Matthew Langford Perry (August 19, 1969 – October 28, 2023) was an American and Canadian actor. He gained international fame for starring as Chandler Bing on the NBC television sitcom Friends (1994–2004). Perry also appeared on Ally McBeal (2002) and received Primetime Emmy Award nominations for his performances in The West Wing (2003) and The Ron Clark Story (2006). He played a leading role in the NBC series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (2006–2007), and also became known for his leading film roles in Fools Rush In (1997), Almost Heroes (1998), Three to Tango (1999), The Whole Nine Yards (2000), Serving Sara (2002), The Whole Ten Yards (2004), and 17 Again (2009).
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 (2012–2013), and The Good Fight (2017). Perry portrayed Ted Kennedy in The Kennedys: After Camelot (2017) and appeared as himself in his final television appearance, Friends: The Reunion (2021). He voiced Benny in the video game Fallout: New Vegas (2010).
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.
He 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 him with ketamine, was sentenced to 30 months in prison on December 3, 2025. Drug dealer Jasveen Sangha supplied Perry with the ketamine which caused his death.
Early life and education
Matthew Langford Perry was born on August 19, 1969, in Williamstown, Massachusetts. His mother, Suzanne Marie Morrison (, born 1943), is a Canadian journalist who was press secretary to Canadian prime minister Pierre Trudeau. His father, John Bennett Perry (born 1941), 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." He practiced tennis, often for 10 hours per day,
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
thumb|Perry in 1987
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. 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. Perry played the starring role in the ABC sitcom Home Free, which aired in 1993.
1994–2004: Breakthrough with Friends
left|thumb|Perry departing from rehearsal for the [[47th Primetime Emmy Awards|1995 Emmy Awards]]
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. 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.
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. and received a Golden Globe and Emmy nomination for his performance.
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 (Zac Efron) 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.
thumb|upright=0.75|Perry at the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards in 2010
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.
left|thumb|170x170px|Perry in 2012
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. Perry never married or fathered any children.
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. calling himself "a seeker".
Health and addiction
In his memoirs, Perry wrote that by age 14, he had become an alcoholic. 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, 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 (ECMO) 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 of 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.</blockquote>
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 (television director Erik Fleming and Jasveen Sangha, known as the "Ketamine Queen"). Prosecutors alleged that the defendants were involved in the distribution of ketamine that resulted in Perry's death, as well as the death of at least one other individual.
Three of the accused – Fleming, Iwamasa, and Chavez, agreed to plead guilty. Chavez's medical license was initially reported as suspended, but was later confirmed to have been voluntarily surrendered the following month. Following her arrest in August 2024, Sangha had her bail revoked; since then, she has been held at a federal prison.
According to U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada, Perry paid the two doctors approximately $55,000 in cash for ketamine during the two months preceding his death. Iwamasa admitted to obtaining ketamine for Perry and administering injections, while Fleming admitted to obtaining ketamine from suppliers and delivering it to Iwamasa for Perry's use.
However, prosecutors stated that the primary supplier of the ketamine Perry used at the time of his death was Jasveen Sangha, described as a major drug dealer serving "high-end and celebrities." Sangha's North Hollywood residence, which was raided by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in March 2024, was characterised as a "drug-selling emporium." In his guilty plea, Fleming admitted that he obtained 71 vials of ketamine from Sangha, which were intended for sale to Perry. Plasencia and Sangha were identified by prosecutors as the primary targets of the investigation, with Sangha becoming Perry's main supplier after Plasencia reduced his distribution of ketamine.
On August 18, 2025, Sangha, the final defendant in the case, had her guilty plea, which was signed on August 14, 2025, officially filed in court. At the time, Sangha also admitted to selling ketamine that contributed to at least one prior fatal overdose. Sangha formally entered guilty pleas to all five counts while appearing before the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on September 3, 2025. faced up to 10 years' imprisonment on each of the four charges to which he pled guilty, for a combined statutory maximum of 40 years. On December 3, 2025, Plasencia, the first defendant in the case to be sentenced, received a sentence of 30 months' imprisonment followed by two years of supervised release; he was also ordered to pay a $5,600 fine. Following sentencing, Plasencia surrendered and was taken into federal custody. On December 16, 2025, Chavez was sentenced to eight months of house arrest, three years of supervised release, and 300 hours of community service. On April 8, 2026, Sangha received a 15-year prison sentence to be served in a federal prison. On May 13, 2026, Fleming was sentenced to two years in prison. On May 27, 2026, Iwamasa was sentenced to 41 months, more than three years, in prison, ordered to pay separate fines of $10,000 and $100, and be on supervised released for two years; he is required to report to prison on July 17, 2026.
Legacy
Perry's portrayal of Chandler Bing on Friends (1994–2004) 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.
