Graphic: Sean Rogers/The Olaf Messenger
On Oct. 28, the world lost the wonderful, creative, and joyful actor Matthew Perry. Many may know him from his role on the critically acclaimed TV show “Friends” where he played the character Chandler Bing. His character made many laugh not only when the show originally aired, but for years after, including to this day. His acting has helped many get through rough times in their lives, but what he has also done is help people through their addiction problems. He did this by turning his Malibu, Calif. home into a sober living facility called “Perry House” and now after his death there is a foundation being made in his honor to help individuals who have substance abuse problems. Perry was very public about his struggle with addiction throughout his life. He is a prime example of how anyone can be struggling, but that doesn’t mean that that struggle has to take over that person’s life. Perry talks all about this struggle in his memoir “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing.”
The actor’s life has been a wild one, starting in Williamstown, Mass. on Aug. 19, 1969. His childhood was normal with his mother, a Canadian journalist named Suzanne Marie Morrison, and father, actor John Bennett Perry. But after ten years of living in Williamstown, the family moved to Los Angeles and Perry pursued being a child actor. His work included a lot of guest appearances. These small roles continued for a while until finally he got his big break on “Friends.” Life was going pretty great: he had great friends, and was also finally getting out of medium roles in shows. But what people didn’t know, even his closest friends, was that he had an addiction to alcohol.
His addiction to alcohol started when he was 14, and continued on into his adulthood; the pressure to be the funniest he could be on “Friends” not helping him any. His addiction issues only grew when he got into a jet ski accident and became addicted to Vicodin. This caused him to not remember many of his years of “Friends,” but in the end he went to rehab and started getting better. His battle with his addiction still followed him, but he didn’t let it take over his life. He took his struggle and used it to help people by creating recovery institutions and writing a book about his life to show that celebrities also deal with mental health problems. In the end, Perry truly used his life in the best way he could. He helped many and I hope that he knew how much he impacted the world in a positive way. Perry not only made people’s days better every time he showed up on their TV screen but also through his authenticity that helped others to get the help they needed.
