Matthew Perry’s death is the subject of an ongoing investigation, according to the Los Angeles Times and TMZ.
TMZ broke the news on Saturday, October 28, that the Friends alum had died at the age of 54. According to the outlet, law enforcement responded to a call of someone in cardiac arrest at Perry’s Los Angeles home. Upon arrival, they found Perry unresponsive. The Los Angeles Times reported that there was no sign of foul play. No further details have been revealed, and representatives for Perry did not immediately respond to Us Weekly‘s request for comment.
According to the Times, the Los Angeles Police Department’s robbery-homicide detectives unit is heading up the investigation. Perry’s cause of death will be determined by the county’s coroner’s office.
Perry, who hailed from Canada, got his start acting with various TV guest-starring roles. His big break came in 1994 when he landed the role of Chandler Bing on NBC’s Friends, which ran for 10 seasons. The sitcom also starred Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer.
As Friends grew in popularity, Perry struggled off-camera with addiction.
“[It was] at the time I should have been the toast of the town,” Perry recalled during an October 2022 sit-down with Diane Sawyer, admitting he would take 55 Vicodin pills each day. “I was in a dark room meeting nothing but drug dealers and completely alone.”
During that interview, Perry noted that Aniston, 54, was the costar who “reached out the most” throughout his tough times. He added: “I’m really grateful to her for that.”
Friends cocreator Marta Kauffman previously told Us Weekly that the creative team knew about Perry’s troubles while they worked on the show.
“We were certainly aware of some of it, and we certainly had some conversations about it,” Kauffman, 67, told Us in January 2020. “[We were] protective and, hopefully, supportive.”
Amid his addiction battle, Perry went to rehab twice, first in 1997 and then again in 2001.
If you or anyone you know is facing substance abuse issues, call the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357 for free and confidential information 24/7.
