Matthew Langford Perry is a Canadian-American actor.
He is well known for his Emmy-nominated role as Chandler Bing on the popular, long-running
NBC television sitcom Friends.
He also received acclaim for his portrayal of Ron Clark in the television movie The Ron
Clark Story, accompanied by another Emmy nomination as well as a Golden Globe nomination.
Perry also starred in the short-lived series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and has appeared
in a number of films, including Fools Rush In, The Whole Nine Yards, and 17 Again.
In 2010 he expanded his resume to include both video games and voiceover work when he
voiced Benny in the role-playing game Fallout: New Vegas.
Perry was the co-creator, co-writer, executive producer and star of the short-lived ABC sitcom
Mr. Sunshine, which ran from February to April 2011.
In August 2012, Perry began starring as Ryan King, a sportscaster, on the NBC comedy Go
On.
The series was cancelled on May 10, 2013.
In December 2013, it was announced that Perry would be starring, co-writing, and executive-producing
a remake of The Odd Couple.
Perry will play Oscar Madison, a known slob.
Perry is also going to make his UK TV comedy debut in the one-off Sky Arts comedy The Dog
Thrower to be shown in May 2014.
Early life Perry was born in Williamstown, Massachusetts.
His mother, Suzanne Marie, is a Canadian journalist and former press secretary to Canadian Prime
Minister Pierre Trudeau, and his father, John Bennett Perry, is an American actor and former
model.
His parents divorced before his first birthday and his mother subsequently married Keith
Morrison, a broadcast journalist.
Perry was raised by his mother in Ottawa, Ontario, and was enrolled at Rockcliffe Park
Public School and Ashbury College.
While growing up, he took a keen interest in tennis and became a top-ranked junior player.
Career 1980s
Matthew Perry moved from Ottawa to Los Angeles to pursue acting.
For high school, he attended The Buckley School in Sherman Oaks.
While at Buckley, Perry was featured as George Gibbs in Our Town and appeared as a junior
in a production of The Miracle Worker.
Patty Duke attended and praised the young Perry's convincing role as Helen's brother
Jimmy.
He was also featured in The Sound of Music as a junior.
In his senior year, director Tim Hillman had planned a production of "The Elephant Man"
specifically to feature Perry as John Merrick along with Vanessa Smith, and future Les Misérables
star Lisa Capps.
He then got his professional break at age 18.
On being cast in A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon with River Phoenix, Perry withdrew
from Elephant Man and ended his high school acting career.
Perry also pursued improv comedy at the LA Connection in Sherman Oaks while still in
high school, quickly becoming a featured performer.
After some guest appearances in mid 1980s television, it was his intention to enroll
at the University of Southern California, but when he was offered the lead role of Chazz
Russell in Second Chance he became noticed on the acting scene.
Perry originally starred alongside Kiel Martin when the series premiered in 1987, but after
13 episodes the format changed: Second Chance became Boys Will Be Boys, Perry was elevated
to top-billing status, and the plots re-focused on the adventures of Chazz and his teenage
friends.
Despite the shift, the show ran for only one season.
When it concluded, Perry stayed in Los Angeles and made guest appearance on the television
program Growing Pains in which he portrayed Carol's boyfriend who dies from injuries in
the hospital sustained in a drunk driving accident.
1990s
In the midst of his many continuing guest roles on TV, Perry was cast as a regular on
the 1990 CBS sitcom Sydney, playing the younger brother of Valerie Bertinelli's title character.
In 1991, he made a guest appearance on Beverly Hills, 90210 as Roger Azarian.
Perry landed his next TV starring role on the ABC sitcom Home Free, which aired only
11 episodes in the spring 1993.
By then, Perry was making his mark, and was instantly cast in a new dramatic pilot titled
LAX 2194.
The project was slow to take off, so as a backup option, he attempted to secure an audition
for the pilot Six of One, later to be known as Friends, by Marta Kauffman and David Crane,
both of whom he had worked with on Dream On.
However, due to previous commitments to the pilot LAX 2194, he was not initially considered
for an audition.
When he did eventually get a reading, he landed the part he is best known for, the role of
Chandler Bing.
The program was hugely successful and Perry, along with his co-stars, gained wide renown
among television viewers.
The program also earned him Emmy nominations in 2002 for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy
Series along with Matt LeBlanc, but he lost to Ray Romano.
As well as his successful career on Friends, Perry has appeared in films such as Fools
Rush In, Almost Heroes, Three to Tango, The Whole Nine Yards and its sequel The Whole
Ten Yards, and Serving Sara.
2000s
While known primarily for his comic roles, Perry has carved out a career in drama as
well, particularly in his portrayal of Associate White House Counsel Joe Quincy in Aaron Sorkin's
The West Wing.
