How Matthew Perry's Biological Father Almost Ended His Friends Career
He played one of television's funniest characters, but in real life, Matthew Perry was vocal about his serious struggles with drugs and alcohol. The late "Friends" actor wrote about his addiction in his 2022 memoir, "Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing". The book starts with the dire line: "Hello, my name is Matthew, although you may know me by another name. My friends call me Matty. And I should be dead." Sadly, we all know how the story ends. Almost one year to the day after that haunting intro was published, Perry was found dead after drowning in a jacuzzi at his home.
In his book, Perry gave fans the backstory of his difficult childhood. His parents, Suzanne and John Bennett Perry, split before he was one year old. Perry was raised by his mom and stepfather, Keith Morrison. Of his biological dad, he wrote that he "quietly abandoned" him and his mother to pursue an acting career in Hollywood. "I saw his face more often on TV or in magazines than I did in reality," Perry wrote. The "Friends" star did acknowledge that his biological dad "became a wonderful father" to him when he was older. In his book, Perry pointed to a pivotal moment at the height of his addiction when his dad was there for him.
Matthew Perry's dad threatened to pull him off of Friends
In his book, Matthew Perry wrote that his father saved his life "multiple times." One of those times came in 2001 when Perry was facing a personal crisis as his character, Chandler Bing, had his biggest storyline played out on "Friends." While filming for Chandler and Monica's wedding, Perry was living in a rehab facility in Marina del Rey while seeking treatment for his drug and alcohol addiction. After three weeks in rehab, he called showrunners Marta Kauffman and David Crane to tell them he was sober. They asked him when he was coming back to "Friends" and gave him a deadline to return to what would be a "very work intensive" environment.
But Perry's father stepped in and blasted the producers. "I was still very sick," Perry wrote. "My father had overheard the tenor of the conversation and called Marta and David back. 'I will pull him off your television show,' Dad said. 'If you continue to act this way around him.' I was so grateful for him for being my dad and doing the dad things, but I also didn't want to be the problem." Perry noted that Kaufman and Crane were only doing their job. "They had the number one hit TV show, and two of their main characters were about to get married. I couldn't just disappear," he wrote. The "Friends" star ultimately moved to a closer treatment center in Malibu, and two weeks later, he showed up for work and filmed the wedding episode. "I married Monica and got driven back to the treatment center," Perry added.
Matthew Perry worked with his dad several times
Perhaps it's no surprise that Matthew Perry's dad made that phone call to the "Friends" showrunners. That's because he had actually worked with them before. In 1998, John Bennett Perry appeared in a season 4 episode of the NBC sitcom, playing Mr. Burgin, the father of Rachel's crush, Joshua, in "The One With Rachel's New Dress." While he didn't trade any lines with his real-life son, the elder Perry men did appear in other television shows with him.
One year before "Friends" made him a superstar, Perry appeared in the ABC sitcom "Home Free," where his dad was a guest star in 1993. In 2004, the duo turned up again in an episode of "Scrubs" titled "The Unicorn." But their most memorable collaboration came at the height of "Friends" fandom when the father and son played a father and son in the 1997 movie "Fools Rush In." In an interview with The New York Post shortly after Matthew Perry's death, producer Douglas Draizin recalled the Perrys' sweet reunion on the movie set. "I remember they had such a reunion on the set, spending that time together," Draizin said. "Matt came from a very difficult divorce, so having his father there and working together ... I know it really made him proud."