Matthew Perry

For other people with similar names, see Matthew Perry (disambiguation).

Matthew Perry
Perry in 2013
Born	(1969-08-19)August 19, 1969 Williamstown, Massachusetts, US
Died	October 28, 2023(2023-10-28) (aged 54) Los Angeles, California, US
Burial place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park, California
Citizenship	United States Canada
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1979–2022
Parents	John Bennett Perry (father) Keith Morrison (stepfather)
Website	matthewperrybook.com
Signature

Matthew Langford Perry (August 19, 1969 – October 28, 2023) was an American and Canadian actor. He gained fame for starring as Chandler Bing on the NBC television sitcom Friends (1994–2004). Perry also appeared on Ally McBeal (2002) and received Primetime Emmy Award nominations for his performances in The West Wing (2003) and The Ron Clark Story (2006). He played a leading role in the NBC series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (2006–2007). He 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 (2004), and 17 Again (2009).

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. He 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). Perry portrayed Ted Kennedy in The Kennedys: After Camelot (2017) and appeared as himself in his final television role, Friends: The Reunion (2021). He voiced Benny in the video game Fallout: New Vegas (2010).

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

Early life and education

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

Perry's parents separated when he was one year old, and his mother married Canadian broadcast journalist Keith Morrison. He was raised by his mother mostly in Ottawa, Ontario, but he also lived briefly in Toronto and Montreal. Perry attended Rockcliffe Park Public School and Ashbury College, a boarding school in Ottawa. He had four younger maternal half-siblings—Caitlin, Emily, Will, and Madeline—as well as a younger paternal half-sister named Maria. His siblings "would stand and applaud" him for early performances.

By the time he was ten, Perry started misbehaving. He stole money, smoked, let his grades slip, and beat up fellow student and future Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau. Perry later attributed this to feeling like a family outsider who did not belong when his mother began having children with Morrison, writing "I was so often on the outside looking in, still that kid up in the clouds on a flight to somewhere else, unaccompanied". At the age of 14, he began drinking alcohol and was drinking every day by the time he was 18. Perry practiced tennis, often for 10 hours per day, and became a top-ranked junior player in Canada with the possibility of a tennis career. However, at age 15, he moved from Ottawa to live with his father in Los Angeles, where competition was tougher.

At 15 years old, Perry studied acting at Buckley School, a college-preparatory school in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, and graduated in 1987. While in high school, he took improvisational comedy classes at L.A. Connection in Sherman Oaks.

Career

1979–1993: Early roles

Perry as Chazz Russell in Boys Will Be Boys, 1988

Perry's first credited role was a small part in 240-Robert in 1979 as a child actor. Shortly after moving to Los Angeles, Perry began auditioning for roles. Perry made guest appearances on Not Necessarily the News in 1983, Charles in Charge in 1985, and Silver Spoons in 1986. In 1987 and 1988, he played Chazz Russell in the TV series Second Chance (later called Boys Will Be Boys). Perry made his film debut in 1988 with A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon. In 1989, he had a three-episode arc on Growing Pains, portraying Carol Seaver's boyfriend Sandy, who dies in a drunk driving incident.

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 departing from rehearsal for the 1995 Emmy Awards

Perry's commitment to a pilot for a sitcom called LAX 2194, set in the baggage handling department of Los Angeles Airport 200 years in the future, initially made him unavailable for a role in another pilot, Six of One, later called Friends. After the LAX 2194 pilot fell through, he had the opportunity to read for a part in Six of One and was cast as Chandler Bing. At age 24, he was the youngest member of the main cast. After making the pilot and while waiting for the show to air, Perry spent the summer of 1993 performing at the Williamstown Theater Festival alongside Gwyneth Paltrow.

Friends was hugely successful, and it made Perry an international celebrity. By 2002, he and his co-stars Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, and David Schwimmer were making $1 million per episode. The program earned him an Emmy nomination in 2002 for the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series award. 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. In 1995, he and Jennifer Aniston appeared in a 60-minute-long promotional video for Microsoft's Windows 95, released on VHS on August 1.