His three appearances in that series earned him two Emmy nominations for Outstanding Guest
Actor in a Drama Series in 2003 and 2004.
Perry is referred to in the show prior to his guest appearance - Donna Moss seeks him
out in the episode "20 Hours in LA."
He also appeared as attorney Todd Merrick in two episodes near the end of Ally McBeal's
five season run, including a 2-hour special intended to revive the legal comedy-drama.
After Friends wrapped up, Perry made his directorial debut in an episode of the 4th season of the
American comedy-drama Scrubs, in which he also guest starred as "Murray Marks", an operator
of a small airport's traffic control team.
Murray is asked to donate a kidney to his father Gregory.
He starred in the TNT movie, The Ron Clark Story which premiered August 13, 2006.
Perry played small town teacher Ron Clark who relocates to the toughest class in the
country.
Perry received a Golden Globe nomination as well as an Emmy nomination for his performance.
In 2006-2007, Perry appeared in Aaron Sorkin's drama Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.
Perry played Matt Albie alongside Bradley Whitford's Danny Tripp, a writer-director
duo brought in to help save a failing sketch show.
Perry's character was considered to be substantially based on Sorkin's own personal experiences,
particularly in television.
In 2006 he began filming Numb, a film based on a man suffering from depersonalization
disorder.
The film's tentative release date was pushed back several times, but was finally released
to DVD on May 13, 2008.
He also appeared in David Mamet's Sexual Perversity in Chicago in London.
In 2009 he starred in the film 17 Again playing the older Mike O'Donnell.
In 2008, Perry starred in the offbeat film Birds of America as Morrie Tanager, an uptight
man who has to deal with his siblings.
Showtime passed on a pilot called The End of Steve, a dark comedy starring, written
and produced by Perry and Peter Tolan.
2010s
Perry's new comedy pilot, Mr. Sunshine, based on Perry's original idea, was bought by ABC.
Perry was set to portray a middle-aged man with an identity crisis.
ABC canceled the series after nine episodes.
On March 1, 2012, it was reported that Perry had signed on to star on the NBC comedy pilot
Go On, written and produced by former Friends writer/producer Scott Silveri.
The project was picked up to series in May 2012.
Perry portrays Ryan King, a charming yet irreverent sportscaster who tries to move on after the
death of his wife through the help of mandatory therapy sessions.
The pilot aired on August 8, 2012, as a "sneak preview" post the 2012 Summer Olympics.
The series premiered on September 11, 2012.
On October 2, 2012, NBC ordered a full season of 22 episodes.
The series was cancelled by NBC in May 2013, shortly after the conclusion of its first
season.
In 2012, Perry guest-starred on the critically acclaimed CBS drama The Good Wife, as attorney
Mike Kresteva.
In 2013, he reprised his role in the fourth season.
In December 2013, it was announced that Matthew Perry is starring, co-writing, and executive-producing
a remake of The Odd Couple.
The multi-camera comedy will start airing sometime in 2014 at CBS.
Perry will play Oscar Madison, a known slob; the role of his clean freak roomie Felix Unger
was given to Thomas Lennon, who had previously worked with him on 17 Again friend) and on
Friends identical hand twin).
Perry's Go On co-star Sarah Baker will also join him in the show.
Baker will play Oscar’s assistant Sam, who spends most of her work day on the phone apologizing
to assorted high-and-mighty people who have been offended by Oscar’s latest rant.
In 2014, Perry will also make his British TV debut in the one-off comedy program The
Dog Thrower, which is set to air on May 1 as part of Sky Arts' Playhouse Presents strand.
Perry will play "a charismatic man" who enchants onlookers by throwing his dog in the air.
The strand will include eight standalone comedy and drama programmes.
The Dog Thrower will also star Tim Key, and is written by author and journalist Jon Ronson,
who also makes his directorial debut.
Personal life Perry dated actress Lizzy Caplan from 2006
to 2012.
Perry holds dual American-Canadian citizenship.
Perry completed a 28-day program in 1997 for a Vicodin addiction.
Matthew Perry's weight fluctuated drastically over the next few years and once dropped down
to 145 pounds.
He lost 20 pounds in 2000 due to pancreatitis.
Perry again entered rehab in February 2001 to treat an addiction to opioids, amphetamines
and alcohol.
Perry was in Dallas, Texas, filming Serving Sara with Elizabeth Hurley when he had such
severe stomach pains that he called a local doctor, who advised rehab.
Perry flew to Los Angeles and checked into Marina del Rey's Daniel Freeman Hospital.
Perry's publicist Lisa Kasteler confirmed his rehab stay.
Filmography Awards and nominations
References
External links Matthew Perry at the Internet Movie Database