By Prior Beharry
FRIENDS actor Matthew Perry has died at the age of 54 after being found unresponsive in a hot tub at his Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles home.
The LA Times and TMZ first reported that the actor, who played the wisecracking Chandler Bing, in one of the most successful sitcoms on television, had died.
The Los Angeles Fire Department said it responded to a water emergency but did not name Perry on Saturday.
The BBC reported that at the height of his career, Perry had problems with addiction to painkillers and alcohol and attended several rehabilitation clinics.
Friends followed the fortunes of six characters played by Perry, Jennifer Aniston (Rachel Green), Courteney Cox (Monical Geller), David Schwimmer (Ross Gelller), Matt LeBlanc (Joey Tribbiani) and Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe Buffay). It aired from 1994 to May 6, 2004, with its last episode attaining 52.5 million views making it the most-watched TV episode of the 2000s.
Perry was never married and did not have children. He was born in Massachusetts in 1969, but Perry was raised in Ottawa, Canada, where he attended elementary school with Justin Trudeau – Canada’s current prime minister.
Trudeau wrote on X: “Matthew Perry’s passing is shocking and saddening. I’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. Thanks for all the laughs, Matthew. You were loved – and you will be missed.”
Perry parents John Bennett Perry and Suzanne Perry split up when he was a baby. He has five half-siblings.
