Matthew Perry

[ahah]

Oct 30, 2023 12:24:38 GMT -4 Spinderella said:

They've completed the autopsy, but pending toxicology results. I clearly don't know enough about law enforcement, but it gives me pause when I read that the homicide-robbery detectives are handling the case and that "no foul play" is suspected. Is that normal?

While I guess it would vary by state, I can say from a personal experience with loss that anytime a person dies outside of medical care, an autopsy is automatic. I THINK but don't know with certainty, that if that death occurs without any witnesses present, that it triggers an automatic police investigation. So if for example a man dies at home and his spouse is present at the time of the death, the spouse will tell authorities what happened, and if the autopsy supports what the spouse reported, case is closed, and they are spared any further investigation. But if no one is there to fill in the blanks, the death is investigated to further determine what happened.

[cherrybomb]

Oct 30, 2023 12:24:38 GMT -4 Spinderella said:

They've completed the autopsy, but pending toxicology results. I clearly don't know enough about law enforcement, but it gives me pause when I read that the homicide-robbery detectives are handling the case and that "no foul play" is suspected. Is that normal?

If Michael Connelly books are to be believed, I think the Robbery Homocide unit of LAPD is automatically assigned to handle celebrity deaths.

[granolamom]

Oct 30, 2023 13:22:05 GMT -4 ahah said:

Oct 30, 2023 12:24:38 GMT -4 Spinderella said:

They've completed the autopsy, but pending toxicology results. I clearly don't know enough about law enforcement, but it gives me pause when I read that the homicide-robbery detectives are handling the case and that "no foul play" is suspected. Is that normal?

While I guess it would vary by state, I can say from a personal experience with loss that anytime a person dies outside of medical care, an autopsy is automatic. I THINK but don't know with certainty, that if that death occurs without any witnesses present, that it triggers an automatic police investigation. So if for example a man dies at home and his spouse is present at the time of the death, the spouse will tell authorities what happened, and if the autopsy supports what the spouse reported, case is closed, and they are spared any further investigation. But if no one is there to fill in the blanks, the death is investigated to further determine what happened.

Agree with this. My dad died alone, outdoors, in CA (he was 82 so it wasn't quite as shocking as Matthew Perry's death); when I read the police report I said, "How come they listed the height and weight of all the people they interviewed?" My brother replied, "Because they might be suspects." My dad died from a heart condition but if they don't see any cause, they investigate first.

I hope that all the people Perry helped with addiction are doing the best they can with processing this news.

[cubanitafresca]

Oct 30, 2023 12:37:48 GMT -4 Ladybug said:

All of the clips of Chandler just remind me what a great comedic actor he was. I think a lot of the Friends characters probably could've been played by any actor and worked, but I can't think of any other actor who would've worked and made Chandler the character he was. Especially in the early seasons, Chandler was what kept me watching.

I totally agree. Chandler was absolutely my favorite. Watching him and Matt LaBlanc was always the best part of the show for me. I think Perry Made LaBlanc so much better. The One with Chandler in the Box and The One with Frank Jr where Joey builds the oversized Entertainment Center are the two episodes I always rewatched.

I really hope that he didn't relapse. That would just make the whole thing so much more heartbreaking. I didn't realize till today that he went to rehab 16 times. I can't even imagine what all that drug use did to his body. That poor man.

[millie7]

The cast released a joint statement:

Use proper current use

I would say I hope people/paparazzi will leave them alone, but I doubt it.

[disgruntledpelican]

Very sad news about the death of Matthew Perry. I have watched his step father Keith Morrison report for years on the true crime show Dateline, and it was very jarring to see him ducking under yellow crime scene tape to enter the property of his own step son.
I loved Perry on Friends, but also think he was such a success on it as the character was close to his own actual personality. I watched him on the reboot of The Odd Couple and thought he was totally miscast. Much respect to him though for trying to help others that were also fighting addiction.
As an aside, Matt LeBlanc starred for several years in a series called Episodes. It is one of my favourite all time comedies, and LeBlanc is brilliant in it.

