“I Was Chandler”: “Friends” star Matthew Perry drowned in a jacuzzi after pickleball

The actor, who became famous for playing the sarcastic Chandler Bing in the cult 1990s sitcom Friends, was found dead in his Los Angeles home on Saturday after emergency crews were called to reports of about “cardiac arrest”.

According to sources, Matthew Perry was found in hot water. There are no signs of crime and no drugs were found at the scene, sources said.

According to the Daily Mail, earlier that day he played pickleball for two hours before sending his assistant on an errand. The deputy returned and allegedly found Perry unconscious and called 911.

Airing from 1994 to 2004, Friends, which followed the lives of six young friends living in New York City, became a hit around the world – and is still a hugely popular show years later.

Matthew Perry won a worldwide fan base for his portrayal of Chandler, earning him an Emmy Award nomination in 2002. But behind the glitz and glamor was the actor’s secret battle with substance abuse for decades.

In his latest social media post earlier this week, Matthew shared photos of himself in his pool with the caption: “Oh, so warm water swirling around makes you feel good?”

Perry has been open and public about his problems with drugs and alcohol since first checking into rehab in 1997 for what was said to be an addiction to painkillers following a jet ski accident. After this initial stint, he attended rehabilitation courses again in 2001 and 2011. In 2016, he admitted to an interviewer that he didn’t remember filming three seasons of Friends.

Perry maintained that he never appeared on the set of Friends high or intoxicated, but admitted that his on-screen appearance was indicative of the substance he was using at the time. Over the ten years of filming the show, the actor’s weight could change almost twice in one direction or another. If I lost weight, then it was the effect of painkillers. And if he gained weight, it was because of drinking, and there were many cases when he appeared on set with a hangover.

Matthew Perry has undergone dozens of life-saving operations, 15 trips to rehab and spent $9 million to get clean while struggling with drugs and alcohol, the Daily Mail writes. It is estimated that he made about 6,000 visits to Alcoholics Anonymous.

Perry himself detailed his struggles with drug and alcohol addiction in his autobiography, Friends, Lovers and the Big Bad, which was released last November.

In 2019, he narrowly escaped death after his colon ruptured due to excessive opioid use. Matthew described the moment his loved ones rushed to a Los Angeles hospital, where they were told he had only a two percent chance of surviving the night.

Health problems left Perry in a coma for two weeks, and when he woke up he found he had a colostomy bag installed, which he had to wear for the next nine months.

Just two years later, he had another brush with death at a rehabilitation center in Switzerland. Doctors administered a sedative, which interacted with the opioids in his exhausted body, causing his heart to stop beating. Paramedics managed to revive him, but in the process he broke eight ribs, forcing him to turn down a role opposite Meryl Streep in Don’t Look Up.

At one point, his lifestyle caused Matthew’s gums to become so sore that his upper front teeth fell out when he bit into peanut butter toast and had to take them to the dentist in a plastic bag.

“It’s no secret he’s 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 good spirits,” he told DailyMail. com Perry’s longtime friend, who was treated for addictions with him. “He was optimistic and sounded sober and positive. He went to rehab 17 times and almost died from opioid abuse… Matt was a truly sweet guy. He was always the first to welcome newcomers to the group and always volunteered to help.”

A native of Massachusetts, Perry grew up in Canada, where he attended school with Justin Trudeau, who is now prime minister of the Maple Leaf Country, the Daily Mail notes.

After moving to Los Angeles, Perry began acting in films and TV series before becoming a global superstar in Friends.

Matthew was perfect for the role of Chandler Bing, beloved by audiences for his sarcastic one-liners, and many of his mannerisms stemmed from the actor’s own behavior. The role earned him approximately $1 million per episode, making him one of the highest paid actors in the world.

“It was as if someone had been following me around for a whole year, stealing my jokes, copying my mannerisms, copying my world-weary but witty outlook on life,” the actor wrote in his memoirs. – One character in particular stood out to me: it’s not like I thought I could “play” Chandler. I “was” Chandler.