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Full coverage: Matthew Perry dead at 54

Matthew Perry poses for a portrait.
Matthew Perry was found dead at his Los Angeles home at age 54.
(Brian Ach / Invision / Associated Press)
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Matthew Perry, best known to TV fans as Chandler Bing on the landmark sitcom “Friends,” died at age 54 on Oct. 28, at his Los Angeles home. He was found in his hot tub. According to a Dec. 15 toxicology report from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office, Perry died of “acute effects of ketamine.”

Following his death, tributes poured in from all corners of the entertainment industry, including from the creators and executive producer of the NBC comedy. “From the day we first heard him embody the role of Chandler Bing, there was no one else for us,” said Marta Kauffman, David Crane and Kevin Bright. “We will always cherish the joy, the light, the blinding intelligence he brought to every moment — not just to his work, but in life as well.”

Co-stars, including Maggie Wheeler, who memorably played Chandler’s on-again, off-again girlfriend Janice on “Friends,” and musicians like Adele, who paused her Las Vegas show to pay tribute to the actor, reacted to the news of his death with grief and words of appreciation.

Perry was vocal about his struggles with addiction to alcohol and opioids — Times columnist Mary McNamara described him as a “natural truth-teller.” “He was a very talented, deeply funny performer, but more important, he was always obviously and unapologetically human,” she wrote in appreciation of the actor.

For all the acclaim he garnered as a performer and, more recently, as a bestselling writer, Perry told The Times earlier this year that he hoped to be remembered “as a guy who lived life, loved well, lived well and helped people. That running into me was a good thing, and not something bad.”

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