The 'Friends' actor reportedly had begun to form his own foundation to help people battling substance abuse when he was found dead in his bathtub in Los Angeles.
- Oct 31, 2023
AceShowbiz - Matthew Perry had just begun to set up a foundation to help substance abuse sufferers before his sudden death. The "Friends" star was discovered dead in his hot tub at his home in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles on Saturday, October 28, aged 54, and after his own sobriety battle, Matthew focused his time on helping others with drug and alcohol problems.
The "17 Again" star turned his Malibu mansion into a sober living facility for men in 2013 and named it "Perry's House". And according to TMZ, a source close to the late actor said he had begun the work to form his own foundation to be able to help even more people. His family is expected to continue the work to get it up and running in his memory.
Matthew wanted to be remembered for helping fellow addicts - not "Friends". The "Three to Tango" star shared his wish in a November 2022 interview, which resurfaced in the wake of his shock death, on the "Q with Tom Power" podcast that he didn't want his role as Chandler Bing in the iconic US sitcom to be his legacy.
He said, "Best thing about me - bar none - is if somebody comes up to me and says, 'I can't stop drinking, can you help me?' I can say 'Yes' and follow up and do it. That's the best thing. And I've said this for a long time, when I die, I don't want 'Friends' to be the first thing that's mentioned. I want that to be the first thing that's mentioned, and I'm going to live the rest of my life proving that."
However, he knew that it wouldn't be the case. He added, "I know it won't happen, but it would be nice."
Matthew's memoir, "Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing: A Candid, Darkly Funny Book", exposed his struggles with addictions - which got so severe that in 2018, at the age of 49, he suffered a gastrointestinal perforation as a result of his extreme opiate usage.
He was given just a two per cent chance of living after being comatose for two weeks and the actor had to use a colostomy bag while his colon healed. Matthew revealed that while his body was relying on the bag, he woke up covered in his own faeces "50 to 60" times throughout the five months he was hospitalised.
He said, "I had s*** all over my face, all over my body, in the bed next door. When it breaks, it breaks. You have to get nurses."
At the peak of his addictions, he was consuming about 55 Vicodin pills a day and weighed just 128 pounds. Matthew also joked viewers could now tell what drugs he was abusing by observing his varying appearance on "Friends".
He said in his book, "You can track the trajectory for my addiction if you gauge my weight from season to season. When I'm carrying weight, it's alcohol; when I'm skinny, it's pills; when I have a goatee, it's a lot of pills."
No illegal drugs were found at his home at the time of his death. However, several prescribed medications were discovered. Matthew's cause of death has been deferred, pending a toxicology report.
