Why Matthew Perry was 'Friends' with all of us: Remembering the iconic actor

Matthew Perry was "Friends" with all of us.

That's what it felt like, at least. As one of the six cast members of the iconic NBC sitcom, which ran from 1994 to 2004, Perry's Chandler Bing was an intimate part of millions of people's lives, with his sardonic one-liners and ever-cynical spirit. Along with his fellow castmates Matt Le Blanc, David Schwimmer, Courteney Cox, Jennifer Aniston and Lisa Kudrow, Perry helped make "Friends" one of the biggest TV shows of all time and made his face recognizable all over the world.

So when news broke that the actor had died Saturday at the age of 54, it was as if all of us had lost a close friend, someone who had graced our living rooms for a decade, someone we knew intimately, even if none of us really knew Perry at all.

But that was the majesty of his performance as Chandler, the least conspicuously likable character on the sitcom that often used him for the most brusque and grating comic relief. Known for the construction "could I be more ...?" and nasally on-and-off-again girlfriend Janice (Maggie Wheeler), Chandler did not start the series with the handsome pining of Ross (Schwimmer) and his will-they-or-won't-they tension with Rachel (Aniston) or the sweet dumb charm of Joey (Le Blanc), who went through one-night stands like so many sandwiches. He was there to crack wise and keep everyone else honest, a nice foil to Monica's (Cox) neuroses (more on her later), Phoebe's (Kudrow) zaniness, Joey's cluelessness, Rachel's coolness and Ross's snobbery.

Sad news:'Friends' star Matthew Perry, sitcom great who battled addiction, dead at 54

Over 10 seasons, Perry dove deeper and deeper into the character until it hardly seemed like he had to try very hard to inhabit Chandler. By Season 5, when creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane wisely paired Chandler with Monica in a far more satisfying relationship than Ross and Rachel's, Perry made Chandler a romantic and a cynic in equal measure. When he and Monica propose to each other in the Season 6 finale, you believe every word of his speech: "You make me happier than I ever thought I could be, and if you let me, I will spend the rest of my life making you feel the same way." Who thought millions could swoon over a character who didn't want to get out of his recliner and kept a chick and a duck as pets?

There was more than "Friends," if you can believe it, although, like his co-stars, Perry had trouble shaking the character that made him rich and famous. In underrated "Fools Rush In" (1997), he starred opposite Salma Hayek and proved his rom-com bonafides. His comedy proved unflappable in "The Whole Nine Yards" (2000) and its 2004 sequel. And even in a string of never-quite-successful TV series including NBC's "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" (2006-07) and NBC's "Go On" (2012-13) his performance never faltered. He even showed off his uncanny ability for villainy in CBS drama "The Good Wife" and Paramount+'s spinoff "The Good Fight." Chandler Bing's smarm was used for evil there, not good.

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Perry had a turbulent personal life, which will certainly be the subject of much conversation in the wake of his far-too-premature death. He detailed his alcohol and drug use and health struggles in his memoir  "Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing," published in 2022. Last fall, Perry said he was 18 months sober, and grateful to be alive and to finally share his story with concerned "Friends" fans and addicts who face stigma and judgment. 

"In the end, admitting defeat was winning," he wrote. "Addiction, the big terrible thing, is far too powerful for anyone to defeat alone. But together, one day at a time, we can beat it down." It was a brave and difficult story for him to tell, and far more serious than what fans were used to seeing from a sitcom star. But Perry was the kind of person who did the difficult thing.

Perry's death shouldn't overshadow his life. His talent, his charisma and his comedy live on in 234 episodes (streaming on Max), and in the memories of fans who tuned in for Must See TV every Thursday night for a decade. He is mourned and celebrated, remembered and cherished.

He couldn't be any more loved.