‘Friends’ actor Matthew Perry dies aged 54

LOS ANGELES: Matthew Perry, troubled star of the smash hit TV sitcom “Friends,” was found dead at his home in Los Angeles on Saturday, US media reported. He was 54.

First responders found Perry unconscious in a hot tub at his house and were unable to revive him, law enforcement sources told the Los Angeles Times. “We responded at 4:10 pm... It is a death investigation for a male in his 50s,” a Los Angeles Police Department spokesman told AFP, without confirming the deceased’s name.

A fire department spokesman confirmed it had responded to a “water emergency,” which could refer to a “pool, spa, bathtub or fountain,” but could not confirm reports that Perry had drowned. American broadcaster NBC, which aired “Friends” for nearly a decade, confirmed the death. “We are incredibly saddened by the too soon passing of Matthew Perry,” said NBC said in a post on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

Perry was best known for his portrayal of the wise-cracking Chandler Bing on the wildly popular “Friends,” which ran for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004. “Friends” followed the lives of six New Yorkers navigating adult life, dating and careers. It was a mainstay of NBC’s much-vaunted 1990s and early 2000s television lineup, and drew a massive global following.

During the height of his success, Perry battled for years with addiction to painkillers and alcohol, and attended rehabilitation clinics on multiple occasions. Perry experienced health problems including a burst colon in 2018 due to his drug usage, which required multiple surgeries and the use of a colostomy bag for months after.