The acting world, and more specifically anyone who has seen ‘Friends’, is in complete shock at the death of Matthew Perry, the actor best known for playing the endearingly funny Chandler Bing.
He was found dead in his hot tub and, after initial investigations, it appears that he may have suffered a heart attack in the water, although no drugs were found at the scene of his death and no robbery is suspected.
A year ago, Perry published his autobiography, ‘Friends, Lovers and That Terrible Thing’.
In it, he tells his story, from his father’s abandonment to drug addiction to success, which almost made his life more difficult than it made it easier. In the book, the actor opened up and even went so far as to say that he “should have died”.
Matthew Perry’s addictions
According to his memoirs, he apparently drank a bottle a night of vodka, cocaine, opiates (he even took 55 Vicodin pills a day) and benzodiazepines (anxiolytics). So, behind Chandler’s eternal smile and the many jokes the character made, the actor says that he was often on the brink of the abyss.
He also recounts in the book that his father abandoned him when he was a child, that he had many relationships, including with Julia Roberts, whom he left for fear of being abandoned, and also his many attempts at rehabilitation.
At the age of 49, he was on the verge of death when his colon burst as a result of opioid abuse. He spent five months in hospital and two weeks in a coma. He had only a two percent chance of survival.
“I was hooked up to a machine that breathes for you. They call it the Hail Mary because no one survives. That night, five people were hooked up to that machine: four died, while I survived. Why? Why me?” he recounts in the book, according to El Mundo.
During the filming of ‘Friends’, at the beginning, he was already involved with alcohol. At that time, it was something bearable. Then, as the years went by, he didn’t know how to stop, although his co-stars were by his side. They didn’t let him walk alone.