American-Canadian actor Matthew Perry turns 53 today. Best known for playing the role of Chandler Bing in the iconic NBC sitcom ‘Friends’, he was born in Williamstown, Massachusetts, on August 19, 1969. His mother, Suzanne Marie Morrison, is a Canadian journalist and former press secretary to the then Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. His father, on the other hand, John Bennett Perry, is a former American actor and model. While Perry was an accomplished TV and film actor before he joined the cast of ‘Friends’, but it was his performance in the series, which ran for 10 years from 1994 to 2004, that made him a globally known name.
Here are a few facts about the actor you may not know.
Matthew Perry holds the citizenship of two North American countries: the United States and Canada.
Matthew Perry made his film debut in 1988 coming of age drama film ‘A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon’, which was written and directed by William Richert. But he had been in television for already almost a decade by then. He made his TV debut with 1979’s ‘240-Robert’.
From 1995 to 1996, Perry was in a relationship with none other than the queen of romcoms, Julia Roberts. But his first relationship, that we know of anyway, was with Yasmine Bleeth. He has also been linked to Lizzy Caplan and Molly Hurwitz.
Matthew Perry describes his political as ‘left of centre’.
We know Matthew Perry as a popular actor, but his original calling was tennis. He played a lot of the sport as a kid and even became top ranked player in the junior category.
Like many in the show business, Perry had to struggle with addiction issues. They became publicly known when he finished a one-month Vicodin addiction programme in 1997. He had to enter rehab again in 2001 for addictions related to Vicodin, methadone, amphetamines, and alcohol. Thanks to his experiences, he has become a spokesperson for the National Association of Drug Court Professionals. He was bestowed with the Champion of Recovery award in May 2013 from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy for Perry House. Perry House is a rehab for addicts in Malibu, California that was made after repurposing his mansion.
It is not just his character Chandler. Perry is also very witty and has contributed several times to the jokes in ‘Friends’. In fact, he was the only cast member in the show who regularly sat with the writers.
He beat up a young Justin Trudeau, who later became Canada’s Prime Minister. While speaking to Jimmy Kimmel on latter’s show, he said, “I’m not bragging about this, this is terrible. I was a stupid kid.” He said that it was his old friend who reminded him of it. He added, “We both beat him up. I think he was excelling in a sport that we weren’t, so it was pure jealousy.”
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