Friends Star Matthew Perry dies at 54 in suspected drowning

[Photo by MK DB]

Matthew Perry, who rose to superstardom as Chandler Bing on the hit sitcom “Friends,” has died at 54.

According to several media outlets on Saturday, he was found unresponsive in a hot tub at his home. The cause of death remains has not been clarified, but there was no indication of foul play.

Perry was born in 1969 in Massachusetts, in the United States, to American actor John Perry and Canadian journalist Suzanne Langford. His parents divorced before he turned one, and he grew up with his mother in Ottawa, Canada.

When he was 15, he moved to Los Angeles and began acting in high school. After graduating from high school, he began his career as a professional actor by starring in the American sitcom “Second Chance.” In 1994, he got cast in Friends, a comedy series that premiered on NBC. As the sitcom became popular worldwide, he also rose to stardom. Friends is one of the most popular sitcoms in the United States over its ten seasons which concluded in 2004.

Perry, however, spent much of his life battling drug and alcohol addiction. He had struggled with an addiction to Vicodin since 1997, when he got injured in a jet ski accident, which led to a 30-year struggle. In his book Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, he revealed his battle with drug use and thanked his Friends co-stars for helping him stay resilient in the battle.