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Matthew Perry called himself “a perpetual patient” who spent about $9 million trying to get healthy. In 2019, drugs made his heart literally stop for five minutes, nearly killing him. Despite a long period of sobriety, he died on Oct. 28 at age 54.
Yet even when he was dancing on the edge of disaster, he managed to create one of the most indelible, influential comic personas in TV history, Chandler on Friends, watched by 25 to 50 million people a week in its 1994-2004 run, then rediscovered by a whole new generation on Netflix.
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Like Stephen King, who thanks to his former addictions has no memory of writing Cujo — the book’s monster is a symbol for his habit — Perry could scarcely recall filming Friends Seasons 3 through 6, when he was sickest. He earned, by his estimate, about $90,900 an hour for acting on Friends, then went home, got plastered and erased the tape of his own memories.
He was capable of shooting the unforgettable scene of Chandler’s wedding with Monica (Courteney Cox)— he told The New York Times it was “the height of my highest point in Friends, the highest point in my career, the iconic moment on the iconic show” — and then catching a ride back to the rehab center. He spent half his life in treatment or rehab centers.
(Left to right) Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, Courteney Cox, Jennifer Aniston and Lisa Kudrow on "Friends."
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He was the funniest Friend
Of the six Friends, his was arguably the one that scored the most laugh lines, punctuating countless scenes with witty, deadpan zingers that usually poked fun without really drawing blood. “He was always the funniest person in the room,” the show’s creators said in a statement after his death. “More than that, he was the sweetest, with a giving and selfless heart.”
Perry spoofed Chandler in a Saturday Night Live skit, playing a teacher of Sarcasm 101, but that character was incredibly mean. Chandler was the opposite, more like Perry’s actual nature.
When Chandler’s sarcasm was actually lacerating, it was generally to himself
“I’m Chandler, I make jokes when I’m uncomfortable,” Perry’s character explains. His quips were often like Mad magazine’s Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions. When Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) says, “Guys! Guess what, guess what, guess what!” Chandler retorts, “The fifth dentist caved, and now they’re all recommending Trident?” When he’s on the phone and tells Joey (Matt LeBlanc) he got a woman’s machine and Joey asks, “Her answering machine?” he says, “No, interestingly enough, her leaf blower picked up.”
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