'Friends' actor Matthew Perry dead at 54 reports

Matthew Perry. Photo: PHILLIP FARAONE / AFP

Friends actor Matthew Perry has died at age 54 after an apparent drowning, US media is reporting.

According to entertainment website TMZ.com, Perry was found dead on Saturday (local time) at his LA-area home.

TMZ said it was told by sources that he was found in a jacuzzi at home, with no drugs found at the scene, and no foul play reportedly involved.

TMZ reported that Perry had spent the morning playing the game "pickleball" and first reponders rushed over on a call for a cardiac arrest.

The Los Angeles Times was also reporting Perry's death, attributed to law enforcement sources. It reported that authorities came to his home about 4pm local time and found him unresponsive.

Friends TV Series (1994-2004) starring Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow, Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, Matthew Perry, Courtney Cox. Photo: Archives du 7e Art/Warner Bros. Television via AFP

Perry was best known for his role as Chandler Bing on the hit 90s sitcom Friends, which screened for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004 and co-starred Courteney Cox and Jennifer Aniston.

He also appeared in the TV series Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip, Mr Sunshine and The Odd Couple, as well as the films Fools Rush In and The Whole Nine Yards.

In his 2022 memoir Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Things, Perry discussed a lifelong struggle with addiction to alcohol and opioids.

"The only thing that made me keep a lid on my using and drinking was that I had the greatest job in the world. I can't blow this up. I can't lose this job," he told the Washington Post in an interview.

- RNZ