Actor and Friends star Matthew Perry, who portrayed Chandler Bing, died Saturday at age 54. He was allegedly found drowned in his jacuzzi.
While outlets like TMZ and the Daily Mail have reported that Perry was found dead in his hot tub, the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times have yet to report this fact, but they have confirmed that officials do not suspect foul play and there were no drugs at the scene of his death.
He’d eerily just posted a picture of himself in the jacuzzi just days before. It was his final Instagram post.
In it, Perry is seen in the corner of his large jacuzzi, staring out at the view while wearing over-the-ear headphones.
“Oh, so warm water swirling around makes you feel good? I’m Mattman,” he wrote in the caption.
Perry was known for his sarcastic, dry-wit comedy as Chandler Bing on Friends. The hit ’90s sitcom, which ran for 10 seasons. The show has remained a cultural touchstone, with a strong following among generations that continually binge the seasons, often referring to it as one of their “comfort shows.”
Bing was 24 when he landed the role, and as he became more famous, he was candid about abusing drugs and alcohol to cope with the pressure of fame and constantly needing to land jokes in front of a live audience.
“I’ll be 34 when it’s over, and those are really important years in somebody’s life. So to do it all in public … was difficult. At first you have the wave of ‘I’m famous, and this is exactly what I’ve wanted my whole life.’ But then you go through the whole recluse stage where you think, ‘I wish everybody would stop staring at me,’” he wrote in his book Friends … ‘Til the End.
Perry went to rehab 15 times over the years and had 14 surgeries on his stomach related to his drug abuse.
In a New York Times interview, Perry shared that he started to drink when he was just 14 years old but didn’t realize he had a drinking problem until his early 20s when downing beers turned to drinking quarts of vodka along with prescription medication like Vicodin, Xanax, and OxyContin.
“I’ve probably spent $9 million or something trying to get sober,” he said.
Part of his recovery journey included two weeks in a coma, five months in the hospital, and none months with a colostomy bag after his colon burst from opioid overuse when he was 49.
When he was first admitted to the hospital due to the opioids, doctors told his family he had a 2% chance to live. The experience made the actor double down on sobriety.
“If you don’t have sobriety, you’re going to lose everything that you put in front of it, so my sobriety is right up there. I’m an extremely grateful guy,” he said about the near-death experience.
“We are devastated by the passing of our dear friend Matthew Perry,” Warner Bros. Television Group, which produced Friends, said in a statement to the LA Times. “Matthew was an incredibly gifted actor and an indelible part of the Warner Bros. Television Group family. The impact of his comedic genius was felt around the world, and his legacy will live on in the hearts of so many. This is a heartbreaking day, and we send our love to his family, his loved ones, and all of his devoted fans.”
“We are incredibly saddened by the too soon passing of Matthew Perry,” NBC, which aired the series, said in the LA Times. “He brought so much joy to hundreds of millions of people around the world with his pitch perfect comedic timing and wry wit. His legacy will live on through countless generations.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to the Los Angeles Police Department via phone and to Perry’s representatives for comment but did not immediately hear back.
