Matthew Perry

Matthew Langford Perry (August 19, 1969 – October 28, 2023) was an American and Canadian actor most famous for his role as Chandler Bing on Friends (1994–2004).

Perry appeared on Ally McBeal (2002) and received Primetime Emmy Award nominations for his roles in The West Wing (2003) and The Ron Clark Story (2006). He gained a leading role in the NBC series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip which aired from 2006 to 2007. Perry 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 (2005), and 17 Again (2009). In 2010, he provided the voice of Benny in the video game Fallout: New Vegas.

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. Perry 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). He portrayed Ted Kennedy in The Kennedys: After Camelot (2017) and appeared as himself in Friends: The Reunion (2021).

Over the course of his career, Perry suffered severe addictions to drugs and alcohol. Through his recovery he became an advocate for rehabilitation and spokesperson for the National Association of Drug Court Professionals. In 2013 he received the Champion of Recovery Award from The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. He wrote his memoir entitled, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing (2022).

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

His parents divorced before his first birthday and his mother married Canadian-born broadcast journalist Keith Morrison. He was raised by his mother mostly in Ottawa, Ontario, but he also lived briefly in Toronto and Montreal. He was educated at both the Rockcliffe Park Public School, alongside future Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and at Ashbury College. While growing up, he took a keen interest in tennis and became a top-ranked junior player.

1979–1993: Early roles

When he was 15, Perry moved from Ottawa to Los Angeles to live with his father, and pursued acting there. He graduated from the Buckley School in Sherman Oaks in 1987. He pursued improvisational comedy at the LA Connection in Sherman Oaks while still in high school.

After graduating, Perry played Chazz Russell in the TV series Second Chance. After 13 episodes, Second Chance became Boys Will Be Boys, with the plots refocused on the adventures of Chazz and his friends. Perry made his big screen debut in the 1988 film A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon. In 1989, Perry had a three-episode arc on the series Growing Pains, where he portrayed Carol Seaver's boyfriend Sandy who dies in hospital after a drunk-driving crash.

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 drama called LAX 2194 initially made him unavailable for a role in another pilot, Six of One, later called Friends. After the LAX 2194 pilot fell through, he got the opportunity to read for a part in Six of One and was cast as Chandler Bing. He was the youngest member of the main cast at age 24.

By 2002, Perry and the six-member main cast were making $1 million per episode. The program earned him an Emmy nomination in 2002 for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. Perry appeared in films such Fools Rush In, Almost Heroes, Three to Tango, The Whole Nine Yards and its sequel The Whole Ten Yards, and Serving Sara.

Perry played Associate White House Counsel Joe Quincy in Aaron Sorkin's The West Wing, for which he 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 Perry made his directorial debut and acted in an episode of the fourth season of comedy-drama Scrubs, an episode which included Perry's father.

2005–2023: Later work and memoir

He starred in the TNT movie The Ron Clark Story, which premiered August 13, 2006. Perry received a Golden Globe and an Emmy nomination for his performance.

From 2006 to 2007, Perry 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. Perry's character was considered to be substantially based on Sorkin's own personal experiences, particularly in television.

In 2006, he began filming Numb, a film based on a man suffering from depersonalization disorder. The film's tentative release date was pushed back several times, but it was finally released to DVD on May 13, 2008. He 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, he starred in the film 17 Again playing the older Mike O'Donnell.

Perry's new comedy pilot, Mr. Sunshine, based on Perry's original idea for the show, was bought by ABC. Perry was set to portray a middle-aged man with an identity crisis. ABC cancelled the series after nine episodes.

On March 1, 2012, it was reported that Perry had signed on to star on the NBC comedy pilot Go On, written and produced by former Friends writer/producer Scott Silveri. The project was picked up to series in May 2012. Perry portrayed Ryan King, a sportscaster who tries to move on after the death of his wife through the help of mandatory therapy sessions. The pilot aired on August 8, 2012, as a "sneak preview" after the 2012 Summer Olympics. The series premiered on September 11, 2012. On October 2, 2012, NBC ordered a full season of 22 episodes. NBC cancelled Go On in May 2013, shortly after the conclusion of its first season.

In 2012, Perry guest-starred on the CBS drama The Good Wife, as attorney Mike Kresteva. In 2013, he reprised his role in the fourth season.

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. Perry 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 revival of the sitcom The Odd Couple on CBS. Perry 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 a second, Off-Broadway production opened at the Lucille Lortel Theatre on June 5, 2017, with Jennifer Morrison. It closed on July 1 after receiving poor reviews.

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 October 2022, Perry published a memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing. It became a bestseller on both Amazon and The New York Times charts.

Perry held Canadian and American citizenship. 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. The couple ended their engagement in 2021.

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

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 Perry's family that he had a two percent chance of survival. He was connected to an ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) machine, which breathed for him.

In 2018, Business Insider reported Perry's net worth to be around $80 million.

Addiction and advocacy

Perry became addicted to Vicodin after a jet-ski accident in 1997, and he completed a 28-day rehab program that year. His weight fluctuated over the next few years, dropping to 145 pounds (66 kg) due to pancreatitis. He entered rehab in February 2001 for an addiction to Vicodin, methadone, amphetamines, and alcohol.

While filming Serving Sara in Texas, severe stomach pain sent Perry into Marina del Rey's Daniel Freeman Hospital. He revealed that due to his addiction issues, he did not remember three years of the time he was acting on Friends, between seasons three and six.

In 2011, Perry lobbied the U.S. 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, California. He relocated it in 2015.

In 2022, he estimated he had spent $9 million on his addiction, including 14 stomach surgeries and 15 stays in rehab.

Death

On October 28, 2023, after a call from Perry's assistant, officers from the Los Angeles Police Department found Perry dead at age 54 in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home of drowning, with no signs of foul play involved.

Film

Television

Theatre

Video games

Specials

The cast of Friends, including Perry, won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series in 1996.

• Perry, Matthew (November 1, 2022). Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir. Foreword: Lisa Kudrow. New York: Flatiron Books. ISBN 978-1-250-86644-8. OCLC 1338841699.