2023-10-29 18:09:00
The shock of the sudden death of Matthew Perry, who played Chandler Bing in the hit sitcom “Friends”, has spread from Hollywood to New York to Canada, where the star who suffered from addiction problems grew up .
The 54-year-old actor was found unconscious on Saturday by his assistant in his jacuzzi at his home in Los Angeles, the American channel NBC on which “Friends” was broadcast, confirming his death.
“We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of our beloved son and brother,” Matthew Perry’s family told the specialist site People on Sunday.
Matthew Perry was best known for the role of Chandler Bing, a joker with caustic and clumsy humor, in the ultra-popular series “Friends”, broadcast on NBC for ten seasons, from 1994 to 2004, totaling more than 230 episodes.
If the five members of the fictional group of friends – Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer – had not reacted on social networks on Sunday, many celebrities paid tribute to the deceased star.
“We are shocked and deeply saddened by the passing of our dear friend Matthew,” reacted the creators of the series, Marta Kauffman, David Crane and Kevin Bright. “He was a brilliant actor” and “always the funniest person in the room.”
“Forte influence”
A true cultural phenomenon, “Friends” left its mark on a generation of viewers.
The series tells the adventures of a group of happy friends – Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Joey, Ross and Chandler – in New York, punctuated by romantic relationships including between Monica and Chandler and the endless saga between Rachel and Ross.
In Manhattan’s West Village, at the foot of the building at 90 Bedford Street where the apartment in the series is supposed to be located, bouquets of flowers and letters of tribute to “Chandler” pile up around a lamppost on Sunday . Dozens of fans stop for a few minutes to reflect, despite the rain.
Taylor Lanthier, a law student from Vancouver, Canada, who was passing through, left a yellow rose.
“I saw him in + Friends + since I was 7 years old. And now I’m 26 years old. He had a strong influence in my life and he always made me laugh a lot,” she says.
Born in Massachusetts in the northeast of the United States in 1969, to Canadian and American parents, Matthew Perry was raised between Montreal and Los Angeles.
His mother is a Canadian journalist who worked as press secretary for former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.
“The passing of Matthew Perry is sad and heartbreaking. I will never forget our schoolyard games, and I know people around the world will not forget the joy you brought them,” said L Current Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“I’m torn. I’m heartbroken. Sweet dreams Matty,” said actress Selma Blair, who paid tribute to “her oldest friend” on Instagram.
Addiction
The actor struggled for years with an addiction to painkillers and alcohol.
In his memoir, published last year, he admitted to having been to rehab at least 15 times, and to having spent more than nine million dollars trying to stay away from drugs.
During a recent television appearance, Perry surprised the audience by admitting to having suffered from severe anxiety “every night” while filming “Friends.”
According to the specialized media TMZ, no drugs were found at the scene of the actor’s death and there is no indication that it could be a criminal act.
Beyond this sitcom, Matthew Perry has starred in films such as “Fools Rush In” and “The Whole Nine Yards.”
Never married, he also did not win any Emmys, the prestigious American television awards, despite five nominations.
10/29/2023 8:38:11 p.m. – Los Angeles (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
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