode '' Friends: The Reunion''. He was meant to have a role in '' Don't Look Up'', but withdrew in 2020 because of CPR-induced broken ribs. Perry published a memoir, '' Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing'', in October 2022. It became a bestseller on both Amazon and ''The New York Times'' charts.

Personal life

Perry held American citizenship by birth and Canadian citizenship through his Canadian born mother. He dated Yasmine Bleeth in 1995, Julia Roberts from 1995 to 1996, and Lizzy Caplan from 2006 to 2012. In November 2020, Perry became engaged to literary manager Molly Hurwitz. Their engagement ended in 2021.

Residences owned at some point by Perry included a condo in Sierra Towers purchased from Elton John, a house in Hollywood Hills, a house in Malibu, and a cottage in Pacific Palisades. In 2017, Perry purchased a condo occupying the top floor of The Century in Los Angeles for $20 million, selling it to Nick Molnar for $21.6 million in 2021. In June 2023, Perry purchased a mid-century modern house in Hollywood Hills.

Perry had a perfectionist and obsessive personality, spending many hours perfecting his answering machine message. He also believed in God, with whom he had "a very close relationship", calling himself "a seeker".

Health and addiction

In his memoirs, Perry wrote that by age 14, he had become an alcoholic. He became addicted to Vicodin after a jet ski accident in 1997, and completed a 28-day rehab program at the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation that year. His weight dropped to as he took as many as 55 Vicodin pills per day. In May 2000, he was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center with alcohol-induced pancreatitis.

While Perry said in 2002 that, although he had made an effort not to drink on the set of ''Friends'', he did arrive with extreme hangovers and sometimes would shake or sweat excessively on set. During the later seasons of the series, he was frequently drunk or high on set. His castmates made efforts to help him, and staged an intervention, but were unsuccessful.

In February 2001, Perry paused productions of ''Friends'' and ''Serving Sara'' for two months so that he could enter in-patient rehabilitation for his addictions to Vicodin, methadone, amphetamines, and alcohol. He said later that, due to his substance use disorder, he had no memory of three years of his work on ''Friends''.

In 2018, Perry spent five months in a hospital for a gastrointestinal perforation. During the hospital stay, Perry nearly died after his colon burst from opioid abuse. He spent two weeks in a coma and used a colostomy bag for nine months. Upon being admitted to the hospital, doctors told his family that Perry had a 2% chance of survival. He was connected to an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine.

Perry faked pain to get a prescription for 1,800 milligrams of hydrocodone per day and was having daily ketamine infusions. He was given propofol in conjunction with a surgery, which stopped his heart for five minutes. The resulting cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) resulted in eight broken ribs. He paid $175,000 for a private jet to take him to Los Angeles to get more drugs. When doctors there refused, he booked another $175,000 private flight to fly back to Switzerland that night. In 2022, he estimated that he had spent $9 million on his addiction, including 14 stomach surgeries, 15 stays in rehab and therapy twice a week for 30 years and had attended approximately 6,000 Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

Philanthropy and advocacy

In July 2011, Perry lobbied the United States Congress as a celebrity spokesperson for the National Association of Drug Court Professionals in support of funding for drug courts. He received a Champion of Recovery award in May 2013 from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy for opening Perry House, a rehab center in his former mansion in Malibu. In 2015, Perry sold the mansion and relocated its services. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he launched an apparel line inspired by ''Friends'', with proceeds donated to the World Health Organization's COVID-19 relief fund.

Death and funeral

On October 28, 2023, Perry was found unresponsive in a hot tub at his home in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles. He was pronounced dead at 4:17pm the same day. He was 54 years old.

On November 3, 2023, Perry's funeral was held at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles where he was buried. His father, mother, and stepfather attended, as did his five ''Friends'' co-stars. The Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush song " Don't Give Up" was played; Perry was enamored with the song and referenced it in signed copies of his autobiography, released in part to help people suffering from depression or addiction issues. Following Perry's death, the National Philanthropic Trust established the Matthew Perry Foundation to support people suffering from addiction.

On December 15, 2023, Perry's death was revealed to have occurred due to acute effects of ketamine. Other circumstances that contributed to his death included the effects of buprenorphine, drowning, and coronary artery disease. The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner said in a statement that

...at the high levels of ketamine found in his post-mortem blood specimens, the main lethal effects would be from both cardiovascular overstimulation and respiratory depression... ...drowning contributes due to the likelihood of submersion into the pool as he lapsed into unconsciousness; coronary artery disease contributes due to exacerbation of ketamine induced myocardial effects on the heart. The ketamine in his system at death could not be from that infusion therapy, since ketamine's half-life is 3 to 4 hours, or less.

Perry had been receiving ketamine-assisted psychotherapy sessions to treat anxiety at the time of his death, his last known session of which having been the week prior to his death. However, the report stated that the therapy could not have resulted in his death.

Investigation

In May 2024, an investigation was opened by the Los Angeles Police Department to determine how Perry obtained the high dose of ketamine that caused his death. On August 15, 2024, indictments and charges were filed against five people: Perry's personal assistant, two doctors, and two drug dealers (including TV director Erik Fleming), alleging involvement in the distribution of ketamine that caused the death of Perry and one other person.

Three of the accused agreed to plead guilty, with two, Fleming and Perry's former assistant Kenneth Iwamasa, having their guilty pleas entered into court soon after being charged; Iwamasa pleaded guilty on August 7, 2024, as did Fleming the following day. During a court hearing on August 30, 2024, it was agreed that former doctor Mark Chavez, who had signed a plea agreement but had not yet officially entered it into court, would have his guilty plea accepted, though he will still not officially plead guilty until a later court appearance. Chavez would have his medical license suspended the next month and would officially plead guilty at a court hearing held on October 2, 2024.

According to U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada, Perry paid the two doctors $55,000 in cash for ketamine in the two months before his death. Iwamasa admitted to obtaining ketamine for Perry and injecting him with the drug, while Fleming admitted to obtaining the ketamine from the supplier and giving it to Iwamasa for Perry to use. Text messages also revealed that the other doctor, who is currently awaiting trial, would purchase the ketamine from Chavez.

Acting credits

Film

Television

Theatre

Video games

Specials

Awards and nominations

Publications

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Notes

References

External links

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Interviewed on "Q with Tom Power"
CBC, November 22, 2022, audio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, Matthew
1969 births
2023 deaths
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
21st-century American memoirists
American deists
American emigrants to Canada
American male child actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American people of Canadian descent
Articles containing video clips
Ashbury College alumni
Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
Canadian male child actors
Canadian male film actors
Canadian male television actors
Canadian male voice actors
Canadian people of American descent
Deaths by drowning in California
Deaths from coronary artery disease
Drug-related deaths in California
Male actors from Massachusetts
Male actors from Ottawa
Memoirists from Massachusetts
People from Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles
People from Williamstown, Massachusetts
People with multiple citizenship