‘Friends’ Star Matthew Perry Dead At 54 After Apparent Drowning

Matthew Perry is said to have died. He was 54.

The actor, best known for his role as Chandler Bing on Friends, was discovered dead at a Los Angeles-area house on Saturday, according to TMZ, citing law enforcement sources. The death of Perry was also verified by law enforcement officials to the Los Angeles Times.

According to the outlet, Perry was discovered in a jacuzzi inside the property, and no narcotics were discovered at the scene.

A Los Angeles Police Department representative said that, officers responded to a report at Perry’s address involving the death of a male in his 50s, but would not confirm the deceased’s name.

TMZ was also told that there was no foul play involved, and their sources said first-responders were called to the residence for cardiac arrest.

Born on August 19, 1969, in Williamstown, Massachusetts, Perry grew up in Ottawa, Canada, where he went to primary school alongside Justin Trudeau, the prime minister of Canada.

Perry moved to Los Angeles as a teenager. After landing a few TV guest spots, he recurred as Chazz Russell on Boys Will Be Boys from 1987 to 1988. Roles on Growing Pains and Sydney followed, but his big break came in 1994 with NBC’s iconic sitcom Friends.

Perry played sarcastic commitment-phobe Chandler Bing for 10 seasons, landing an Emmy nomination in 2002. Friends was the hottest show of the 90s, with Perry and costars Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer ultimately earning a whopping $1 million per episode.

“I was 24 when I got on the show,” he said in the 2004 book Friends … ‘Til the End. “I’ll be 34 when it’s over, and those are really important years in somebody’s life. So to do it all in public … was difficult. At first you have the wave of ‘I’m famous, and this is exactly what I’ve wanted my whole life.’ But then you go through the whole recluse stage where you think, ‘I wish everybody would stop staring at me.’ And then you eventually, hopefully, get through all that. You find things in your life that are grounding, like your family and good friends.”

Perry struggled to find another small-screen smash when Friends ended in 2004. His next leading role, Aaron Sorkin’s Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, ran on NBC for a meager 22 episodes from 2006 to 2007.

In 2011, he co-created Mr. Sunshine, a comedic series that ABC canceled after nine episodes. In 2013, his comedy Go On on NBC ran for one season. After that, he co-starred for three seasons (2015–17) with Thomas Lennon in the CBS revival of The Odd Couple.

Beginning in 2016, Perry also worked on a play called The End of Longing in London.

Fools Rush In, The Whole Nine Yards, Serving Sara, and 17 Again are among the films he has credited.