Acting credits
Film
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
|-
! scope="col" | Year
! scope="col" | Title
! scope="col" | Role
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes
! scope="col" class="unsortable" |
|
|-1988 highway to heaven, season 5 episode 2, hello and farewell played David Hastings
! scope="row" |1988
| data-sort-value="Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon, A" | A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon
| Fred Roberts
| Credited as Matthew L. Perry
|
|-
! scope="row" |1989
| She's Out of Control
| Timothy
| Credited as Matthew L. Perry
|
|-
! scope="row" |1994
| Getting In
| Randal Burns
| Direct-to-video
|
|-
! scope="row" |1997
| Fools Rush In
| Alex Whitman
|
|
|-
! scope="row" |2002
| Serving Sara
| Joe Tyler
|
|
|}
Television
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
|-
! scope="col" | Year
! scope="col" | Title
! scope="col" | Role
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes
! scope="col" class="unsortable" |
|-
! scope="row" |1979
| 240-Robert
| Arthur
| Episode: "Bank Job"
|
|-
! scope="row" |1983
| Not Necessarily the News
| Bob
| Episode: "Audrie in Love"
|
|-
! scope="row" |1987–1988
| Second Chance/Boys Will Be Boys
| Chazz Russell
| Main role
|
|-
! scope="row" |1988
| Dance 'til Dawn
| Roger
| Television film
|
|-
! scope="row" |1988
| Just the Ten of Us
| Ed
| Credited as Matthew L. Perry; episode: "The Dinner Test"
|
|-
! scope="row" |1989
| Growing Pains
| Sandy
| Recurring role
|
|-
! scope="row" |1991
| Beverly Hills, 90210
| Roger Azarian
| Episode: "April Is the Cruelest Month"
|
|-
! scope="row" |1992
| Sibs
| Chas
| Episode: "What Makes Lily Run?"
|
|-
! scope="row" |1993
| Deadly Relations
| George Westerfield
| Television film
|
|-
! scope="row" |1993
| Home Free
| Matt Bailey
| Main role
|
|-
! scope="row" |1994–2004
| Friends
| Chandler Bing
| Main role
|
|-
! scope="row" |1995
| Caroline in the City
| Chandler Bing
| Episode: "Caroline and the Folks"
|
|-
! scope="row" |1995
| data-sort-value="John Larroquette Show, The" | The John Larroquette Show
| Steven
| Episode: "Rachel Redux"
|
|-
! scope="row" |2003
| data-sort-value="West Wing, The" | The West Wing
| Joe Quincy
| Recurring role; 3 episodes
|
|-
! scope="row" |2006
| data-sort-value="Ron Clark Story, The" | The Ron Clark Story
| Ron Clark
| Television film
|
|-
! scope="row" |2011
| Mr. Sunshine
| Ben Donovan
| Main role; also creator, executive producer and writer
|
|-
! scope="row" |2015–2017
| data-sort-value="Odd Couple, The" | The Odd Couple
| Oscar Madison
| Main role; also creator, executive producer and writer
|
|-
! scope="row" |2021
| Friends: The Reunion
| Himself
| Also executive producer
|
|}
Theater
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
|-
! scope="col" | Year
! scope="col" | Title
! scope="col" | Role
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes
! scope="col" class="unsortable" |
|-
! scope="row" |2003
| Sexual Perversity in Chicago
| Danny
| Comedy Theatre, London
|
|-
! scope="row" |2016
| data-sort-value="End of Longing, The" |The End of Longing
| Jack
| Also playwright; Playhouse Theatre, London
|
|-
! scope="row" |2017
| data-sort-value="End of Longing, The" |The End of Longing
| Jack
| Also playwright; Lucille Lortel Theater, Off-Broadway
|
|}
Specials
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|-
! scope="col" | Year
! scope="col" | Title
! scope="col" | Role
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes
! scope="col" class="unsortable" |
|-
! scope="row" | 2013
| TSN: The Hangover
| Angry Matthew Perry
| Cameo
|
|}
Awards and nominations
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+
|-
! scope="col" | Award
! scope="col" | Year
! scope="col" | Category
! scope="col" | Nominated work
! scope="col" | Result
! scope="col" class="unsortable"|
|-
! scope="row" |Golden Globe Awards
| 2007
| Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film
| The Ron Clark Story
|
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" rowspan=5|Primetime Emmy Awards
| 2002
| Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
| Friends
|
| align="center"|
|-
| 2003
| rowspan=2|Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series
| rowspan=2|The West Wing
|rowspan=3
| align="center"|
|-
| 2004
| align="center"|
|-
| 2007
| Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie
| The Ron Clark Story
| align="center"|
|-
| 2021
| Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded)
| Friends: The Reunion
|
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" rowspan=8|Screen Actors Guild Awards
| 1996
| rowspan=7|Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
| rowspan=7|Friends
|
| align="center"|
|-
| 1999
|rowspan=6
| align="center"|
|-
| 2000
| align="center"|
|-
| 2001
| align="center"|
|-
| 2002
| align="center"|
|-
| 2003
| align="center"|
|-
| 2004
| align="center"|
|-
| 2007
| Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
|The Ron Clark Story
|rowspan=3
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" rowspan=2|American Comedy Awards
| 1996
| rowspan=2|Funniest Supporting Male Performer in a TV Series
| rowspan=2|Friends
| align="center"|
|-
| 1998
|
|-
! scope="row" |Huading Awards
| 2013
| Best Global Actor in a Television Series
| Go On
|
| align="center" |
|-
! scope="row" |Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards
| 2002
| Favorite TV Actor
|Friends
| rowspan=5
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" rowspan=2|People's Choice Awards
| 2016
| rowspan=2|Favorite Comedic TV Actor
| rowspan=2|n/a
| align="center"|
|-
| 2017
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" |Satellite Awards
| 2006
| Best Actor in a Series, Drama
| Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" |Teen Choice Awards
| 2004
| Choice TV Actor – Comedy
| rowspan=3|Friends
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" |TV Guide Awards
| 2000
| Editor's Choice
|
|
|-
! scope="row" | TV Land Awards
| 2006
| Most Wonderful Wedding
|
|
|}
See also
- List of deaths from drug overdose and intoxication
Publications
Notes
References
External links
- Interviewed on "Q with Tom Power", CBC, November 22, 2022, audio