Actor Matthew Perry, the beloved star of the 1990s hit TV series Friends as Chandler Bing, died on Saturday after apparently drowning in a hot tub. He was 54 years old.

Matthew Perry was found dead in the jacuzzi at his home in Los Angeles

The Los Angeles Times and TMZ.com, citing law enforcement sources, reported that the American-Canadian performer was found dead in a jacuzzi at his home in Los Angeles.

NBC, which aired Friends for 10 years, confirmed his death in a statement on social media platform X.

This news upset both the Hollywood world and those who knew Perry.

Actress Mira Sorvino wrote on X: “Oh no!!!! Matthew Perry!!! Sweet and restless soul!!! May you also find happiness in heaven, making everyone laugh with your unique wit!!!”

Matthew Perry, a classmate of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who was a classmate of Perry’s in Ottawa, said he was “shocked and saddened.”

“I’ll never forget the schoolyard games we played, and I know people around the world will never forget the joy it brought them,” Trudeau said on Air X. “Thanks for all the laughs, Matthew You were loved and we will miss you.”

NBC News, citing an unnamed representative for Perry and a law enforcement source, said he was found dead at his home in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles.

“We are incredibly saddened by the untimely death of Matthew Perry,” NBC Entertainment said. “He brought so much joy to hundreds of millions of people around the world with his perfect comedic timing and wry wit. His legacy will live on for countless generations.”

Perry’s latest Instagram post, posted on Oct. 23, included a photo of him sitting in a jacuzzi at night with the caption, “Oh, so warm water swirling around you makes you feel good? I’m Mattman.”

Friends, the most popular series in the USA

Perry was best known for his long-running role as Chandler on the international hit series Friends, which ran for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004, starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc and Lisa Kudrow.

The series made all six actors international celebrities as they played a close-knit group of young people who hung out in each other’s apartments and at Central Perk, a fictional Manhattan coffee shop.

One of the main storylines involved a secret affair between Chandler and Monica Heller, Cox’s character, which was discovered in turn by four other friends – Rachel, Joey, Phoebe and Ross. Eventually they get married.

The group reunited in 2021, 17 years after the series finale, for a much-hyped documentary that aired on HBO Max.

For a time, the series was the most watched program on prime-time television in the United States, with each actor earning a million dollars per episode at the height of its popularity.

“i should be dead”

Hidden from public view for much of the original run was Perry’s long struggle with prescription drug and alcohol addiction, which she detailed in her 2022 memoir, Friends, Lovers and the Big Awful Thing.

“Hi, my name is Matthew, although you may know me by another name. My friends call me Matty. And I should be dead,” Perry wrote at the beginning of the book.

In this book, Perry revealed that his opioid abuse led to a ruptured colon when he was 49 years old. Doctors gave him a two percent chance of survival, he wrote, and he was in a coma for two weeks before spending several months in the hospital.

The actor needed 14 surgeries to fix his stomach problems and admitted that he has gone to rehab 15 times over the years in hopes of kicking his drug addiction.

In an interview with the New York Times published in October 2022, Perry stated that he had been sober for 18 months: “I probably spent $9 million or something trying to get sober.”

Perry revealed in his book that he had to go back to rehab right after filming Chandler and Monica’s wedding episode.

Matthew Perry played tennis as a teenager

After Friends, Perry starred in three more short-lived television projects: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Mr. Sunshine, and Carry On.

He has also made guest appearances or recurring roles on other hit series, including The West Wing, Ellie McBeal, Scrubs, and Beverly Hills, 90210.

His film credits include Fools Break In, The Whole Nine Yards, Almost Heroes and Three to Tango.

The Massachusetts-born actor grew up in Ottawa after his mother, a Canadian journalist who served as press secretary to former prime minister Pierre Trudeau, divorced Perry’s father and married a Canadian broadcaster.

Before moving to Los Angeles to pursue acting and comedy, Perry was a good junior tennis player.