Friends actor Matthew Perry found dead at age 54, co-stars and fans pay tribute

Friends actor Matthew Perry, age 54, was found dead at his Los Angeles home on Saturday. News of the passing of the Emmy-nominated actor and advocate for addiction recovery and mental health has rattled the world, resulting in an outpouring of love and remembrance for Perry online.

Perry was found unresponsive in his hot tub on Saturday afternoon by first responders, after a 911 call was placed for a water rescue emergency, according to The Los Angeles Times. Drugs were not found at the scene, and the cause of death will require additional investigative steps by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office before reaching a conclusion, according to records from the agency.

An autopsy has been conducted, but examiners are awaiting the results of toxicology reports — which can take weeks to complete — in order to determine Perry’s cause of death, according to a report provided to CNN on Sunday evening. A law enforcement source also told the news outlet that no foul play is suspected at this time.

Perry was born August 19, 1969 in Williamstown, Massachusetts, and is survived by his parents and sisters. His family released a statement on Sunday to People magazine, sharing that they are “heartbroken by the tragic loss of our beloved son and brother.”

“Matthew brought so much joy to the world, both as an actor and a friend,” the statement continued. “You all meant so much to him and we appreciate the tremendous outpouring of love.”

Perry played the sarcastic and loveable Chandler Bing on the Emmy Award-winning comedy series Friends from 1994 until 2004, starring opposite Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow and David Schwimmer. While the other Friends stars have yet to comment on Perry’s death, guest stars and friends of the actor have paid tribute to him over the weekend on social media.

Friends co-creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane and executive producer Kevin Bright released a statement to CNN on Sunday, writing, “He was a brilliant talent. It’s a cliche to say that an actor makes a role their own, but in Matthew’s case, there are no truer words. From the day we first heard him embody the role of Chandler Bing, there was no one else for us.

“This truly is The One Where Our Hearts Are Broken,” the statement concluded.

Actress Maggie Wheeler, who played Perry’s on-again, off-again girlfriend Janice on the series, wrote on Instagram, “The joy you brought to so many in your too short lifetime will live on.”

Morgan Fairchild, who played Perry’s mother on the show, wrote on X/Twitter, “I’m heartbroken about the untimely death of my ‘son.’”

Selma Blair, Paget Brewster, Octavia Spencer and Yvette Nicole Brown also paid tribute to the actor. Blair, who appeared in an episode of Friends alongside Perry, shared a photo of the duo on Instagram with a caption describing Perry as “my oldest boy friend.”

“All of us loved Matthew Perry, and I did especially,” she added. “Every day. I loved him unconditionally. And he, me. And I’m broken. Broken hearted. Sweet dreams Matty. Sweet dreams.”

Actress Rumer Willis remembered hanging around Perry and her father, Bruce Willis, when they worked on movies together, including the 2000 film The Whole Nine Yards. Paying tribute to Perry on her Instagram story, Willis wrote, “I know he had many challenges in his life and brought a lot of joy to people with his comedy. I hope he can rest peacefully.”

Perry, who grew up in Ottawa, was also mourned by Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, who was a childhood friend of Perry’s through his mother’s legal career.

“Matthew Perry’s passing is shocking and saddening,” the Canadian PM wrote on X/Twitter. “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.”

During a Las Vegas residency show last night, Adele thanked Perry for being “so open” with his addiction struggles. The British singer told her audience at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace that Perry’s Friends character Chandler Bing meant a lot to her.

“He’s probably the best comedic character of all time,” she declared.

“It is always so shocking, especially someone that made you laugh and who brought so much joy to your life that you don’t know,” the singer-songwriter said. “This is what I find so strange, I never met him in my life. There is something, you feel so sad about it especially because you don’t necessarily know what was going on.”

Having recently announced her own sobriety, Adele added, “He was so open with his struggles with addiction and sobriety, which I think is incredibly, incredibly brave,” she said. “I just wanna say how much I love what he did for us, especially what he did for me… and hopefully now he can rest in peace.”

Perry opened up about his addiction recovery and sense of purpose in helping others in his 2022 memoir, released almost a year ago to the day, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir.

The memoir begins, “Hi, my name is Matthew, although you may know me by another name. My friends call me Matty. And I should be dead.”

Unbeknownst to fans at the time, Perry was battling addiction during the height of his career, before eventually getting sober and dedicating his time to helping others on their addiction journeys.

“Friends was huge. I couldn’t jeopardise 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. “I had a secret and no one could know.”

On Sunday, Perry’s book shot to No. 1 on Amazon. In the memoir, the actor recalls co-star Jennifer Aniston confronting him on set about his drinking habits, and shares that her firm concern was a big factor in his decision to seek help.

Nearly twenty years since the last episode of Friends aired, the series remains popular on streaming services and with a wide-ranging audience.

The actor also had several notable film roles, starring opposite Salma Hayek in the rom-com Fools Rush In and in Willis’ crime comedy The Whole Nine Yards, to name a couple of Perry’s credits.

The actor received one Emmy nomination for his role on Friends, with two more nominations for appearances as an associate White House counsel on the series The West Wing.

Perry’s other Friends co-star, Lisa Kudrow, described the actor in the foreword to his memoir as “whip smart, charming, sweet, sensitive, very reasonable, and rational.”

She added, “That guy, with everything he was battling, was still there.”