Matthew Langford Perry (born August 19, 1969) is a
Canadian-American Emmy
and Golden Globe nominated actor, best known for his
role as Chandler Bing in the hugely popular television sitcom Friends, a part he played for 10 years.
He recently portrayed Matt Albie on the NBC series
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.
Biography
Early life
Matthew Perry was born in Williamstown, Massachusetts to an American
actor, John Bennett Perry, and a Canadian mother, Suzanne Jane Louise Langford Perry
Morrison (née Suzanne Langford[1]), a former press secretary to Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. He holds dual
US/Canadian citizenship. His parents divorced before his first birthday. Perry was raised by his mother in Ottawa. While growing up in Ontario, Perry took a keen interest in
tennis and soon became a top-ranked junior player.
He was enrolled at Rockcliffe Park Public School, Lisgar Collegiate Institute, and Ashbury
College.
Career
At the age of fifteen, 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 for 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
Marshall, and future Les Miserables 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 late 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 appearances on television
programs, such as Growing Pains and Beverly Hills
90210.
In the early 1990s 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.
As well as his successful career on Friends, Perry has appeared in films such as Three to Tango, The Whole Nine Yards
(alongside Bruce Willis) and its sequel The Whole
Ten Yards, Fools Rush In (alongside father, John Bennett Perry and Salma
Hayek), and Serving Sara.
While known primarily for his comedic 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 (twice in the
fourth season and once in the fifth) earned him two Emmy nominations for Outstanding Guest
Actor in a Drama Series in 2003 and 2004. He also guested as attorney Todd Merrick in two episodes near the end of Ally McBeal's
5-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 Bill Lawrence's sitcom Scrubs (which he also
guest starred in, as "Murray Marks" an operator of a small airport's traffic control team. Murray is asked to donate a kidney to
his father Gregory, played by Perry's real father).
He starred in the TNT movie, The Ron Clark Story, which premiered on
August 13, 2006. Perry played Ron
Clark, a small town teacher who relocates to the toughest class in the country. He received a Golden Globe nomination as well as an Emmy nomination for the
performance.
In 2006-2007, Perry appeared in Aaron Sorkin's hour-long 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 comedy drama about a chronically depressed
writer. The film has a tentative release date of Spring 2007.
He also appeared in David Mamet's Sexual Perversity in Chicago in London.[2]
Personal life
Perry developed an addiction to alcohol and to ease this he then became addicted to Vicodin.
He first started taking prescription drugs after a jet ski accident in 1997 and checked himself into Hazelden. In 2000 he was hospitalized with pancreatitis as a result of
his addictions. During that summer he lost 20 pounds, appearing noticeably thinner during the 7th season premiere of
Friends, in a scene that continued directly from the 6th season finale.[3]
During the filming of Serving Sara, Perry checked into rehab. The last 13 days of
filming were held up until he was well enough to return. The filming schedule on Friends was altered so scenes not
featuring his character Chandler were shot first.[4] His recovery once again caused weight fluctuations, which are particularly noticeable in
Serving Sara.
He was hospitalized again in 2005 for a reaction to prescription drugs, though few details were released.[5]
Major film roles
Awards
Emmy Awards
- Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie The Ron Clark Story (2007) -
Nominated
- Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series The West Wing (2003 and 2004) - Nominated
for both
- Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series Friends (2002) - Nominated
Golden Globes
- Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television The Ron Clark Story (2007) - Nominated
American Comedy Awards
- Funniest Supporting Male Performer in a TV Series Friends (1996) - Nominated (with
David Schwimmer)
Kids' Choice Awards
- Favorite Television Actor Friends (2002) - Nominated
Satellite Awards
- Best Actor in a Series, Drama Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (2006) -
Nominated
Screen Actors Guild Awards
- Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries The Ron
Clark Story (2007) - Nominated
- Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series Friends (1999-2004) - Nominated
for all 6 years (Whole cast)
TV Guide Awards
- Editor's Choice Friends (2000) - Won (Whole cast along with Jane Sibbett and John Christopher Allen)
TV Land Awards
- Most Wonderful Wedding Friends (2006) - Nominated (with Courteney Cox)
Teen Choice Awards
- Choice TV Actor - Comedy Friends (2004)
Footnotes
External links
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