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Matthew Perry, the beloved actor who starred as Chandler Bing on “Friends,” has died. He was 54.
Police in Los Angeles are investigating Perry’s death, a law enforcement source tells CNN.
Perry died in an apparent drowning accident at his Los Angeles home on Saturday, according to the Los Angeles Times, citing law enforcement sources. No foul play is suspected, the sources told the publication.
“We are devastated by the passing of our dear friend Matthew Perry. Matthew was an incredibly gifted actor and an indelible part of the Warner Bros. Television Group family,” Warner Bros. Television Group said in a statement to CNN. “The impact of his comedic genius was felt around the world, and his legacy will live on in the hearts of so many. This is a heartbreaking day, and we send our love to his family, his loved ones, and all of his devoted fans.”
Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey told CNN a 911 call came in at 4:07 p.m. for a water rescue emergency. Humphrey said it is unclear what body of water it was.
Perry, the son of actor John Bennett Perry and Suzanne Marie Langford, onetime press secretary of Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, was born in 1969 and grew up between Montreal and Los Angeles after his parents separated when Perry was 1.
He got his start as a child actor, landing guest spots on “Charles in Charge” and “Beverly Hills 90210” and playing opposite River Phoenix in the film “A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon” in the 1980s and early 1990s.
But his big break came when he was cast in “Friends” — originally titled “Friends Like Us” — a sitcom about six single New Yorkers navigating adulthood that premiered on NBC in 1994.
Perry was cast as the awkward Chandler Bing, famous for his sarcastic one-liners. The role earned him a Primetime Emmy nomination in 2002.
Perry battled for years with addiction to painkillers and alcohol, and attended rehabilitation clinics on multiple occasions.
In 2016, he told BBC Radio 2 that he could not remember three years of filming during Friends, because of drink and drugs.
In an interview last year, he spoke about how he did not watch the show.
"I didn`t watch the show, and haven`t watched the show, because I could go, `Drinking, opiates, drinking, cocaine,`" he said. "I could tell season by season, by how I looked. That`s why I don`t wanna watch it, because that`s what I see.
"But I think I`m going to start to watch it because it`s been an incredible thing to watch it touch the hearts of different generations."
Perry also appeared in several films, including Fools Rush In, Almost Heroes and the Whole Nine Yards.
Maggie Wheeler, who played Janice in Friends, was the first of Perry`s co-stars to publicly pay tribute to the actor.
Ms Wheeler said the joy Perry brought to "so many" in his "too short lifetime will live on".
