'Friends' Star Matthew Perry Dies At 54: Reports

LOS ANGELES, CA — Matthew Perry, best known for his role as Chandler Bing on “Friends,” has died in an apparent drowning, according to a pair of reports. He was 54.

Perry was found in a jacuzzi at home in the Los Angeles area, TMZ reported. There was no foul play involved, the report said.

The Los Angeles Times reported authorities were called to Perry's home about 4 p.m. because he was unresponsive. The investigation was continuing.

Perry, the son of Canadian journalist Suzanne Marie Morrison and American actor John Bennett Perry, was a nationally ranked junior tennis player in high school in addition to acting in high school stage performances, according to his IMDB biography.

He dove into acting full force when he was offered a leading role in the 1987 TV series Boys Will Be Boys, the biography said. The 21-episode show centered on a deceased "ne'er do well" who comes back to try to keep his younger self (played by Perry) on the straight and narrow.

Perry had a number of other acting roles but his 10 seasons as Chandler Bing on "Friends" cemented him as a star.

The fame also led him down a difficult path and a battle with alcoholism and addiction, which he chronicled in his 2022 memoir, "Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing," which was released a year ago, according to the New York Times.

"I wanted to share when I was safe from going into the dark side of everything again," he told People magazine in 2022. "I had to wait until I was pretty safely sober — and away from the active disease of alcoholism and addiction — to write it all down. And the main thing was, I was pretty certain that it would help people."

In the memoir, Perry revealed he nearly died at age 49 from the effects of opioid abuse, the People report said.

The TMZ report said there were no drugs found at the scene when Perry was found unresponsive Saturday.

Perry was born on Aug. 19, 1969, in Massachusetts. His parents divorced and his mother raised him in Ottawa, Ontario, before he moved to Los Angeles at age 15 to attend the Buckley School and pursue acting, Variety reported.

Perry received two Emmy nominations, in 2003 and 2004, for outstanding guest actor in a drama series for his role as Joe Quincy in "The West Wing," Variety reported. He also took a turn as an executive producer of the short-lived "Mr. Sunshine" in 2011, in which he starred with Allison Janney.