“The ones who want to go up, and the ones who want to go down … I wanted to melt into my couch and feel wonderful.”
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Matthew Perry
Matthew Langford Perry was an American and Canadian actor. Known primarily for his work in comedy, he gained international fame for starring as Chandler Bing on the NBC television sitcom Friends (1994–2004), receiving his first Primetime Emmy Award nomination in 2002 for the role. Perry also appeared on Ally McBeal (2002), The West Wing (2003) and The Ron Clark Story (2006) receiving Primetime Emm…
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entertainment · American and Canadian actor (1969–2023) · television actor · film producer · film actor · screenwriter · actor · voice actor · video game actor · film screenwriter · television director · director · also Matthew Perry, Matthew Langford Perry, Perry
Born 19 August 1969 · Died 28 October 2023 · Q171758
71 published statements · 0 followers
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There was no way I could have been a journeyman actor. I wouldn’t have stayed sober for that; it was not worth not doing heroin for that … When you’re earning $1m a week, you can’t afford to have the 17th drink.
85%The GuardianSource
2026· 19 entries
“There are two kinds of drug addicts,”
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- #trusted-source
- #www.theguardian.com
“There was no way I could have been a journeyman actor. I wouldn’t have stayed sober for that; it was not worth not doing heroin for that … When you’re earning $1m a week, you can’t afford to have the 17th drink.”
- #wikipedia
- #quote
- #trusted-source
- #www.theguardian.com
- #corroborated
“The best thing about me, bar none, is that … I can help a desperate man get sober.”
- #wikipedia
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- #trusted-source
- #www.theguardian.com
- #corroborated
“a slightly exaggerated form of myself”
- #wikipedia
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- #trusted-source
- #www.theguardian.com
“I’m a pretty private person but I was on a TV show that 30 million people were watching. It was so public what was happening to me.”
- #wikipedia
- #quote
- #trusted-source
- #www.theguardian.com
- #corroborated
“For me it lasted about eight months, this feeling of ‘I’ve made it, I’m thrilled, there’s no problem in the world’. And then you realise that it doesn’t accomplish anything, it’s certainly not filling any holes in your life.”
- #wikipedia
- #quote
- #trusted-source
- #www.theguardian.com
- #corroborated
“You have to get famous to know that it’s not the answer. And nobody who is not famous will ever truly believe that.”
- #wikipedia
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- #trusted-source
- #www.theguardian.com
- #corroborated
“harrowing and revealing about the juncture where extreme compound addiction collides with mega-celebrity”
- #wikipedia
- #quote
- #trusted-source
- #www.theguardian.com
- #corroborated
“s best moments on screen – video obituary As a teenager, Perry moved to Hollywood with the hope of reconnecting with his father. It was there that he began to enjoy acting and was eventually spotted at a diner – “charming a bunch of young women”
- #wikipedia
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- #www.theguardian.com
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“Thanks for all the laughs, Matthew. You were loved – and you will be missed.”
- #wikipedia
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- #trusted-source
- #www.theguardian.com
- #corroborated
The Guardian: Katy Perry ‘deeply appalled’ over White House using her song in Iran war video
- #news
- #headline
The Guardian: Rebecca Perry wins Waterstones debut fiction prize for ‘delicious and dream-like’ novel
- #news
- #headline
Public attention spiked: 24,783 Wikipedia readers in one day, 4.4× the usual 5,667, with 14 article edits. Editors noted: Early life and education Matthew had four paternal half siblings and one maternal half sister. So the other way around to what was written.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #attention
- #spike
- #pageviews
Kenneth Iwamasa, who was the last person to be sentenced over Perry's death, was sentenced to three years and five months in prison
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Iwamasa was sentenced to 41 months in prison, ordered to pay fines of $10,000 and $100, and be on supervised released for two years
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Fleming was sentenced to two years in prison
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Erik Fleming was sentenced two years in prison
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Sangha received a 15-year prison sentence to be served in a federal prison
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2025· 4 entries
Chavez was sentenced to eight months of house arrest, three years of supervised release, and 300 hours of community service
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Plasencia, the first defendant in the case to be sentenced, received a sentence of 30 months' imprisonment followed by two years of supervised release; he was also ordered to pay a $5,600 fine
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- #wikipedia
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Perry's Fools Rush In co-star Salma Hayek marked what would have been his 56th birthday with an Instagram tribute
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Sangha, the final defendant in the case, had her guilty plea, which was signed on August 14, 2025, officially filed in court
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2024· 3 entries
Indictments and criminal charges were filed against five individuals: Perry's personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa; two physicians, Mark Chavez and Salvador Plasencia; and two alleged drug dealers (television director Eri
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USA Today rated the claim “The LAPD said Matthew Perry was murdered” False.
Shown as reported and rated by a fact checker, not as an established fact.
- #fact-check
- #rated
- #claim-about-figure
News Mobile rated the claim “Video of Elon Musk talking about a conspiracy theory around the death of TV show FRIENDS' star Matthew Perry” Video is altered using deepfake technology.
Shown as reported and rated by a fact checker, not as an established fact.
- #fact-check
- #rated
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2023· 11 entries
Perry's death was revealed to have occurred due to acute effects of ketamine
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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Snopes.com rated the claim “Videos that surfaced in November 2023 accurately reported that actor Matthew Perry's ex-girlfriend claims he didn't drown, despite rumors to the contrary, and "reveals truth about last days."” Unfounded.
Shown as reported and rated by a fact checker, not as an established fact.
