US actor Matthew Perry, best known for playing wisecracking Chandler Bing in the hit 1990s sitcom Friends, has died at the age of 54. The actor was found dead at his home in Los Angeles, law enforcement sources told US media.
The LA Times and TMZ, which first reported Perry's death, said the actor was found unresponsive in a hot tub at his house. A Los Angeles Fire Department spokesperson told the BBC that first responders went to an address in the Pacific Palisades area regarding a 'water emergency' of an unknown type, but did not name Perry.
Friends, which followed the fortunes of six young friends living in New York City, aired from 1994 until 2004. Its final episode was watched by 52.5 million in the US, making it the most watched TV episode of the 2000s. Warner Bros, which produced the show, described Perry as a 'true gift to us all'.
Born in Massachusetts in 1969, Perry was raised in Ottawa, Canada, where he attended elementary school with Justin Trudeau, who later became Canadian prime minister. Trudeau wrote on X: 'Matthew Perry's passing is shocking and saddening. I'll never forget the schoolyard games we used to play, and I know people around the world are never going to forget the joy he brought them.'
Perry struggled with addiction to painkillers and alcohol during his time on Friends, attending rehabilitation clinics multiple times. In 2016, he told BBC Radio 2 he could not remember three years of filming due to drink and drugs. He also experienced health problems including a burst colon in 2018 due to drug usage, requiring several operations.
Maggie Wheeler, who played Chandler's girlfriend Janice in Friends, was the first of Perry's co-stars to pay tribute. She said the joy he brought to 'so many' in his 'too short lifetime will live on'.
