“Friends” star Matthew Perry (1969-2023) died far too early at the age of 54. But he will live on in the Matthew Perry Foundation. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the foundation wants to continue the actor’s commitment to helping those struggling with addiction. Perry was found lifeless in the pool of his home on October 28th. He spoke openly about his decades-long addiction to alcohol and medication.
On its homepage, the foundation explains that it wants to “honor his legacy and be guided by his own words and experiences.” She is “driven by his passion to change as many lives as possible.” It was previously known that the actor himself had plans for a foundation before his sudden death.
He wanted to help people with addiction problems after he had suffered so much from them himself. In his memoir “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing,” released a year ago, Perry described how he took 55 Vicodin tablets a day at the height of his addiction. While he enjoyed worldwide success with the sitcom “Friends” in the 1990s, earning $1 million per episode, he battled addiction. He even showed up drunk on set and later said he couldn’t remember many seasons.
While promoting his book, he told The New York Times that he had been sober for 18 months and had “probably spent nine million dollars or something to get sober.” He seemed committed to his sobriety and also wanted to help others who were struggling. “When I die, I don’t want ‘Friends’ to be the first thing mentioned – I want ‘helping others’ to be the first thing mentioned. And I’m going to spend the rest of my life proving that,” Perry said in explained in an interview. “Addiction is far too powerful for anyone to conquer alone. But together we can do it, one day at a time.” Unfortunately, he had less time to do this than he thought.
