One year on from his passing, friends and family of Matthew Perry have taken to social media to pay tribute to the late actor.
Sharing the first of many heartfelt commemorations, Perry’s Friends co-star Jennifer Aniston posted a series of snaps from the duo’s time on the sit-com alongside the caption, “1 year ❤️🩹🕊️ @matthewperryfoundation.”
Fans also took to the actress’ comments to express their condolences, with one follower writing, “He was and still is a treasure. We all fell in love with Chandler at the end of Friends. He remained a treasure. I continue to watch Friends to this day and he just is so lovely when you know more about his history.”
Reflecting on his legacy, Perry’s mother Suzanne Morrison, stepfather Keith Morrison, and his three sisters Caitlin, Emily, and Madeline Morrison, marked the anniversary of Perry’s death in their first sit-down interview as a family.
“He made it a big focus of his life to help other people, to encourage other people to say, ‘I need help.’ He tried to make people see that that was a brave thing,” Caitlin told Today.
Looking back on her son’s passing, Suzanne shared, “I’m a very lucky woman, but there was one glitch, there was one problem that I couldn’t – I couldn’t conquer it. I couldn’t help him.”
“The one thing I have to learn, and it’s very hard to, is you’ve got to stop blaming yourself, because you don’t understand what your child or your husband or wife is going through, and you’ve got to stop because it tears you up.”
The outpouring of tributes from fans and famous friends comes one year after the Friends star tragically passed away at his home in Los Angeles on October 28, 2023, with TMZ being the first to report the actor’s cause of death as drowning.
According to the Los Angeles Times authorities were called to Perry’s address at approximately 4:00 p.m. local time, with multiple outlets reporting that first responders were initially dispatched to Perry’s address following a call of a cardiac arrest.
Best known for his role as Chandler Bing in the 90s sitcom Friends, Matthew Perry first made his acting debut in 1979 as a guest star on the police drama series 240-Robert. With his prolific career spanning over 35 years, Perry has starred in a number of fan-favourite films and television series, including Almost Heroes, 17 Again, The Good Wife, and The Odd Couple.
As the news of Perry’s passing broke, friends and former co-stars took to social media to share their heartfelt tributes., with Perry’s Friends family sharing their fondest memories of the star who captured the audience’s hearts as Chandler Bing.
“We are shocked and deeply, deeply saddened by our beloved friend Matthew’s passing. It still seems impossible. All we can say is that we feel blessed to have had him as part of our lives,” Friends‘ co-creators Marta Kauffman, David Crane and executive producer Kevin Bright shared in a joint statement.
“He was a brilliant talent. It’s a cliche to say that an actor makes a role their own, but in Matthew’s case, there are no truer words. From the day we first heard him embody the role of Chandler Bing, there was no one else for us.”
“We will always cherish the joy, the light, the blinding intelligence he brought to every moment—not just to his work, but in life as well. He was always the funniest person in the room. More than that, he was the sweetest, with a giving and selfless heart.”
In the weeks following his passing Perry’s Friends co-stars each shared their messages of remembrance for their beloved colleague and friend.
“Matthew. It is with a heavy heart I say goodbye. The times we had together are honestly among the favourite times of my life. It was an honour to share the stage with you and to call you my friend. I will always smile when I think of you and I’ll never forget you. Never,” LeBlanc wrote to Instagram.
Loved by fans as Chandler’s on-screen romance Monica, Cox shared, “I am so grateful for every moment I had with you Matty and I miss you every day. When you work with someone as closely as I did with Matthew, there are thousands of moments I wish I could share,” she continued, sharing a heartwarming anecdote of her on-screen relationship. “
“To give a little backstory, Chandler and Monica were supposed to have a one-night fling in London. But because of the audience’s reaction, it became the beginning of their love story.”
“Thank you for making me laugh so hard at something you said, that my muscles ached, and tears poured down my face EVERY DAY. Thank you for your open heart in a six-way relationship that required compromise. And a lot of ‘talking.’ Thank you for showing up at work when you weren’t well and then, being completely brilliant. Thank you for the best 10 years a person gets to have.Thank you for trusting me. Thank you for all I learned about GRACE and LOVE through knowing you,” wrote Kudrow, concluding, “Thank you for the time I got to have with you, Matthew.”
Aniston continued the tributes to her late friend, writing, “Oh boy this one has cut deep… Having to say goodbye to our Matty has been an insane wave of emotions that I’ve never experienced before. We all experience loss at some point in our lives. Loss of life or loss of love. Being able to really SIT in this grief allows you to feel the moments of joy and gratitude for having loved someone that deep. And we loved him deeply.”
“He was such a part of our DNA. We were always the 6 of us. This was a chosen family that forever changed the course of who we were and what our path was going to be. For Matty, he KNEW he loved to make people laugh. As he said himself, if he didn’t hear the ‘laugh’ he thought he was going to die. His life literally depended on it. And boy did he succeed in doing just that.”
“Matty, I love you so much and I know you are now completely at peace and out of any pain. I talk to you every day… sometimes I can almost hear you saying “Could you BE any crazier? “Rest little brother. You always made my day.”
Reflecting on his bond with his co-star, Schwimmer wrote, “I will never forget your impeccable comic timing and delivery. You could take a straight line of dialogue and bend it to your will, resulting in something so entirely original and unexpectedly funny it still astonishes. And you had heart. Which you were generous with, and shared with us, so we could create a family out of six strangers.”
“I imagine you up there, somewhere, in the same white suit, hands in your pockets, looking around—“Could there BE any more clouds?”.”
