Matthew Perry Was ‘Deceased’ Prior to Emergency Responders’ Arrival

David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images

Matthew Perry was found “unconscious in a stand-alone jacuzzi” when first responders arrived to his home on Saturday, October 28.

“A bystander had brought the man’s head above the water and gotten him to the edge, then Firefighters removed him from the water upon their arrival,” a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Fire Department told CNN in a Monday, October 30, statement. “A rapid medical assessment, sadly, revealed the man was deceased prior to first responder arrival.”

Earlier on Monday, Los Angeles Fire Department spokesperson Nicholas Prange told Page Six that firefighters “didn’t perform CPR” on Perry after arriving at his Pacific Palisades residence “because he was already beyond medical help.”

Authorities reportedly discovered Perry after they responded to a call of someone going into cardiac arrest on Saturday. There were reportedly no signs of foul play at the scene, but according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner, his cause of death has been “deferred” following his initial autopsy as the results were determined to be inconclusive pending a toxicology report.  Further investigation into the cause of Perry’s death has been requested. He was 54.

Perry was best known for his portrayal of Chandler Bing on Friends, which ran for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004. Earlier on Monday, the actor’s former costars mourned the loss of their longtime pal.

“We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just cast mates. We are a family,” Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer told Us Weekly in a joint statement on Monday, October 30. “There is so much to say, but right now we’re going to take a moment to grieve and process this unfathomable loss.”

“In time we will say more, as and when we are able,” the statement continued. “For now, our thoughts and our love are with Matty’s family, his friends, and everyone who loved him around the world.”

While filming the NBC sitcom, Perry developed an addiction to Vicodin after a Jet Ski accident in 1997. That eventually led to alcohol abuse, which affected his performance on set. In 2000, he was hospitalized with pancreatitis. Perry made multiple attempts to get sober during his time on Friends, eventually entering recovery prior to their 2021 Max reunion, where Perry opened up about being hard on himself while filming scenes as his character, Chandler.

“I felt like I was gonna die if they didn’t laugh. It’s not healthy for sure, but I would sometimes say a line and they wouldn’t laugh, and I would sweat and go into convulsions,” he told his former costars. “If I didn’t get the laugh I was supposed to get, I would freak out. I felt like that every single night.”

Although Perry knew that he would ultimately be remembered for his time on Friends, he previously opened up about also wanting his legacy to center around the “help” he offered others.

“The best thing about me, bar none, is that if somebody comes to me and says, ‘I can’t stop drinking, can you help me?’ I can say ‘yes’ and follow up and do it,” Perry said on the “Q With Tom Power” podcast in 2022. “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 gonna live the rest of my life proving that.”

In 2013, Perry converted his Malibu home into a sober living facility for men called Perry House, which offered holistic services to help men get sober.