They were Friends on and seemingly off the screen and as the whole world mourns her co-star, Jennifer Aniston feared Matthew Perry’s death years before he passed away at age 54. The actor was found dead in his LA home from an apparent drowning, though the details of an autopsy and toxicology reports were not immediately available.
Born in 1969, Matthew Perry was raised by John Bennett Perry, an actor, and Suzanne Marie Langford, the former press secretary to Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. His early life was divided between Montreal and Los Angeles, following his parents’ separation when he was just a year old.
Perry’s journey in the entertainment world began as a child actor. When he was 15, he decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and try out an acting career by moving to Los Angeles. Perry landed his first sitcom role on the show Second Chance (which later became Boys Will Be Boys) and went on to secure roles in series like Charles in Charge and Beverly Hills 90210. By 1988, he had already made his big screen debut in the film A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon, where he starred alongside the late River Phoenix.
It was the role of Chandler Bing in the legendary sitcom Friends that really catapulted Perry to superstardom. Premiering on NBC in 1994, the show about six single New Yorkers navigating the complexities of adulthood quickly became a cultural phenomenon. Perry, who was only 25 years old when the series began, became a household name overnight alongside his fellow cast members Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, and David Schwimmer. Now, an old video shows how Jennifer Aniston feared Matthew Perry’s death as he battled various substance addictions.
