Matthew Perry, Star of ‘Friends,’ Dead at 54

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 29 October 2023

Matthew Perry, one of the six main cast members of the hit television show Friends, has died, TMZ reports. He was just 54 years old.

The outlet reports the actor was found Saturday at an L.A. area home, where he appeared to have drowned. The outlet’s sources said first responders rushed to the home on a call about a cardiac arrest, and that he was found in a jacuzzi at the home. No drugs were found at the scene, and no foul play is involved, the outlet reports.

Though most famous for his role of Chandler Bing on Friends—which ran for 10 seasons and 234 episodes, all of which Perry starred in—Perry was also in numerous other television shows, from Growing Pains and Silver Spoons to Beverly Hills 90210, Ally McBeal, The West Wing, Scrubs, and many more. He also did film work, as well, including Fools Rush In, The Whole Nine Yards, and 17 Again. Perry hadn’t acted in the past six years, since 2017.

Perry suffered mightily through an addiction to drugs and alcohol, painkillers, specifically; he battled an addiction to Vicodin, which he detailed in his 2022 memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing. Perry had been sober since May 2021.

We send our love to all those affected by this tragedy.

Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.

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