Aniston, Schwimmer, Kudrow add tributes to Friends co-star Perry
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American actor Matthew Perry's (third from left) co-stars from the sitcom Friends – (from left) David Schwimmer, Lisa Kudrow, Courteney Cox, Jennifer Aniston and Matt LeBlanc – have paid tribute to him on Instagram.
PHOTO: REUTERS
LOS ANGELES – Friends stars Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer and Lisa Kudrow paid their personal tributes to the late Matthew Perry
Perry, who played Chandler Bing on the hit TV sitcom from 1994 to 2004, died at the age of 54, having struggled for decades with addiction and related serious health issues.
“Oh boy, this one has cut deep,” said Aniston, who played Rachel on the show about six close-knit friends navigating adult life in New York.
“He was such a part of our DNA. We were always the six of us. This was a chosen family that forever changed the course of who we were and what our path was going to be,” she wrote on Instagram.
She accompanied her post with a screenshot of a text message she received from Perry, in which he wrote: “Making you laugh made my day.”
“It says it all,” said Aniston.
Schwimmer, who played Ross on the show, posted a favourite photo of himself and Perry, adding: “Now, it makes me smile and grieve at the same time.”
“Thank you for 10 incredible years of laughter and creativity,” he wrote.
Perry was found unconscious in a hot tub at his house in Los Angeles. First responders were unable to revive him.
The cause and manner
Perry spoke openly about his decades-long battles with addiction and serious health problems.
Celebrity news website TMZ reported that no illicit drugs were found at his home, although several medications, including anti-depressants and anxiety medication, were discovered.
Referring to Perry’s health issues, Kudrow wrote on Instagram: “Thank you for showing up at work when you weren’t well and then, being completely brilliant.”
Kudrow, who penned the foreword for Perry’s brutally honest 2022 memoir, Friends, Lovers, And The Big Terrible Thing, concluded: “Thank you for all I learnt about grace and love through knowing you.
“Thank you for the time I got to have with you, Matthew.”
Perry’s co-stars – Aniston, Schwimmer, Kudrow, Courteney Cox and Matt LeBlanc – released a joint statement two days after his death, and the five reportedly later attended a private funeral in Los Angeles.
On Tuesday, Cox and LeBlanc paid their own emotional tributes
