‘He Was A True Gift To Us All’: People Paid Tribute To The Late Matthew Perry After His Sudden Passing

On Saturday, Matthew Perry, the beloved actor best known for playing sarcastic Chandler Bing on Friends, was found dead at his Los Angeles home. He was 54. The cause of death has currently not been public, but his sudden passing left the world shocked. Tributes soon poured in, from friends and fans alike.

“We are devastated to learn of Matthew Perry’s passing. He was a true gift to us all,” wrote the official Friends account on X. “Our heart goes out to his family, loved ones, and all of his fans.”

“What a loss,” wrote Maggie Wheeler, who spent 19 episodes over the show’s run as his squeaky-voiced, on-again-off-again girlfriend Janice. “The world will miss you Mathew Perry . The joy you brought to so many in your too short lifetime will live on. I feel so very blessed by every creative moment we shared.”

Paget Brewster played another Chandler love interest. She was Kathy, a woman seeing Joey (Matt LeBlanc), but who wound up having a closer bond with Chandler, jeopardizing their friendship. “I’m so very sad to hear about @MatthewPerry,” Brewster wrote. “He was lovely to me on Friends and every time I saw him in the decades after. Please read his book. It was his legacy to help. He won’t rest in peace though.. He’s already too busy making everyone laugh up there.”

“I’m heartbroken about the untimely death of my ‘son’, Matthew Perry,” posted Morgan Fairchild, who played Chandler’s mom. “The loss of such a brilliant young actor is a shock. I’m sending love & condolences to his friends & family, especially his dad, John Bennett Perry, who I worked with on Flamingo Road & Falcon Crest.”

Selma Blair, who appeared on a 2002 episode of Friends, called Perry her “oldest boyfriend,” writing, “All of us loved Matthew Perry, and I did especially. Every day. I loved him unconditionally. And he me. And I’m broken. Broken hearted. Sweet dreams Matty. Sweet dreams.”

Perry spent a large chunk of his life battling addiction issues. He wrote about his struggles, including several stints in rehab, in his memoir, which came out last year. Mira Sorvino, who acted with him in the TV movie Parallel Lives, called him a “sweet, troubled soul,” adding, “May you find peace and happiness in Heaven, making everyone laugh with your singular wit!!!”

https://twitter.com/MiraSorvino/status/1718432206677540958

Another actress who knew him was Meredith Salenger, who acted alongside him in A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon. “Matthew and I have known each other since [we] were 16 years old. Oh man. No words,” she wrote on X. She also posted various pictures of the two, including one on a recent picket line.

Yvette Nicole Brown, who appeared with Perry in the remake of The Odd Couple, wrote, “54 is too young to go,” adding, “We love you, Matty!”

Another Odd Couple alum, Wendell Pierce, posted, “Damn. For 2 years Matthew Perry was my boss, my colleague, and a giving, kind, funny man. I pray and hope he is at peace.”

“We were a gang way back,” posted longtime friend Shannen Doherty on Instagram. “We all grew up together going to the Formosa, North and constantly laughing. Matt, Roger, David, Roxana. We played dare and Matt had to say ridiculous things to girls at the bar. We just always had fun and supported each other. You would always find us all together in a booth speaking in our own made up language. And yes, Matt always had THAT sense of humor. Matt and I had a date and it was on.”

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also paid tribute to Perry, whom he knew growing up. “Matthew Perry’s passing is shocking and saddening,” Trudeau wrote. “I’ll never forget the schoolyard games we used to play, and I know people around the world are never going to forget the joy he brought them. Thanks for all the laughs, Matthew. You were loved – and you will be missed.”

Adele also paid tribute to Perry during a performance on Saturday, saying that Chandler was “a really big part of my life” and calling him “the best comedic character of all time.” The singer also praised him for being “so open with his struggles with addiction and sobriety, which I think is incredibly brave.”

After news of his passing broke, Friends fans appeared outside of the West Village apartment building which served as the exterior shots for the show.

There are countless tributes to Perry, too many to amass here — a testament to his gift as a performer and his attempts to use his suffering to help others by talking about it so openly. Let’s leave with his final line on the final episode of Friends, which happens to be the final line uttered on the show.