Matthew Perry posted heartbreaking FINAL PHOTO with dad John, 82… less than TWO WEEKS before Friends star’s death of ‘accidental drowning’ aged 54
- READ MORE: Friends star Matthew Perry ‘has died aged 54 in accidental drowning’
- Perry rose to fame in his role as ‘Chandler Bing’ on the hit 90s sitcom Friends, which ran for 10 seasons
- Law enforcement sources said the actor was found on Saturday at a home in Los Angeles after first responders were called to the scene for a cardiac arrest
The last photo Matthew Perry posted of himself to Instagram was a heartbreaking snap that showed him happily posing beside his father John, 82.
Perry was found dead at the age of 54 this Saturday ‘after drowning in his jacuzzi at home,’ sources have told DailyMail.com.
Although he was open about his past struggles with addiction, sources said no drugs were discovered at the scene of his death, and a friend who spoke to him recently told DailyMail.com he ‘sounded sober and positive.’
His final photo with his father was posted to his Instagram page on October 15 – within the last two weeks of the Friends star’s life.
‘Here is me, and my father John, both holding a beverage,’ he wrote alongside the image, in which the pair were seen with cups of soda.
‘Holding a beverage’: The last photo Matthew Perry posted of himself to Instagram was a heartbreaking snap that showed him happily posing beside his father John, 82
‘She seems smart’: Delighted Friends fans were quick to point out that John had guest-starred on a 1998 episode of the sitcom called The One With Rachel’s New Dress
Remember when?: The episode featured John as the fabulously wealthy father of Tay Donovan’s character Joshua, the steamy boyfriend of Jennifer Aniston ‘s Rachel
Delighted Friends fans were quick to point out that John had guest-starred on a 1998 episode of the sitcom called The One With Rachel’s New Dress.
The episode featured John as the fabulously wealthy father of Tay Donovan’s character Joshua, the steamy boyfriend of Jennifer Aniston’s Rachel.
John Perry preceded his son in the acting profession, enjoying a notable run as The Sailor in Old Spice commercials in the 1970s and 1980s.
Matthew was just a child when his parents split up, with the result that the little boy mainly got to see John through the medium of television.
‘That was mostly the way that I saw my father when I was young,’ the sitcom icon wrote in his memoir. ‘On TV shows, and you know, getting shot through a door on Mannix, or something like that. That’s my Dad.’
Law enforcement sources said Matthew was found on Saturday at a home in Los Angeles after first responders were called to the scene for a cardiac arrest.
Sources told TMZ that he was found in a jacuzzi at the home but no drugs were discovered at the scene – and there was no indication of foul play.
Perry rose to fame in his role as ‘Chandler Bing’ on the hit 90s sitcom Friends, which ran for 10 seasons, and has spoken openly about his battle to overcome a decades-long drug and alcohol addiction.
The Los Angeles Times reported that authorities responded to his home around 4pm where he was discovered unresponsive.
Law enforcement sources said the actor was found on Saturday at a home in Los Angeles. He is seen here earlier last week
Perry rose to fame for his role as ‘Chandler Bing’ on the hit 90s sitcom Friends, which ran for 10 seasons
A source told the outlet there was so sign of foul play, and that robbery-homicide detectives are investigating his death.
In his last post to his Instagram, shared earlier this week, the star shared images of him in his pool, saying: ‘Oh, so warm water swirling around makes you feel good? I’m Mattman.’
Perry has been candid publicly about his problems with drugs and alcohol, having first went to rehab in 1997 for what was said to a pain medication addiction after a jet skiing accident.
Following this initial stint, he then went to rehab again in 2001 and 2011. He told an interviewer in 2016 that he doesn’t remember filming three seasons of Friends.
A longtime friend of Perry’s – who was in recovery with him – told DailyMail.com: ‘Everyone is in a total state of shock. People are crying on the phone and struggling to accept this news.
‘It’s no secret that he struggled with drugs and alcohol for years but the last time I spoke to him, which was within the last few weeks, he seemed to be in a good place.
‘He was upbeat and sounded sober and positive.
