‘Saturday Night Live’ included a memorial to Matthew Perry on Saturday (28.10.23) night.
The ‘Friends’ star was revealed to have passed away in an apparent drowning at his Los Angeles home at the age of 54, and just hours after the news broke, the long-running sketch series shared a poignant tribute to the actor.
The programme aired a black-and-white portrait of Matthew along with his name just before host Nate Bargatze closed the episode.
The ‘Whole Nine Yards’ star was a guest host on the show on 4 October 1997 – when he was joined by musical guests Oasis – at the height of his fame with ‘Friends’ and after making ‘Fools Rush In’ with Salma Hayek.
His episode included a ‘Friends’ parody in which Matthew switched from his usual role Chandler Bing to play Matt LeBlanc’s Joey Tribbiani and ‘SNL’s Colin Quinn played Chandler.
He admitted at the time there was a “lot of fear” involved in being part of the show but hailed the opportunity as a “dream come true”.
He told ‘Entertainment Tonight’: “I was just excited, kind of like a fan, like, ‘Oh, I’m gonna get to see the stage!’ And today I realised, like, ‘Oh, I have to be on the show as well!’
“It doesn’t hit you that it’s a live show [at first]. It hit me that its a live show like yesterday, and I agreed to do it months ago.
“It’s a really amazing thing. This is a dream come true for me, to be hosting the show.”
According to TMZ, Matthew – who had battled addiction in the past – was found unresponsive in the Jacuzzi of his Los Angeles home after playing pickleball for two hours, with medics called to attend an apparent cardiac arrest incident.
They also said there were no drugs found at the scene and no foul play was involved.
Matthew’s final post on Instagram showed him enjoying a dip in what appeared to be a jacuzzi or pool.
The caption read: “Oh, so warm water swirling around makes you feel good? I’m Mattman.”