For his performance as Joe Quincy in The West Wing, Perry 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, he made his directorial debut and acted in an episode of the fourth season of the comedy-drama Scrubs, an episode which included his father.

2005–2022: Later work

Perry in 2007

Perry starred in the TNT movie The Ron Clark Story, which premiered August 13, 2006, and received a Golden Globe and Emmy nomination for his performance. From 2006 to 2007, he 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.

In 2006, Perry began filming Numb, a film based on a man suffering from depersonalization disorder. The release was postponed several times, but it was finally released on DVD on May 13, 2008. Perry 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, Perry starred in the film 17 Again playing a 37-year-old man who transforms into his 17-year-old self (Zac Efron) after an accident. The film received mixed reviews and was a box-office success. A review on WRC-TV found Perry miscast in his role, emphasizing the disbelief in Efron growing up to resemble Perry, both physically and behaviorally — a sentiment echoed by other critics.

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

Perry's new comedy pilot, Mr. Sunshine, based on his original idea for the show, was bought by ABC. He played the lead role as a middle-aged man with an identity crisis. ABC canceled the series after nine episodes in 2011.

Perry in 2012

In 2012, Perry starred in the NBC comedy series Go On, written and produced by former Friends writer/producer Scott Silveri. Perry portrayed Ryan King, a sportscaster who tries to move on after the death of his wife through the help of mandatory therapy sessions. In the same year, he guest-starred on the CBS drama The Good Wife as attorney Mike Kresteva. He reprised his role in the fourth season in 2013.

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. He 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 reboot of the sitcom The Odd Couple on CBS. He 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 appeared alongside Jennifer Morrison in its second off-Broadway production, which opened at the Lucille Lortel Theatre on June 5, 2017. It closed on July 1 after receiving poor reviews. Years later Perry described the play as "a personal message to the world, an exaggerated form of me as a drunk. I had something important to say to people like me, and to people who love people like me."

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 May 2021, he participated in the special episode Friends: The Reunion. He was meant to have a role in Don't Look Up, but withdrew in 2020 because of CPR-induced broken ribs. Perry published a memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, in October 2022. It became a bestseller on both Amazon and The New York Times charts.

Personal life

Perry in 2013

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. Their engagement ended in 2021.

Residences owned at some point by Perry included a condo in Sierra Towers purchased from Elton John, a house in Hollywood Hills, a house in Malibu, and a cottage in Pacific Palisades. In 2017, Perry purchased a condo occupying the top floor of The Century in Los Angeles for $20 million, selling it to Nick Molnar for $21.6 million in 2021, who in turn sold it to Rihanna in 2023. In June 2023, Perry purchased a mid-century modern house in Hollywood Hills.

Perry had a perfectionist and obsessive personality, spending many hours perfecting his answering machine message. He also believed in God, with whom he had "a very close relationship," calling himself "a seeker".

Health and addiction

In his memoirs, Perry wrote that by age 14, he became an alcoholic. He became addicted to Vicodin after a jet-ski accident in 1997, and completed a 28-day rehab program at the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation that year. His weight dropped to 128 pounds (58 kg) as he took as many as 55 Vicodin pills per day. In May 2000, at the age of 30, he was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center with alcohol-induced pancreatitis.

While Perry said in 2002 that although he had made an effort not to drink on the set of Friends, he did arrive with extreme hangovers and sometimes would shake or sweat excessively on set. During the later seasons of the series, he was frequently drunk or high on set. His castmates made efforts to help him, even staging an intervention, but were unsuccessful.

In February 2001, Perry paused productions of Friends and Serving Sara for two months so that he could enter in-patient rehabilitation for his addictions to Vicodin, methadone, amphetamines, and alcohol. He said later that due to his substance use disorder he had no memory of three years of his work on Friends.

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 his family that Perry had a 2% chance of survival. He was connected to an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine.

