Friend’s star Matthew Perry died of ‘acute effects of ketamine’, coroner says

But even as he delivered on-air gag after gag – and earned a fortune – Perry was struggling.

He attended multiple rehabilitation clinics to combat addiction to painkillers and alcohol. In 2018 he suffered a burst colon, related to drug usage, and underwent multiple surgeries.

Remembering Matthew Perry beyond Friends – 11 of his best film and TV roles

In his memoir Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, published last year, Perry described going through detox dozens of times. He dedicated the book to “all of the sufferers out there”, and wrote in the prologue: “I should be dead.”

“I have mostly been sober since 2001,” he wrote, “save for about 60 or 70 little mishaps over the years.”

But his sudden passing drew shocked reactions from Hollywood A-listers, his co-stars, and Friends fans worldwide.

“Oh boy this one has cut deep,” said Jennifer Aniston, who played Rachel on the show about six close-knit friends navigating adult life in New York.

“He was such a part of our DNA. We were always the 6 of us. This was a chosen family that forever changed the course of who we were and what our path was going to be,” she wrote on Instagram.

“The times we had together are honestly among the favourite times of my life,” wrote Matt LeBlanc, who played Perry’s roommate and best friend on the show.