Matthew Perry Dead at 54 After Reported Drowning

Matthew Perry, star of Friends, is dead. The sitcom star rose to fame in the 1990s on Friends and enjoyed an impressive movie career through the early 2000s. Medical issues and a struggle with substance abuse, led to Perry taking long periods away from the spotlight. Still, he always returned, and Friends fans were glad to see him. His death, on Oct. 28 at the age of 54, feels like the end of an era. 

Matthew Perry dies at 54 

Matthew Perry’s official cause of death has not been released, but rumors began swirling regardless. According to TMZ, emergency responders were called to a home in Los Angeles for an apparent cardiac arrest and arrived to find Perry unresponsive. 

An insider told the publication that Perry was found in a jacuzzi at his home by an assistant. He may have drowned. Reports suggest that Perry was only home alone for a couple of hours after playing pickleball with friends when he died. The assistant was running errands for the former Friends star when the death occurred.

Before his death Perry spent months in the hospital 

While it’s unclear if Matthew Perry’s death is related to any past medical issues, he did spend months in the hospital in recent years. In 2018, Perry spent five months in a Los Angeles hospital, two weeks of which he was comatose. The actor wrote in his memoir, Friends, Lovers and the Big, Terrible Thing, that he was given just a 2% chance of making it through the night after his colon exploded. Perry had emergency surgery and a dozen follow-up procedures following the incident. He also used a colostomy bag for nearly a year upon his release from the ICU.  

Perry laid low after his release from the hospital but did appear for the Friends reunion special on Max. In 2022, he embarked on a series of press appearances to promote his memoir, but concerns about his health persisted.