Matthew Perry
Matthew Langford Perry was an American and Canadian actor. He gained international fame for starring as Chandler Bing on the NBC television sitcom Friends. Perry also appeared on Ally McBeal and received Primetime Emmy Award nominations for his performances in The West Wing and The Ron Clark Story. He played a leading role in the NBC series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, and also became known for his leading film roles in Fools Rush In, Almost Heroes, Three to Tango, The Whole Nine Yards, Serving Sara, The Whole Ten Yards, and 17 Again.
Perry was the 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, and The Good Fight. Perry portrayed Ted Kennedy in The Kennedys: After Camelot and appeared as himself in his final television appearance, Friends: The Reunion. He voiced Benny in the video game Fallout: New Vegas.
For most of his life, 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.
Perry died on October 28, 2023, at age 54, from the acute effects of ketamine use, exacerbated by accidental drowning. Five people were charged in connection with helping him acquire lethal doses of the drug. All five pleaded guilty. Salvador Plasencia, a former California physician who supplied Perry with ketamine, was sentenced to 30 months in prison on December 3, 2025, while Mark Chavez, another former California physician involved in dealing of ketamine to Perry, was sentenced on December 16, 2025 to eight months of house arrest. The drug dealer Jasveen Sangha, who was also among those who pled guilty, is believed to have supplied Perry with the ketamine which caused his death.
Early life and education
Matthew Langford Perry was born in Williamstown, Massachusetts, on August 19, 1969. His mother, Suzanne Marie Morrison, is a Canadian journalist who was press secretary to Canadian prime minister Pierre Trudeau. His father, John Bennett Perry, is an American actor and former model.Perry's parents separated when he was a year old and his mother married Canadian broadcast journalist Keith Morrison. Perry was mostly raised by his mother in Ottawa, Ontario, but he also lived briefly in Toronto and Montreal. He 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 age of 10, 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 his behavior to his feeling like a family outsider who no longer belonged once his mother began having children with Morrison. He wrote, "I was so often on the outside looking in, still that kid up in the clouds on a flight to somewhere else, unaccompanied." At age 14, Perry began consuming alcohol, and was drinking every day by his 18th birthday. He 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, his prospects diminished when he moved from Ottawa, at age 15, to live with his father in Los Angeles, where competition was much tougher.
At 15, Perry began studying acting at the Buckley School, a college-preparatory school in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, from which he 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's first credited role was a small part in 240-Robert in 1979 as a child actor. Shortly after moving to Los Angeles, Perry started 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 television series Second Chance. 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'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 as 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 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 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.
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 television 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 held American citizenship by birth and Canadian citizenship through his mother. 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. 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 had become 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 as he took as many as 55 Vicodin pills per day. In May 2000, he was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center with alcohol-induced pancreatitis.Perry said in 2002 that he made an effort not to drink on the set of Friends but arrived with extreme hangovers and sometimes would shake or sweat excessively. During later seasons, he was frequently drunk or high on set. His castmates made efforts to help him, and staged an intervention, but were unsuccessful.
In February 2001, Perry paused productions of Friends and Serving Sara for two months to 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. Doctors told his family that Perry had a 2% chance of survival when he was admitted. He was connected to an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine.
Perry faked pain to get a prescription for 1,800 milligrams of hydrocodone 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 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, he booked another $175,000 private flight to fly back to Switzerland that night. 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 United States 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 and funeral
On October 28, 2023, Perry was found unresponsive in a jacuzzi at his home in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles. He was pronounced dead at 4:17pm the same day. He was 54 years old.On November 3, 2023, Perry's funeral was held at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles where he was buried. His father, mother and stepfather attended, as did his five Friends co-stars. The Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush song "Don't Give Up" was played; 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. 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 Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner said in a statement that
...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......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. His last known session occurred the week before his death. However, the report stated that the ketamine in his system at death could not be from that infusion, since ketamine's half-life is 3 to 4 hours or less.
Investigation and guilty pleas
In May 2024, the Los Angeles Police Department opened an investigation to determine how Perry obtained the high dose of ketamine that caused his death. On August 15, 2024, indictments and criminal charges were filed against five individuals: Perry's personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa; two physicians, Mark Chavez and Salvador Plasencia; and two alleged drug dealers in prison as well as two years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay a $5,600 fine. After being sentenced, Plasencia surrendered and was taken into federal custody.It was eventually acknowledged that Chavez had in fact given up his medical license, which was at time reported as only being "suspended," after entering his guilty plea. On December 16, 2025, Chavez was sentenced to eight months of house arrest, three years of supervised released, and 300 hours of community service.
Fleming, who pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine, resulting in death, faces up to 25 years in prison. Fleming was at one point scheduled to be sentenced on January 7, 2026.
Iwamasa, who pled guilty to only one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death, faces a maximum of 15 years. Iwamasa was scheduled to be sentenced on January 14, 2026.
Sangha faces up to 45 years in prison. The office of the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California has confirmed that Sangha will be sentenced on February 25, 2026.
Legacy
Perry's portrayal of Chandler Bing on Friends became one of television's most recognizable comic performances. Critics noted his precision timing and a distinctive “could I be any more…?” cadence that was widely imitated and quoted, and that he brought a rare strain of vulnerability to the sitcom archetype.Beyond acting, Perry advocated for addiction recovery. In 2013 he met with the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy to support drug courts, and that year opened Perry House, a men's sober-living facility in his former Malibu home, which operated from 2013 to 2015. He said he hoped to be remembered more for helping people achieve sobriety than for his acting career, a mission continued by the Matthew Perry Foundation, launched days after his death. Tributes reflected that impact: the main Friends cast issued a joint statement, and Max added an on-screen memorial card to the series; on August 19, 2025, Perry's Fools Rush In co-star Salma Hayek marked what would have been his 56th birthday with an Instagram tribute.