‘He’d been to rehab 17 times and nearly died from opioid abuse but he was someone who was sincere about taking his life, and his sobriety, one day at a time.
‘It’s such tragic news. Everyone is praying he didn’t relapse. Matt was a genuinely lovely guy. He was always the first to welcome newcomers to the group and would always volunteer to help and be of service.
‘We are all struggling to come to terms with this terrible news.’
The Friends star laid bare the height of his terrible drug and alcohol addiction battle which nearly cost him his life in a memoir titled ‘Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir’.
Perry has died aged 54 ‘after drowning in his jacuzzi at home,’ sources have told DailyMail.com; seen in 2022
He first went to rehab in 1997 for what was said to a pain medication addiction after a jet skiing accident
In his last post to his Instagram, posted earlier this week, the star shared images of him in his pool
Perry also revealed that his colon ruptured as a result of his opioid addiction when he was 49.
Doctors gave him only a two percent chance of survival and he was in a coma for two weeks followed by months more in the hospital.
Perry 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.
At one point during his Friends career, he admits he was taking 55 Vicodin a day and was down to 128 pounds but yet he ‘didn’t know how to stop.’
He told an interviewer in 2016 that he doesn’t remember filming three seasons of Friends.
‘I had this odd rule that I would never drink on a set,’ Perry said. ‘But I went to work in extreme cases of hangover. It’s so horrible to feel that way and have to work and be funny on top of that.’
He even revealed he would go to real estate open houses – not because he was interested in buying property but to see if he could steal drugs from medicine cabinets.
Born on August 19, 1969 in Massachusetts, Perry grew up in Ottawa and was raised by his mother, Suzanne Morrison, a Canadian writer and former press aide for Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.
Morrison and Perry’s father were married from 1968 to 1970 and she later married Canadian broadcast journalist Keith Morrison, who has been on Dateline for decades, in 1981.
Last year, he published a memoir titled ‘Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir’
Actor Matthew Perry and actress Julia Roberts hug each other on the set of ‘Friends’
Perry’s dream of widespread recognition came true with the NBC sitcom Friends, which followed the lives of six people trying to make their way in their twenties in New York City
Pictured: (l-r) Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay, Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing, Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green, David Schwimmer as Ross Geller, Courteney Cox as Monica Geller, Matt Le Blanc as Joey Tribbiani
Perry is seen here in 1987 as he promoted his first network series ‘Second Chance’, which was shown on Fox
In Canada, Perry was a top-rated tennis player but at 15 moved to Los Angeles to be closer to his father, John Bennett Perry, an actor known for several shows, including Falcon Crest, and later on Old Spice commercials.
In the 1980s and ’90s, Perry landed spots on the decades’ most popular TV shows like Charles in Charge, Who’s The Boss?, Growing Pains and Beverly Hills, 90210.
He also had a role in A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon, a movie released in 1988 that starred River Phoenix.
The film was ‘one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had, because I was 16 years old and in Chicago all by myself, no parents around,’ Perry told BuzzFeed. ‘I knew that I wanted to act.’
He told The New York Times in 2002 that he sought fame. ‘There was steam coming out of my ears, I wanted to be famous so badly.
After moving to Los Angeles, Perry landed spots on TV’s most popular shows during the 1980s and 1990s, he is seen here in an episode of Who’s the Boss?, which ran from 1984 to 1992
Perry, left as Fred Roberts in the film A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon, which was released in 1988 and starred River Phoenix, right
‘You want the attention, you want the bucks, and you want the best seat in the restaurant. I didn’t think what the repercussions would be.’
Perry’s dream of widespread recognition came true with the NBC sitcom Friends, which followed the lives of six people trying to make their way in their twenties in New York City.
Audiences adored the show during its ten-season run and continue to do so today despite the show ending over 15 years ago.
During Friends, Perry also starred in movies like Fools Rush In and The Whole Nine Yards.
After the series, he was in several television shows but did not achieve the longevity and success of Friends. He continued to land roles in movies like 2009’s 17 Again.
Perry never married and ended his engagement to Molly Hurwitz, a talent manager, in 2021.
He dated several well-known actresses including Julia Roberts and Lizzy Caplan.
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