In an essay about Matthew Perry after he died Saturday, Variety magazine writer Daniel D’Addario argues Perry, because of his comedic genius, was “vital” to the success of the “Friends” TV situation comedy show
“The actor, who infused the hit show with its vital, sustaining dose of sarcasm, went on in recent years to publicize his sobriety, and his work bringing others out of addiction through the founding of a sober living house,” D’Addario writes. “His death, at 54 in an apparent drowning, comes as a shock, in part because Perry seemed to have a second act lying ahead of him.
Perry reportedly died while in a hot tub in his Los Angeles-area home, with drugs purportedly not found at the scene.
“His work on ‘Friends’ cast a long shadow: The on-off love affair between Ross (David Schwimmer) and Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) were the engine of the show’s plot, but the character of Chandler Bing was the big comic idea, D’Addario continues. “Acting amidst a murderer’s row of comedy performers, Perry was the cast tactitian, figuring out precisely where the final beat of each scene fell.”