On October 28, 2023, the world was shocked by the announcement of beloved television star, Matthew Perry. When he was found at his house in Los Angeles, it was revealed that he had passed away. He had struggled with substance abuse throughout his career, but continued to persist and find a new sober aspect of life. By the time of his death, he had been sober for around eighteen months. 

Matthew Perry had begun his acting career as a teenager, and was in a series of advertisements and pilots that never led to major success. It was all until he had become a part of the cast of the famous 1990s sitcom, Friends. He is most known for his Emmy-nominated role of the heartfelt character of Chandler Bing. Chandler Bing was a charismatic and enthusiastic character that grabbed the hearts of many. After Friends, he went on to star in a variety of successful movies. Perry even wrote a memoir about his life and his struggles with addiction in 2022, called Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing.

It was on the set of Friends where he had met his life-long best friends.The six actors had met when the show had begun, and had become best friends in real life as well. His co-stars Matt LeBlanc, Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, and David Schwimmer all released tribute posts to him on their social media platforms.

“Matthew                                                                                                                                                                                       It is with a heavy heart I say goodbye. The time we had together are honestly among the favorite times of my life. It was an honor to share the stage with you and to call you my friend. I will always smile when I think of you and I’ll never forget you. Never. Spread your wings and fly brother you’re finally free. Much love. And I guess you’re keeping the 20 bucks you owe me.” -Matt LeBlanc

“Oh boy this one has to cut deep… Having to say goodbye to our Matty has been an insane wave of emotions that I’ve never experienced before. We all experience loss at some point in our lives. Loss of life or loss of love. Being able to really SIT in this grief allows you to feel the moments of joy and gratitude for having loved someone that deep. And we loved him deeply. He was such a part of our DNA. We were always the 6 of us. This was a chosen family that forever changed the course of who we were and what our path was going to be. For Matty, he KNEW he loved to make people laugh. As he said himself, if he didn’t hear the ‘laugh’ he thought he was going to die. His life literally depended on it. And boy did he succeed in doing just that. He made all of us laugh. And laugh hard. In the last couple weeks, I’ve been poring over our texts to one another. Laughing and crying then laughing again. I’ll keep them forever and ever. I found one text that he sent me out of nowhere one day. It says it all…                                                                                                                                             Matty, I love you so much and I know you are now completely at peace and out of any pain. I talk to you every day.. sometimes I can almost hear you saying ‘could you BE any crazier?'” -Jennifer Aniston

I am so grateful for every moment I had with you Matty and I miss you every day. When you work with someone as closely as I did with Matthew, there are thousands of moments I wish I could share. For now here’s one of my favorites. To give a little backstory, Chandler and Monica were supposed to have a one night fling in London. But because of the audience’s reaction, it became the beginning of their love story. In this scene, before we started rolling, he whispered a funny line for me to say. He often did things like that. He was funny and he was kind…” -Courtney Cox

“Shot the pilot, Friends Like Us, got picked up then immediately, we were at the NBC Upfronts. Then…You suggested we play poker. AND made it so much fun while we initially bonded. Thank you for that. Thank you for making me laugh so hard at something you said, that my muscles ached, and tears poured down my face EVERY DAY. Thank you for your open heart in a six way relationship that required compromise. And a lot of “talking.” Thank you for showing up at work when you weren’t well and then, being completely brilliant. Thank you for the best 10 years a person gets to have. Thank you for trusting me. Thank you for all I learned about GRACE and LOVE through knowing you. Thank you for the time I got to have with you, Matthew.” -Lisa Kudrow

Thank you for ten incredible years of laughter and creativity. I will never forget your impeccable comic timing and delivery. You could take a straight line of dialogue and bed it to your will, resulting in something so entirely original and unexpectedly funny it still astonishes. And you had heart.  Which you were generous with, and shared with us, so we could create a family out of six strangers. This photo is from one of my favorite moments with you. Now it makes me smile and grieve at the same time. I imagine you up there, somewhere in the same white suit, hands in your pockets looking around– ‘Could there BE any more clouds?'” -David Schwimmer

All in all, the loss of Matthew Perry is one that is mourned by many. Yet, the many wonderful things he has accomplished and produced can be recognized and his legacy can continue to live on forever!