- #fact-check
- #rated
- #claim-about-figure
USA Today rated the claim “Matthew Perry died after posting he would expose a Hollywood pedophile ring” False.
Shown as reported and rated by a fact checker, not as an established fact.
- #fact-check
- #rated
- #claim-about-figure
Perry's funeral was held at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles where he was buried
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
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Lead Stories rated the claim “Matthew Perry Vowed To Expose Hollywood Pedophile Ring Before He Was Found Dead - The People's Voice” Fake Message.
Shown as reported and rated by a fact checker, not as an established fact.
- #fact-check
- #rated
- #claim-about-figure
USA Today rated the claim “Matthew Perry was killed because he was on the list for Epstein Island” False.
Shown as reported and rated by a fact checker, not as an established fact.
- #fact-check
- #rated
- #claim-about-figure
USA Today rated the claim “Matthew Perry died after heat triggered his COVID-19 vaccine” False.
Shown as reported and rated by a fact checker, not as an established fact.
- #fact-check
- #rated
- #claim-about-figure
PolitiFact rated the claim “Matthew Perry died because of a COVID-19 vaccine.” False.
Shown as reported and rated by a fact checker, not as an established fact.
- #fact-check
- #rated
- #claim-about-figure
Perry was found unresponsive in a jacuzzi at his home in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles
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Died 2023-10-28.
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- #wikidata
- #death
At age 54, from the acute effects of ketamine use, exacerbated by accidental drowning
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2022· 2 entries
Estimated that he had spent $9 million on his addiction, including 14 stomach surgeries, 15 stays in rehab and therapy twice a week for 30 years and had attended approximately 6,000 Alcoholics Anonymous meetings
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Released his memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing
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2018· 1 entry
Perry spent five months in a hospital for a gastrointestinal perforation
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2017· 1 entry
Perry purchased a condo occupying the top floor of The Century in Los Angeles for $20 million, selling it to Nick Molnar for $21
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2015· 1 entry
Perry sold the mansion and relocated its services
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2014· 3 entries
Perry made his British television debut in the one-off comedy program The Dog Thrower, which aired on May 1 as part of Sky Arts' Playhouse Presents
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- #wikipedia
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“If somebody says, ‘Hi Matthew, I love your work’, that’s one thing. But if somebody goes ‘Yo, Chandler’, I don’t like that. I’m tired of it. I’m not Chandler.”
- #wikipedia
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- #trusted-source
- #www.theguardian.com
- #corroborated
“If somebody says, ‘Hi, Matthew, I love your work,’ that’s one thing. But if somebody goes, ‘Yo, Chandler’, I don’t like that. I’m tired of it. I’m not Chandler.”
- #wikipedia
- #quote
- #trusted-source
- #www.theguardian.com
- #corroborated
2013· 3 entries
Awarded Huading Awards (2013).
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- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Met with the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy to support drug courts, and that year opened Perry House, a men's sober-living facility in his former Malibu home, which operated from 2013 to 2015
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- #wikipedia
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Perry received the Champion of Recovery Award from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy
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2012· 2 entries
Perry starred in the NBC comedy series Go On, written and produced by former Friends writer/producer Scott Silveri
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“I soon realised I wouldn’t be playing tennis for a living so I went for acting instead.”
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- #corroborated
2009· 2 entries
Perry was a guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, when he presented Ellen DeGeneres with an Xbox 360 video game console and a copy of the game Fallout 3
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- #wikipedia
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Perry starred in the film 17 Again playing a 37-year-old man who transforms into his 17-year-old self (Zac Efron) after an accident
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- #wikipedia
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2008· 1 entry
Perry starred in the independent film Birds of America
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2006· 2 entries
Released album “Aussie Road Trip Singalong”.
- #musicbrainz
- #release
- #work
Perry began filming Numb, a film based on a man suffering from depersonalization disorder
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- #wikipedia
- #event
2004· 1 entry
Made his directorial debut and acted in an episode of the fourth season of the comedy-drama Scrubs, an episode which included his father
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- #wikipedia
- #event
2002· 4 entries
That he made an effort not to drink on the set of Friends but arrived with extreme hangovers and sometimes would shake or sweat excessively
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- #wikipedia
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For the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series award
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“You want the attention, you want the bucks, and you want the best seat in the restaurant. I didn’t think what the repercussions would be”
- #wikipedia
- #quote
- #trusted-source
- #www.theguardian.com
- #corroborated
“You want the attention, you want the bucks, and you want the best seat in the restaurant.”
- #wikipedia
- #quote
- #trusted-source
- #www.theguardian.com
- #corroborated
2000· 1 entry
Awarded TV Guide Award (2000).
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- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
1997· 1 entry
And completed a 28-day rehab program at the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation that year
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- #wikipedia
- #event
1996· 1 entry
Awarded Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (1996).
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- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
1995· 1 entry
Julia Roberts from 1995 to 1996, and Lizzy Caplan from 2006 to 2012
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1991· 1 entry
Made a guest appearance on Beverly Hills, 90210 as Roger Azarian
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1989· 1 entry
Had a three-episode arc on Growing Pains, portraying Carol Seaver's boyfriend Sandy, who dies in a drunk driving incident
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- #event
1988· 1 entry
With A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon
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- #event
1987· 2 entries
Studied at The Buckley School (1987).
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- #wikidata
- #education
And 1988, he played Chazz Russell in the television series Second Chance (later called Boys Will Be Boys)
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- #event
1983· 1 entry
Charles in Charge in 1985, and Silver Spoons in 1986
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- #event
1969· 1 entry
Born 1969-08-19.
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- #wikidata
- #birth