American-Canadian actor Matthew Perry, popular for his starring role in 10 seasons of “Friends”, is dead.
Report says the actor was found dead after drowning in a hot tub, at a home in Los Angeles, USA, on Saturday, October 28.
Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey told CNN a 911 call came in at 4.07pm local time for a water rescue emergency, but said it was unclear what body of water it was.
LAPD officer Drake Madison did not name the victim, but confirmed that officers responded to a home matching Perry’s address at 4.10pm for a death investigation involving a man in his 50s.
According to the report, 54 year old Perry had played a two-hour game of pickleball before his death and had sent his assistant out on an errand.
The assistant returned to find Perry unresponsive.
Though the actor openly battled addiction to opioid painkillers throughout his life, early reports have indicated that drugs were not involved in Perry’s passing.
The Emmy-nominated actor published a memoir titled, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, recounting his life and career on November 22, 2022.
The memoir openly discussed his troubles with drug and alcohol dependence, including his addiction during the filming of “Friends”.
He disclosed how he nearly died at the age of 49 when his colon burst from opioid overuse, saying that doctors had given him only a two per cent chance of survival and he was in a coma for two weeks and stayed more months in the hospital.
Report says the actor required 14 surgeries to help repair all of the abdominal damage, and he admitted to having gone to rehab 15 times over the years in hopes of kicking his drug addiction.
“I was taking 55 Vicodin a day, I weighed 128 pounds, I was on Friends getting watched by 30 million people—and that’s why I can’t watch the show, ’cause I was brutally thin,” Perry said in a CBC interview last year.
Maggie Wheeler, who played Perry’s on-screen girlfriend – Janice, on “Friends”, has been one of the first cast members to publicly pay tribute to him.
Wheeler took to Instagram, writing, “the world will miss you Matthew Perry”.
“What a loss,” she wrote.
The official X account for “Friends” wrote a message for the deceased cast member:
“We are devastated to learn of Matthew Perry’s passing. He was a true gift to us all. Our heart goes out to his family, loved ones, and all of his fans,” the post said.
Michael Rapaport, who played Gary in four episodes of the show, wrote on X that Perry was “always nice, cool and talented”.
“You are a part of American Culture and will live on forever,” he said.