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The Matthew Perry Foundation has been founded to carry on the actor’s dedication to supporting others battling addiction.
The foundation said it will honor Perry’s “legacy and be guided by his own words and experiences and driven by his passion for making a difference in as many lives as possible.”
According to law enforcement officials who spoke to the Los Angeles Times at the time, the Friends star passed away on October 28 at the age of 54 in a hot tub at his Los Angeles’ home. The cause of death has not yet been determined by the Los Angeles coroner’s office.
Perry had been transparent about his long battles with alcohol and opiate addictions spanning several decades. The actor wrote about how, during his final years on the NBC sitcom, he was taking up to 55 Vicodin tablets a day during the height of his addiction in his memoir Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, which was published last year.
He said to The New York Times during book promotion that he had been clean for eighteen months and had “probably spent $9 million or something trying to get sober.” He exuded a strong commitment to maintain his sobriety and wanting to support those in need.
“When I die, I don’t want Friends to be the first thing that’s mentioned — I want helping others to be the first thing that’s mentioned. And I’m going to live the rest of my life proving that,” Perry previously said. “Addiction is far too powerful for anyone to defeat alone. But together, one day at a time, we can beat it down.”