[prisma]

Oct 30, 2023 19:31:02 GMT -4 disgruntledpelican said:

As an aside, Matt LeBlanc starred for several years in a series called Episodes. It is one of my favourite all time comedies, and LeBlanc is brilliant in it.

Episodes was such a great little show and Matt LeBlanc was so good in it. It really made me appreciate him more as a performer.

As for Matthew Perry, this is really sad but not surprising. He was such a tortured soul. I wish he could have found peace in his lifetime but I don’t think he ever did. Rest in peace.

[Ginger]

Episodes is so good. Honestly, it's my favorite post-Friends project of any of the Friends. I started streaming it, kept hitting "Next Episode" and before I knew it, it was over and I was sad.

Dec 30, 2015 21:40:13 GMT -4 cubanitafresca said:

I really hope that he didn't relapse. That would just make the whole thing so much more heartbreaking. I didn't realize till today that he went to rehab 16 times. I can't even imagine what all that drug use did to his body. That poor man.

It's very possible he was just 54 and not in the best of physical shape anymore and died for reasons related to that. It would be extra sad to think that he went through so much hell to get sober, but had already damaged his body beyond repair.

I don't listen to Armchair Expert regularly, but I did listen to a brief discussion Dax and Monica had last November about why they weren't interviewing Matthew Perry about his book. It seemed like a natural fit to have him on the podcast since Matthew was discussing sobriety on his book tour. The discussion implied that Dax wasn't confident that Matthew was truly sober. At the very least, he didn't think Matthew was being responsible with his sobriety, and said if he had Matthew as a guest, he'd have to ask questions about that which would have made Matthew mad. For example, Matthew had a vacation house in Mexico and Dax didn't think a recovering prescription pill addict could do that and stay sober.

Dax might have been overreaching with his opinion, but I wasn't really confident that Matthew had attained long-term sobriety either.

[tiggertoo]

One of the odder headlines I’ve read: “Despite reports, Lisa Kudrow is not adopting Matthew Perry’s dog, because he didn’t have one.”

I guess he adopted a dog with his girlfriend and when they split, she kept the dog.

That’s interesting about Dax Shepherd said about Matthew. I was surprised when reading his book, how recently he had become sober. I had thought his addiction was further in his past. The last chapter of the book is called Batman. I can’t remember why. And in his latest social media, he kept posting Batman stuff and calling himself Mattman.

[laurenj]

Oct 31, 2023 10:44:56 GMT -4 Ginger said:

Episodes is so good. Honestly, it's my favorite post-Friends project of any of the Friends. I started streaming it, kept hitting "Next Episode" and before I knew it, it was over and I was sad.

Dec 30, 2015 21:40:13 GMT -4 cubanitafresca said:

I really hope that he didn't relapse. That would just make the whole thing so much more heartbreaking. I didn't realize till today that he went to rehab 16 times. I can't even imagine what all that drug use did to his body. That poor man.

It's very possible he was just 54 and not in the best of physical shape anymore and died for reasons related to that. It would be extra sad to think that he went through so much hell to get sober, but had already damaged his body beyond repair.

They interviewed Sanjay Gupta about Matthew Perry's death, which was of course just one doctor's speculation, but he basically did say there's no actual repairing the damage done by such extensive substance abuse. Stopping will prevent further damage, but he could never undo what he'd already done, which was a lot.

Heart attack seems most likely if drugs and alcohol aren't found in his system, which I personally find sadder because there's a possibility that if he hadn't been alone (and if drowning is the official cause, if he hadn't been in a hot tub), medical intervention could have saved him.

I loved Perry on Friends, but also think he was such a success on it as the character was close to his own actual personality.

This is true, a lot of his characters in his young acting days had a similar smirky quality that I think was very close to his actual personality, but he had such natural charm and wit. It was hard to watch him more recently with his distinctive speech pattern so affected by what I still think had to be a stroke somewhere in his medical woes.