Matthew Perry Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Photographs
Matthew Perry’s legacy will dwell on by means of the Matthew Perry Basis, and the brand new group is already accepting donations.
As of Friday, November 3, the muse is formally up and operating. “Within the spirit of Matthew Perry’s enduring dedication to serving to others battling the illness of dependancy, we embark on a journey to honor his legacy by establishing the Matthew Perry Basis, guided by his personal phrases and experiences, and pushed by his ardour for making a distinction in as many lives as doable,” an announcement from the charity reads.
Perry was open about his dependancy struggles earlier than his sudden loss of life at age 54 on Saturday, October 28. Regulation enforcement officers had been known as to the actor’s Los Angeles residence the place he was discovered “unconscious in a stand-alone jacuzzi.” An announcement from the Los Angeles Fireplace Division on Monday, October 30, revealed that Perry had been “deceased previous to first responder arrival.” His official explanation for loss of life has but to be launched pending a toxicology report.
Previous to his loss of life, Perry revealed that he wished to be remembered as somebody who “needs to assist individuals” as a substitute of simply Chandler Bing — the function he performed on Associates from 1994 to 2004.
Matthew Perry’s Ups and Downs By way of the Years
Matthew Perry by no means shied away from opening up about his struggles after rising to stardom for his function as Chandler Bing in Associates. “When [fame] occurs, it’s type of like Disneyland for some time. For me it lasted about eight months, this sense of ‘I’ve made it, I’m thrilled, there’s no downside on the planet.’ […]
“The perfect factor about me, bar none, is that if an alcoholic or drug addict comes as much as me and says, ‘Will you assist me?’ I can say sure and observe up and do it,” Perry stated of his legacy whereas showing on the “Q with Tom Energy” podcast in November 2022. “Once I die, I don’t need Associates to be the very first thing that’s talked about. I would like that to be the very first thing that’s talked about, and I’m going to dwell the remainder of my life proving that.”
Perry admitted that he knew Associates can be on the forefront of followers’ minds, however he hoped that opening the “Perry Home in Malibu, a sober-living facility for males” would even be a part of his legacy.
Matthew Perry Denise Truscello/WireImage
“However after I die, so far as my so-called accomplishments go, it could be good if Associates had been listed far behind the issues I did to attempt to assist different individuals,” he stated on the podcast. “I do know it gained’t occur, however it could be good.”
In keeping with the Matthew Perry Basis’s web site, the group is dedicated to “to serving to others battling the illness of dependancy” and hopes to honor Perry’s needs by placing his “ardour for making a distinction in as many lives as doable” on the forefront of the group.
The majority of Perry’s dialogue about his substance abuse struggles got here from his 2022 memoir, Associates, Lovers, and the Huge Horrible Factor, the place he wrote concerning the varied ups and downs in his life.
Within the e book, Perry revealed that he was solely “fully sober” for one season of Associates, the present’s ninth.
“You’ll be able to observe the trajectory of my dependancy in case you gauge my weight from season to season — after I’m carrying weight, it’s alcohol; after I’m skinny, it’s tablets,” he wrote. “When I’ve a goatee, it’s numerous tablets.”
