Several US media outlets have reported that the actor was found dead, drowned in a hot tub at his home.

Actor Matthew Perry, who rose to fame in the 1990s as Chandler Bing in the hit US TV sitcom ‘Friends‘ and recounted his decades-long battle with substance abuse last year in an autobiography, died on Saturday at the age of 54. His death was confirmed in a statement released by NBC, the network that aired ‘Friends‘ for ten years. “We are incredibly saddened by Matthew Perry’s passing far too soon,” NBC Entertainment said. “He brought so much joy to hundreds of millions of people worldwide with his pitch-perfect comedic timing and wry wit. His legacy will live on through countless generations.”The Los Angeles Times and TMZ.com, both citing anonymous police sources, have reported that the American-Canadian entertainer was found dead in a hot tub at his home in the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood of Los Angeles

.Perry was world-renowned for his role as Chandler on the hit show ‘Friends’, which ran for ten seasons on NBC from 1994 to 2004, co-starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc and Lisa Kudrow. Hidden from public view for much of the original broadcast was Perry’s prolonged struggle with addiction to prescription drugs and alcohol, which he detailed in his 2022 memoir, ‘Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing’. “Hi, my name is Matthew, although you may know me by another name. My friends call me Matty. And I should be dead,” Perry wrote at the beginning of the book.

Perry had a history of addiction and related medical problems that, by his own account, led him to spend more than half his life in treatment centres. In a New York Times interview published in October 2022, Perry said he had been clean for 18 months and told the newspaper, “I’ve probably spent $9 million or so trying to get sober.”

‘Friends’ co-star Maggie Wheeler, who played his on-off girlfriend Janice on the show, shared a tribute on Instagram, “What a loss. The world will miss you Mathew Perry,” she wrote. “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.”

According to sources speaking to The Los Angeles Times, no drugs were found at the scene, and no foul play is suspected.