
He was there for us.
Following Matthew Perry’s Oct. 28 death at his Pacific Palisades home, tributes poured in from co-stars, fans and celebrities. The actor, who was 54, was best known for his iconic role as Chandler Bing on “Friends.”
There aren’t many people who can stop an Adele concert, but the singer took a moment during her Oct. 28 Las Vegas show to honor Perry.
“I just want to say how much I love what he did for us,” Adele said, noting that he meant something to her even though they had never met. Later that night, “Saturday Night Live” showed a photo of the actor, who hosted the series in 1997.
On screen, Perry was the funniest man in the room. Born on Aug. 19, 1969, his father, John Bennett Perry, was also a prolific actor, and his mother was Canadian journalist Suzanne Langford. When his parents met, Langford was working as a press secretary to then-Canadian prime minister Pierre Trudeau. Perry would later be a classmate of current Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“I’ll never forget the schoolyard games we used to play, and I know people around the world are never going to forget the joy he brought them,” Trudeau said in a statement. “Thanks for all the laughs, Matthew.”
His parents divorced when Perry was still a baby. His mother would eventually marry journalist and “Dateline: NBC” host Keith Morrison. While initially Perry set his sights on being a professional tennis player, his interests turned to acting after moving from Canada to Los Angeles to live with his father.
In his teens and early-20s, Perry made numerous guest appearances on popular television series, including “Charles in Charge,” “Empty Nest,” “Who’s the Boss?” and “Beverly Hills, 90210.” He had a multi-episode guest spot on “Growing Pains” in 1989, where he played Tracey Gold’s boyfriend who dies in a drunk-driving accident.
“You have been my friend. That in itself is a tremendous thing,” Gold wrote on Twitter, alluding to E.B. White’s “Charlotte’s Web.”
After stints on several short-lived sitcoms, he was cast on “Friends,” and was 24 when the pilot was shot, making him the youngest member of the cast.
“He was a brilliant talent,” executive producers Marta Kaufman, David Crane and Kevin S. Bright said in a statement. “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.”