Friends star Matthew Perry found dead in hot tub

LOS ANGELES — Actor Matthew Perry, who gained fame as the wisecracking Chandler Bing in the hit US television comedy Friends, was found dead on Saturday at his home in Los Angeles, several news outlets reported.

The Los Angeles Times and TMZ.com, both citing unnamed law enforcement sources, reported that Perry, 54, was found dead in a hot tub or jacuzzi.

NBC News, citing an unnamed representative for the American-Canadian actor and a law enforcement source, reported the actor was found dead of an apparent drowning at his home in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Perry was best known for his longtime role as Chandler in the hugely successful Friends, which ran for 10 seasons on the NBC network from 1994 to 2004, co-starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc and Lisa Kudrow.

The series made international celebrities out of all six actors. They played a close-knit group of young adults who shared space in one another's apartments and met for coffee at the Central Perk, a fictional Manhattan cafe.

The entire cast came back together 17 years after the series finale for a much-ballyhooed reunion special that aired on HBO Max in 2021.

Perry received one Emmy nomination for his role in Friends and two more for appearances as an associate White House counsel on The West Wing.

"Matthew was an incredibly gifted actor and an indelible part of the Warner Bros. Television Group family," the company said in a statement.

Tributes from fans

Perry's death drew sorrow and tributes from Chinese fans of Friends, which is among the most popular US TV series — and a refreshed, delightful and profound material for learning English — in China for nearly three decades.

Remembering Chandler's humor, fragility and warmth, people expressed pity on the Chinese microblogging platform Sina Weibo that there will be no reunion of the six main characters anymore, especially when the series is about to celebrate its 30th anniversary of premiere next year.

Audiences went over the theme song, I'll Be There For You, and words of lament flooded the message board on the music platform NetEase Music.

Woyijingganhe commented: "Matthew interpreted the character very well. He rationalized Chandler's shift in personality vividly."

Internet influencer Hecaitou wrote in a memorial article that the series accompanied him through a dark time, laughing, crying, and laughing again as the story went on.

Perry was open about his long and public struggle with addiction, writing at the beginning of his 2022 million-selling memoir: "Hi, my name is Matthew, although you may know me by another name. My friends call me Matty. And I should be dead."

Fang Aiqing in Beijing contributed to this story.

Agencies via Xinhua