Many may recognize the character names Chandler Bing, Oscar Madison, Sandy or perhaps his legal name Matthew Perry, who played each of these roles in various television shows. On October 28 of 2023, Perry was found deceased in his home. The cause of death is still to be determined.
Perry had been seen in and out of movies and TV shows since his high school years, back in 1988. His first appearance was in the movie “A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon,” when he played the role of Fred Roberts. He later became famous for his role of Chandler Bing in the TV show “Friends.”
Throughout time, fans noticed changes in Perry’s physical appearance. This alerted his fans, and they later learned about his battle with addiction throughout those years.
“In ‘Friends’ you could watch him go up and down as far as addiction, and you could see his weight gain and loss of weight during that time too,” teacher Tammy Harris said. “In an interview with him that I watched not too long ago, he talked about the fact that he couldn’t remember three years of filming because he was so ingrained in his addiction.”
Although battling with his addiction, people thought Perry was being his genuine self in the TV shows and movies. Sadly, the humorous person that was seen on TV was grasping for attention.
“I would describe Matthew Perry as funny and relatable,” math teacher Christine Evans said.
Perry struggled through his addiction years, but people thought that he was still the person everyone was watching on their television screens.
“I think the personality we saw on TV was him,” Harris said. “When he was in ‘Friends’, he was a goof off and that’s how he did things.”
Some of the movies Perry played in had meaningful messages, although he was going through his own troubles.
“In ‘17 Again’, it was all about humility and accepting the future, as well as not being able to go back and change the past.” junior Meshach Neloms said.
In Perry’s 44 years of acting, he entertained viewers of different generations
“Back when I was younger, my mom put on ‘Friends’ and I was just sitting there and watching them laughing,” Neloms said. “My mom thought Perry was cool, he was one of her top two actors.”
According to Time, subsequent to Perry’s addiction recovery, he turned his previous Malibu home into Perry House, which was a sober facility that was up until 2015. This was meant to help those on their journey to recovery. According to Entertainment Tonight the facility closed due to elevated operating costs.
In an interview with Perry in 2022, courtesy of Q with Tom Power, Perry stated, “I would like to be remembered as somebody who lived well, loved well, and was a seeker.”
Perry’s purpose after his recovery was to try to help those who were going through what he had experienced.
“There are two ways to go when you hit that crossroads in your life: There is the bad way, when you sort of give up, and then there is the really hard way, when you fight back,” according to Matthew Perry Quotes, Perry said.
