Matthew Perry, Emmy-nominated 'Friends' star, has died at 54, reports say
Los Angeles (AP) (PTI): Matthew Perry, who starred as sarcastic-but-sweet Chandler Bing in the hit series "Friends," has died. He was 54.
The Emmy-nominated actor was found dead of an apparent drowning at his Los Angeles home Saturday, according to the Los Angeles Times and celebrity website TMZ, which was the first to report the news. Both outlets cited unnamed sources confirming Perry's death.
His publicists and other representatives did not immediately respond to messages from The Associated Press seeking comment. Asked to confirm police response to what was listed as Perry's home address, LAPD Officer Drake Madison told AP that officers had gone to that block "for a death investigation of a male in his 50s."
Perry's 10 seasons on "Friends" made him one of Hollywood's most recognizable actors, starring opposite Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow and David Schwimmer as a friend group in New York.
As Chandler, he played the quick-witted, insecure and neurotic roommate of LeBlanc's Joey and a close friend of Schwimmer's Ross. During the show's hijinks, he could be counted on to chime in with a line like "Could this BE any more awkward?" or another well-timed quip.
By the series' end, Chandler is married to Cox's Monica and they have a family, reflecting the journey of the core cast from single New Yorkers trying to figure their lives out to several of them married and starting families.
The series was one of television's biggest hits and has taken on a new life and found surprising popularity with younger fans in recent years on streaming services.
"Friends" ran from 1994 until 2004, winning one best comedy series Emmy Award in 2002. The cast notably banded together for later seasons to obtain a salar of
1 million per episode for each.
Unknown at the time was the struggle Perry had with addiction and an intense desire to please audiences.
"'Friends' was huge. I couldn't jeopardize that. I loved the script. I loved my co-actors. I loved the scripts. I loved everything about the show but I was struggling with my addictions which only added to my sense of shame," he wrote in his memoir, "Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing." "I had a secret and no one could know."
"I felt like I was gonna die if the live audience didn't laugh, and that's not healthy for sure. But I could sometimes say a line and the audience wouldn't laugh and I would sweat and sometimes go into convulsions," Perry wrote. "If I didn't get the laugh I was supposed to get I would freak out. I felt that every single night. This pressure left me in a bad place. I also knew of the six people making that show, only one of them was sick."
He recalled in his memoir that Aniston confronted him about being inebriated while filming.
"I know you're drinking," he remembered her telling him once. "We can smell it," she said, in what Perry called a "kind of weird but loving way, and the plural we' hit me like a sledgehammer."
An HBO Max reunion special in 2021 was hosted by James Corden and fed into huge interest in seeing the cast together again, although the program consisted of the actors discussing the show and was not a continuation of their characters' storylines.
Perry received one Emmy nomination for his "Friends" role and two more for appearances as an associate White House counsel on "The West Wing."
Perry also had several notable film roles, starring opposite Salma Hayek in the rom-com "Fools Rush In" and Bruce Willis in the the crime comedy "The Whole Nine Yards."
He worked consistently after "Friends," though never in a role that brought him as much attention or acclaim.
In 2015, he played Oscar for a CBS reboot of "The Odd Couple" that aired for two seasons. He told AP that playing Oscar Madison, the character originally made famous in the 1960s series by Walter Matthau, was a "dream role." He also said he was surprised how much he enjoyed being filmed again in front of a live audience.
"I didn't realize I missed it really until it actually happened, til we actually shot the pilot and there was a studio audience there and I realized, Wow, I really like this. This is nice,'" he said. "You kind of ham up for the people in the audience. My performance never got better than when there was an audience there."
Perry was born Aug. 19, 1969, in Williamstown, Massachusetts.
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No row over Maharashtra CM's post; leaders of Mahayuti will decide: Fadnavis
Mumbai (PTI): Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday denied any row over the CM's post and asserted that leaders of Mahayuti will take a call even as counting of votes showed the saffron party-led coalition is heading for a landslide victory.
Addressing reporters, Fadnavis said the results of the Maharashtra assembly polls show that the state supports PM Narendra Modi and also thanked women voters.
"Opposition’s efforts of propagating a fake narrative, and polarisation of voters based on religion foiled by masses," said Fadnavis.
The Deputy CM said he succeeded in breaking the 'chakravyuh' of opposition due to the support of voters, the BJP team and party leaders.
With some leaders in BJP demanding that Fadnavis don the mantle of the next CM, the BJP stalwart said there was no row over the CM's post in Mahayuti- comprising BJP, Shiv Sena, and NCP.
"Leaders of Mahayuti parties will decide (on next CM)," Fadnavis told reporters in Mumbai.
He said the people of Maharashtra have shown that the party headed by Eknath Shinde is the real Shiv Sena of Balasaheb Thackeray.
As per the poll trends, the BJP has won 10 constituencies and leading in 120.
