Update, October 29, 2:15 p.m. ET: The LAPD has released an official statement about Perry’s death:
On October 28, 2023, at around 4pm, actor Matthew Perry was discovered by a witness unresponsive in his jacuzzi. The Los Angeles City Fire Department responded to the scene and pronounced Perry deceased. Due to the celebrity status of Mr. Perry, Detectives from Robbery Homicide Division responded to the scene and conducted a preliminary investigation. Although there were no obvious signs of trauma, the official cause of Perry’s death is pending the coroner’s investigation.
The original story continues below.
Matthew Perry, the Friends star who battled addiction for decades before, during, and after he spent ten seasons in the ensemble of one of TV’s most beloved sitcoms, has died, the L.A. Times reports. Perry was allegedly discovered unresponsive in a hot tub at his home in Los Angeles; the paper’s source did not cite a cause of death. The actor was 54.
Perry was best known for his portrayal of the witty, sarcastic and catchphrase-loving Chandler Bing on the iconic ’90s sitcom, starring in 234 episodes of the series created by David Crane and Martha Kaufman from 1994 to 2004 and getting an Emmy nomination for his work in its ninth season. (Perry was nominated for Emmys five times in total, including for his appearance in 2021’s HBO Max Friends reunion special.) Though all six of the series’ lead characters were funny, Chandler was first among equals—a charmingly self-deprecating, grown-up class clown who could wring a laugh out of nothing more than his unique inflection (“Could she be more out of my league?”).
The son of actor John Bennett Perry, Canada-born Perry yearned to make it big in Hollywood before he booked Friends at the age of 24. ”There was steam coming out of my ears, I wanted to be famous so badly,” he told the New York Times in 2002. “You want the attention, you want the bucks, and you want the best seat in the restaurant. I didn’t think what the repercussions would be.”
During the show’s run, Perry attempted to launch a film career, starring in well-received comedies including Fools Rush In, Three to Tango, and The Whole Nine Yards. After it ended, he starred on numerous short-lived TV series, including Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Mr. Sunshine, Go On, and the 2015 CBS reboot of The Odd Couple. But Perry never quite managed to escape Chandler’s long shadow.