On October 28th, the world received some very tragic news. The world renowned actor Matthew Perry sadly passed away, with everyone flooding social media to remember and praise him.
Matthew Perry was born on August 19th 1969, and passed away at the age of 54. He first appeared into the acting world in 1987 at the age of 18. The role was a character named Chazz on the show “Second Chance.” He was better known on the show “Friends” as the character Chandler Bing. The show is about six friends who go through a great amount of adventures alongside each other, like finding love, heartbreak, and overall just navigating their ways through life together. The show started on September 22, 1994, and sadly came to a close on May 6, 2004.The cast of Friends consisted of Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Courtney Cox, Matt Leblanc, and Matthew Perry, who were very tight knit. In 2021, the band got back together at the “Friends:The Reunion.” Around the time the reunion came out, Perry stated in an interview with People Magazine: “It changed my life in every way. I got the show when I was a 24-year-old man; the show ended when I was 34. It formed my life. And it was the time of my life.” Though Perry struggled through very tough battles in life, this show allowed him to have a support outlet within his cast members.SHS Sophomore Fatema Hossain said this “I used to watch Friends like everyday as a kid. It was one of my favorite shows. Now that he passed away it makes me kind of sad to watch the show. It just isn’t the same anymore without him here.”
He is not only known as Chandler Bing, but a great role model to thousands of people all around the world. He faced many hardships throughout his life, but lived enough to help people with the same problems. For 30 years, he struggled with addiction and the aftermath of addiction. While he was struggling, he was also searching for help looking into many different rehab help centers to battle this issue. He wanted to be known for more than just his acting career and his addiction, he wanted to be known for how much he helped people.
He hoped to also inspire people through his writing, and in 2022 he had a very big year. His memoir was released then, and it was titled “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Things.” He wrote this book about the experiences he has had and his life, and also about his time on the show Friends. When writing this, he had hoped that people who went through similar experiences could find comfort through this. Selling almost 96,000 copies, people around the world, including here at SHS, read the book. FLVS sophomore Averie Juarez read it, and had some feedback: “I read the book a while after it came out. I had also watched Friends, so when I saw he came out with a book it really caught my eye. It took me like two days to read, and overall I really enjoyed it! It really helps people to get a different view on his life and what truly happened.”
It is important that people understand his life, and we will continue to honor him everyday. Regardless of him being here or not, his name will be carried on forever!