Matthew Perry

Biography

Matthew Perry of 'Friends' fame was born in Williamstown, Massachusetts on August 19, 1969 though he was raised in Ottawa, Ontario. His mother Suzanne got divorced from John Perry when he was barely a year old. Suzanne went on to marry Canadian anchorman Keith Morrison when Perry was 10 years old. John Perry, his biological father was famous for being the 'Man' in the Old Spice commercials. Suzanne on the other hand is a former Canadian TV anchor, although she used to be the secretary to Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.

Ladder to Fame
At the age of 13, Perry was ranked as the No. 2 tennis player in Ontario. Perry started his acting career in seventh grade where he played a gunslinger called Arriba Arriba. When Perry turned 15, he moved to Los Angeles to try out his acting skills and also test the waters where Tennis as a career was concerned. Perry got his first big break at the age of 16 when he was spotted by William Richert in a Los Angeles restaurant. William asked him to come for an audition for his movie, called 'A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon.' It was filmed in 1986 and released in 1998.

Perry cleared the auditions and this role became the first important step towards professional acting. After graduating from high school, Perry got an offer for a small role in the sitcom called 'Second Chance.' After this Perry started a series of guest appearances on various popular sitcoms, and one such famous sitcom were 'Growing Pains.' In 1989, Perry appeared in the movie called 'She's out of Control,' which starred Tony Danza. He also landed roles in Television Movies like Dance 'Til Dawn' (1988), 'Call Me Anna' (1990), 'Deadly Relations' (1993), and 'Parallel Lives' (1994).

The year 1992, got off to a disastrous start, as Perry starred in another unsuccessful sitcom called 'Home Free' and it lasted only one season. Two years later in 1994, Perry with his old friend and writing partner Andrew Hill Newman pitched for a sitcom called 'Maxwell's House.' It is about a group of twenty something friends and they made the pitch to NBC television network. Soon enough Matthew Perry auditioned for 'Simply Friends' and landed the role of Chandler Bing. Chandler Bing's character is of a wisecracking member of a gang of six young New Yorkers.

Perry started his Hollywood introduction with a role in a romantic comedy called 'Fools Rush In' (1997), and was paired alongside Salma Hayek. The year after in 1998, Perry appeared with late Chris Farley in 'Almost Heroes.' This was incidentally Chris Farley's last movie. Next on line was the mediocre romantic comedy called 'Three to Tango' (1999). Perry was a hit in the comedy 'The Whole Nine Yards' (2000), which starred Bruce Willis as a mob hit man who moves in as his neighbor. May 2003 marked Perry's professional stage debut with the revival of David Mamet's 'Sexual Perversity in Chicago.'

Classified File
Perry made headlines with a 1997 stint in a rehab clinic because he was addicted to painkillers.

Past Projects
Numb.... Hudson
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (TV).... Matt Albie
Scrubs (TV).... Murray Marks
Friends (TV).... Chandler Bing
The Whole Ten Yards.... Oz
The West Wing (TV).... Joe Quincy
Serving Sara.... Joe Tyler
The Whole Nine Yards.... Nicholas 'Oz' Oseransky

Matthew Perry was born in Williamston, Massachusetts, on August 19, 1969.
Name: Matthew L. Perry
Date of Birth: August 19th, 1969
Height: 6' 1" (1.85 m)

Talent Agency: Creative Artists Agency (CAA)
9830 Wilshire Blvd.
Beverly Hills, CA 90212-1825
USA