Matthew Perry’s Death Draws Reactions of Grief From All Generations

Matthew Perry’s death drove reactions of grief from all different generations after the beloved actor best known for his role as Chandler Bing in ‘Friends’ passed away.

“He was one of my favorite characters,” said Samantha Ng-Ortega, 43. “He was talented and animated. I was with a bunch of my friends my age that were saddened by the news.”

Perry, 54, was found dead on Saturday after apparent drowning in a jacuzzi in his own house. No illegal drugs were found in his home, according to a TMZ article posted on Saturday.

The initial autopsy results have been deemed inconclusive, with no cause of death determined. The Los Angeles County coroner’s office has now launched an investigation, which will likely take months, according to this LA Times article.

Different ages and generations have all had differing reactions to Perry’s passing, although all include grief over the beloved actor’s passing.

Alison Ng, 23, is a self-proclaimed lover of ‘Friends’ and has binged the show multiple times.

“I haven’t been able to find the right words to describe how I feel about his death,” Ng said. “He was the funny, likable character and I think that’s why everyone, in one way or another, related to him. That’s what makes this loss even greater. He did such a great job telling a story.”

Crow Minato, 23, has only watched the show a couple of times, but fondly remembers his acting and character.

“Chandler always stood out as one of the funniest characters from the episodes I watched,” Crow Minato, 23, said. “I was really saddened to see Matthew Perry had passed when he was so young.”

Molly Christoffel, 20, had never watched ‘Friends’ before, but was still sad to hear the actor had passed.

“I’d only really seen him briefly on the show,” Christoffel, 20, said. “But hearing about his passing made me remember to cherish the time I have with my own friends, too.”

Older generations who grew up with the show have lamented and reflected on their own lives due to Perry’s passing and history.

“Given I’m only two years younger than him, it puts a lot of things into perspective,” Ng said. “Lots of ‘life’ questions were going on with me and my friends, even before his passing.

Monica Kim, 47, has watched and enjoyed the show throughout the seasons.

“Sad, but I wasn’t super surprised,” Kim said. “He didn’t look well at the reunion show and admittedly has had a long-standing substance abuse problem.”

Perry had been open about his struggles with addiction to both drugs and alcohol and how they had negatively affected him in his life. He had spent months in rehab and billions of dollars but was eventually able to overcome his addictions, and wanted to spread his aid to other addicts to help them overcome their addictions, too.

Shay Walters, host of Facebook show ‘From Prison to Purpose’ mourned Perry’s passing and memorialized his quotes on addiction on her Facebook page, where many people also shared their own stories, grieving, and struggles about addiction.

I didn’t realize he was struggling with drugs and alcohol,” said Anne Ng, 50. “Celebrity or not, I guess we all have our own demons. It’s hard to face them, but I’m glad to know of his struggles and that he was doing good things to help others. It’s hard to believe he is dead since he is closer to our age.”

Ng-Ortega also said that she’d talked with her friends, and that some hadn’t known he’d had a substance abuse problem, nor that he was open about it.

“It’s very sad that polysubstance abuse, depression and mental illness are so prevalent now,” Ng-Ortega said. “We all really need to work on helping others more and just asking if they’re doing okay. We’ve all got to remember to cherish every day we get.”