Shock over the sudden death of Matthew Perry, who played Chandler Bing on the hit sitcom “Friends,” has spread from Hollywood to New York to Canada, where the star, who suffered from drug problems, grew up.
The 54-year-old actor was found unconscious in the hot tub of his Los Angeles home by his assistant on Saturday. American broadcaster NBC, which aired Friends, confirmed his death.
“We are heartbroken over the tragic loss of our beloved son and brother,” Matthew Perry’s family told People on Sunday.
Matthew Perry is best known for playing Chandler Bing, a prankster with a biting and awkward sense of humor, on the hugely popular series Friends, which aired on NBC for ten seasons from 1994 to 2004, totaling more than 230 episodes.
If the five members of the fictional group of friends – Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer – had not reacted on social networks on Sunday, many celebrities paid tribute to the late star.
“We are stunned and deeply saddened by the death of our dear friend Matthew,” said series creators Marta Kauffman, David Crane and Kevin Bright. He was a brilliant actor and always the funniest person in the room.
Friends is a true cultural phenomenon and has left its mark on an entire generation of viewers.
This series tells the adventures of a group of happy friends – Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Joey, Ross and Chandler – in New York, interspersed with romantic relationships between Monica and Chandler and the endless saga between Rachel and Ross.
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Flowers were left outside the building used for the exterior filming of the TV show “Friends” on October 29, 2023 in New York.
Photo: afp via getty images / ADAM GRAY
In Manhattan’s West Village, at the foot of the building at 90 Bedford Street where the show’s apartment is supposed to be located, bouquets of flowers and letters of tribute to Chandler were piled around a lamppost on Sunday. Despite the rain, dozens of fans stand for a few minutes to reflect.
Taylor Lanthier, a temporary law student from Vancouver, left a yellow rose.
I’ve been watching him on Friends since I was seven. And now I’m 26 years old. “He had a strong influence on my life and always made me laugh a lot,” she says.
Related to the Trudeau family
Matthew Perry was born in Massachusetts in the northeastern United States in 1969 to Canadian and American parents and grew up between Montreal and Los Angeles.
Her mother is a Canadian journalist who worked as press secretary for former Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau.
The death of Matthew Perry is sad and heartbreaking. I will never forget our schoolyard games and I know that people around the world will not forget the joy you brought them.
I am torn. My heart is broken. Sweet Dreams, Matty, was launched by actress Selma Blair, who paid tribute to her oldest friend on Instagram.
The actor struggled with addiction to painkillers and alcohol for years.
In his memoirs published last year, he admitted to going to rehab at least 15 times and spending more than $9 million to stay away from drugs.
During a recent television appearance, Perry surprised the audience by admitting that he suffered from severe anxiety every night while filming “Friends.”
According to the specialist media TMZ, no drugs were found at the actor’s crime scene and there is no evidence that a crime could have been committed.
In addition to this sitcom, Matthew Perry appeared in films such as Fools Rush In and The Whole Nine Yards. He was never married and, despite five nominations, did not win an Emmy, the prestigious American television award.