Two years later, while attending rehab in Switzerland, Perry faked pain to get a prescription for 1,800 milligrams of Oxycontin per day and was having daily ketamine infusions. He was given propofol in conjunction with a surgery, which stopped his heart for five minutes. The resulting cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) resulted in eight broken ribs. He paid $175,000 for a private jet to take him to Los Angeles to get more drugs. When doctors there refused, Perry spent another $175,000 to take a private jet back to Switzerland. In 2022, he estimated that he had spent $9 million on his addiction, including 14 stomach surgeries, 15 stays in rehab, and therapy twice a week for 30 years and had attended approximately 6,000 Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

Philanthropy and advocacy

In July 2011, Perry lobbied the US 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. In 2015, Perry sold the mansion and relocated its services. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he launched an apparel line inspired by Friends, with proceeds donated to the World Health Organization's COVID-19 relief fund.

Death

On October 28, 2023, Perry was found unresponsive in a hot tub at his home in Los Angeles and was pronounced dead at 4:17 pm that day, at age 54.

On November 3, 2023, Perry's funeral was held at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles. His five Friends co-stars attended, as did his father, mother and stepfather. The Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush song "Don't Give Up" was played at his funeral. Perry was enamored with the song, and referenced it in signed copies of his autobiography, released in part to help people suffering from depression or addiction issues. When promoting his memoir, he praised the ending of the track's music video as "so cool" for the hugging featured, and mentioned, "I always put 'Don't give up' there because you shouldn't give up." Following Perry's death, the National Philanthropic Trust established the "Matthew Perry Foundation" to support people suffering from addiction.

On December 15, 2023, Perry's death was revealed to have occurred due to "acute effects of ketamine". Other circumstances that contributed to his death included the effects of buprenorphine, drowning, and coronary artery disease. The LA County medical examiner said in a statement "At the high levels of ketamine found in his post-mortem blood specimens, the main lethal effects would be from both cardiovascular overstimulation and respiratory depression," while "Drowning contributes due to the likelihood of submersion into the pool as he lapsed into unconsciousness; coronary artery disease contributes due to exacerbation of ketamine induced myocardial effects on the heart." Perry had been receiving ketamine-assisted psychotherapy sessions to treat anxiety at the time of his death, his last known session of which having been the week prior to his death, although the report stated "the ketamine in his system at death could not be from that infusion therapy since ketamine's half-life is 3 to 4 hours, or less."

Acting credits

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1988	A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon	Fred Roberts	Credited as Matthew L. Perry
1989	She's Out of Control	Timothy	Credited as Matthew L. Perry
1989	Fat Man and Little Boy	Bomb Technician	Uncredited
1994	Getting In	Randal Burns	Direct-to-video
1997	Fools Rush In	Alex Whitman
1998	Almost Heroes	Leslie Edwards
1999	Three to Tango	Oscar Novak
2000	The Whole Nine Yards	Nicholas "Oz" Oseransky
2000	The Kid	Mr. Vivian	Cameo (uncredited)
2002	Serving Sara	Joe Tyler
2004	The Whole Ten Yards	Nicholas "Oz" Oseransky
2007	Numb	Hudson Milbank	Also executive producer
2008	Birds of America	Morrie
2009	17 Again	Older Mike O'Donnell

