The following article includes references to alcoholism and substance abuse.
Either way, 54-year-old Perry appears to have drowned.
What is clear is that police said they did not suspect foul play and no illicit drugs were found.
A toxicology exam will be performed, although results can take several months.
But underneath that boyish charm and wit was a troubled soul who spent decades of his life battling addiction.
For her part, Langford traveled a lot for work.
That left young Perry shuffling between Canada and the United States at a young age.
However, he remained close to his stepfather, a man he credited for holding his family together.
To show his appreciation, Perry gifted Morrison with a Porche 911 once he became a megastar.
He wasn’t being cruel; stoned babies are funny."
(Fifty years later I still don’t sleep well.)"
In true self-deprecating, Chandler Bing style, Perry told the magazine that it was not his choice.
“I was pretty great in Canada.
Not so much in Los Angeles.
I realized I wouldn’t be playing tennis for a living, so I went for acting.”
“They’re both very heavy things to be a part of.
“When I was in my 20s, I wanted to do better than everybody else.
Now, I just sort of want everybody to be successful.”
In the case of Perry and his fellow “Friends,” it seems he got his wish.
“I remember that day very well in Ottawa, Canada.
I had never drank before.
And we just sort of drank this entire bottle of [wine],” he said.
“And I lay in the grass and just was in heaven.
By his 18th birthday, he was drinking daily.
I needed to succeed at whatever I was doing so I could feel better about myself, he said.
That included putting the perfect message on his answering machine.
That obsession carried over into his desire for fame.
He was fixated on achieving stardom and all that it entailed.
You want the attention, you want the bucks, and you want the best seat in the restaurant.
I didn’t think what the repercussions would be.
Before long, Perry also became addicted to prescription pills.
“It wasn’t my intention to have a problem with it,” he says.
So, he did.
He’d dropped to 128 pounds to be exact.
It didn’t stick, and the actor was up to his old tricks and then some.
Thus began the fall of one of Hollywood’s brightest stars.
Rehabs, interventions, hospital stays, and near-death experiences weren’t enough to keep Perry clean and sober.
Even his “Friends” co-stars couldn’t help, although they tried.
The actor shared a grizzly look into his physical health, including being hospitalized with pancreatitis in 2000.
He toldGQ, “It didn’t matter.
I needed to take them.”
The culprit was propofol, a drug that had been administered to Perry prior to the procedure.
While it may have looked beautiful on screen, it was another story behind the scenes.
The groom had been living in a treatment center.
Monica was almost left at the altar when Matthew Perry’s father intervened.
I couldn’t just disappear.”
That’s why I break up with these wonderful women that have crossed my path.”
Of all the women he pushed away, the one that haunted Perry the most was Roberts.
“She was upset.
I needed to get out.”
At a glance, his life looked like a dream.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t enjoy it all.
He used up a large portion of his life and his money on his efforts to get sober.
However, it wasn’t all in vain.
Once he finally got clean, Perry used some of his time and money for good.
He established a sober living center called Perry House for men in Malibu, California.
He also became very vocal about addiction and recovery, championing drug courts in Congress in 2012.
I want [helping people] to be the first thing that’s mentioned."
If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available.
Visit theSubstance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration websiteor contact SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
