Actor Matthew Perry, who gained fame in the 1990s as the wise-cracking Chandler Bing in the hit US television comedy Friends, has been found dead in his Los Angeles-area home aged 54, several news outlets reported.
Perry was found in a jacuzzi with no sign of foul play, a law enforcement source told the Los Angeles Times.
Authorities rushed to a call over a cardiac arrest, emergency sources told the media.
NBC News, citing an unnamed representative for the actor and a law enforcement source, reported the actor was found dead of an apparent drowning at his home in the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood of Los Angeles.
Reuters could not immediately confirm the reports independently.
Friends debuted in 1994, has won 44 Emmys, and is one of the biggest successes in television history. Source: Getty / David Hume Kennerly
TMZ reported there were no drugs at the scene.
Perry was best known for his longtime role in the hugely successful Friends, which ran for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004, co-starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc and Lisa Kudrow.
Perry’s character Chandler was a sarcastic yet insecure and neurotic roommate of Joey and Ross, played by LeBlanc and Schwimmer respectively.
The series was beloved by millions of fans worldwide, with all the main cast members .
The cast of the hit NBC series Friends (left to right) Courteney Cox, Matthew Perry, Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, and Matt LeBlanc, listen to Lisa Kudrow, sing during one of their last shows. Source: Getty / David Hume Kennerly
Perry received one Emmy nomination for his Friends role and two more for appearances as an associate White House counsel on The West Wing.
He also had several notable film roles, starring opposite Salma Hayek in the rom-com Fools Rush In and opposite Bruce Willis in the crime comedy The Whole Nine Yards.
Actor’s struggles with addictions and anxiety
In recent years, Perry had begun to open up about his health battles which ranged from pancreatitis to alcohol and opioid addiction.
He documented his struggle with addiction and an intense desire to please audiences in his memoir, Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing.
“Friends was huge. I couldn’t jeopardise 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.
“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.”
This is a developing story and this article will be updated.
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