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1979	240-Robert	Arthur	Episode: "Bank Job"
1983	Not Necessarily the News	Bob	Episode: "Audrie in Love"
1985	Charles in Charge	Ed	Episode: "The Wrong Guy" Credited as Matthew L. Perry
1986	Silver Spoons	Davey	Episode: "Rick Moves Out"
1987–1988	Second Chance/Boys Will Be Boys	Chazz Russell	Series regular
1988	Dance 'til Dawn	Roger	Television film
1988	Just the Ten of Us	Ed	Episode: "The Dinner Test" Credited as Matthew L. Perry
1988	Highway to Heaven	David Hastings	2 episodes
1989	Empty Nest	Bill at 18	Episode: "A Life in the Day"
1989	Growing Pains	Sandy	Recurring role; 3 episodes
1990	Sydney	Billy Kells	Series regular
1990	Who's the Boss?	Benjamin Dawson	Episode: "Roomies"
1990	Call Me Anna	Desi Arnaz Jr.	Television film Credited as Matthew L. Perry
1991	Beverly Hills, 90210	Roger Azarian	Episode: "April Is the Cruelest Month"
1992	Dream On	Alex Farmer	Episode: "To the Moon, Alex!"
1992	Sibs	Chas	Episode: "What Makes Lily Run?"
1993	Deadly Relations	George Westerfield	Television film
1993	Home Free	Matt Bailey	Series regular
1994	Parallel Lives	Willi Morrison	Television film
1994–2004	Friends	Chandler Bing	Main role
1995	Caroline in the City	Chandler Bing	Episode: "Caroline and the Folks"
1995	The John Larroquette Show	Steven	Episode: "Rachel Redux"
1997	Saturday Night Live	Host	Episode: "Matthew Perry/Oasis"
2001	The Simpsons	Himself	Voice, episode: "Treehouse of Horror XII"
2002	Ally McBeal	Todd Merrick	2 episodes
2003	The West Wing	Joe Quincy	Recurring role; 3 episodes
2004	Scrubs	Murray	Episode: "My Unicorn" Also director
2006	The Ron Clark Story	Ron Clark	Television film
2006–2007	Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip	Matt Albie	Series regular
2011	Childrens Hospital	Himself	Episode: "The Black Doctor"
2011	Mr. Sunshine	Ben Donovan	Series regular Also creator, executive producer, and writer
2012–2013	The Good Wife	Mike Kresteva	Recurring role; 4 episodes
2012–2013	Go On	Ryan King	Series regular Also executive producer
2014	Cougar Town	Sam Johnston	Episode: "Like a Diamond"
2014	Playhouse Presents	The Charismatic Man	Episode: "The Dog Thrower"
2015	Web Therapy	Tyler Bishop	2 episodes
2015–2017	The Odd Couple	Oscar Madison	Series regular Also creator, executive producer and writer
2017	The Good Fight	Mike Kresteva	Recurring role; 3 episodes
2017	The Kennedys: After Camelot	Ted Kennedy	Television miniseries; 4 episodes Also executive producer
2021	Friends: The Reunion	Himself	HBO Max special; also executive producer

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2003	Sexual Perversity in Chicago	Danny	Comedy Theatre, London
2016	The End of Longing	Jack	Also playwright Playhouse Theatre, London
2017	The End of Longing	Jack	Also playwright Lucille Lortel Theater, off-Broadway

Video games

Year	Title	Voice role	Ref.
2010	Fallout: New Vegas	Benny

Specials

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2013	TSN: The Hangover	Angry Matthew Perry	Cameo

Awards and nominations

Awards and nominations received by Matthew Perry

Award	Year	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
Golden Globe Awards	2007	Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film	The Ron Clark Story	Nominated
Primetime Emmy Awards	2002	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series	Friends	Nominated
	2003	Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series	The West Wing	Nominated
	2004			Nominated
	2007	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie	The Ron Clark Story	Nominated
	2021	Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded)	Friends: The Reunion	Nominated
Screen Actors Guild Awards	1996	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	Friends	Won
	1999			Nominated
	2000			Nominated
	2001			Nominated
	2002			Nominated
	2003			Nominated
	2004			Nominated
	2007	Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries	The Ron Clark Story	Nominated
American Comedy Awards	1996	Funniest Supporting Male Performer in a TV Series	Friends	Nominated
	1998			Nominated
Huading Awards	2013	Best Global Actor in a Television Series	Go On	Won
Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards	2002	Favorite TV Actor	Friends	Nominated
People's Choice Awards	2016	Favorite Comedic TV Actor	—	Nominated
	2017			Nominated
Satellite Awards	2006	Best Actor in a Series, Drama	Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip	Nominated
Teen Choice Awards	2004	Choice TV Actor – Comedy	Friends	Nominated
TV Guide Awards	2000	Editor's Choice		Won
TV Land Awards	2006	Most Wonderful Wedding		Nominated

Publications

• 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.

External links

• Matthew Perry at IMDb
• Matthew Perry at Rotten Tomatoes
• Matthew Perry discography at Discogs
• Interviewed on "Q with Tom Power", CBC, November 22, 2022, audio