Matthew Perry Had Massachusetts Roots
Did you know that Matthew Perry has Massachusetts roots?
We got another kick in the gut over the weekend with a story that is not just a Halloween scare. Actor Matthew Perry is gone. The hysterical, iconic star of Friends was found dead at the age of 54 in a hot tub at his LA home. Reports say the cause is due to an apparent drowning.
At the end of his young life, as you’ll see here, he made a promise to himself. He would want to be remembered, not for Friends, but helping others beat their addictions.
Matthew Perry’s Massachusetts Roots
In most of Matt Perry’s interviews, he’ll say he’s Canadian as he spent most of his youth there, raised by his mother. But did you know that Matt was born in Massachusetts?
According to MSN.com.
Matt’s father is actor John Bennet Perry, from Massachusetts and Suzanne Lanford, from Canada.
“Their marriage lasted for only two years, and the couple separated when Matthew had not even reached his first birthday. The family was residing in John’s hometown, Williamstown.”
After the couple separated, Suzanne and young Matthew moved back to Canada. In later years, Suzanne became the press secretary to then Canada Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Show business remained in the family as a decade later, Suzanne married Canadian journalist Keith Morrison, who is now known as the host of NBC’s Dateline.
Matt didn’t make it back to Massachusetts after his skyrocketing Hollywood career. But one report says he came back to Williamstown for his grandfather’s funeral in 2003.
Matt Perry Wanted To Help Others
In an interview from last year, Matt shares that he want to be remembered, not from Friends, but as someone who helped others break their addictions.
In his memoir Friends, Lovers and The Big Terrible Thing, he unveils a shocking life that was the opposite of success. The funny, charismatic Chandler, we loved on TV, was far from the person who portrayed him. Perry says after decades of addiction, he found a councilor that really helped him. During the first meeting, the councilor said these words. “It’s not your fault. This is a disease, like any other, and it’s not your fault.” Perry says that was the beginning of the road to healing.
Matthew Perry Massachusetts roots: a charmed childhood, to enormous fame, and ridiculous fortune. Yet his outside life did not help his inside problems, until he found some peace at the end of his young life, hoping to help others, though his book, now his legacy.
Rest in peace, our Friend. We miss you already.