His death was confirmed in a statement posted by NBC, the broadcast network that aired Friends for 10 years
LOS ANGELES:
Actor Matthew Perry, who gained fame in the 1990s as the wise-cracking Chandler Bing in the top-rated US television comedy Friends and chronicled his decades-long battle with substance abuse in a memoir last year, died on Saturday at age 54.
His death was confirmed in a statement posted by NBC, the broadcast network that aired Friends for 10 years, on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
“We are incredibly saddened by the too soon passing of Matthew Perry,” NBC Entertainment said. “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 Los Angeles Times and TMZ, both citing unnamed law enforcement sources, reported that the American-Canadian performer was found dead in a hot tub or jacuzzi.
NBC News, citing an unnamed representative of Perry and a law enforcement source, reported the actor was found dead of an apparent drowning at his home in the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood of Los Angeles.
Ironically, Perry’s last post on Instagram, on October 23, was a photo of him sitting by a pool or jacuzzi at night, with him writing, “Oh, so warm water swirling around makes you feel good? I’m Mattman.”
Perry was best known for his longtime role as Chandler in the hugely successful Friends, which ran for 10 seasons on the NBC network from 1994 to 2004, co-starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc and Lisa Kudrow.
The series made international celebrities out of all six castmates, playing a close-knit group of young adults who shared space in one another’s apartments and met for coffee at the “Central Perk,” a fictional Manhattan cafe.
