Matthew Perry, who created the iconic “Friends” character Chandler Bing, was found dead Oct. 28 at the age of 54 after an apparent drowning.
Matthew Perry’s Parents Story
Matthew Perry’s parents, John Bennett Perry and Suzanne Langford, arrived at Matthew Perry’s Los Angeles home Saturday night in the wake of his death. His stepfather Keith Morrison also went to the scene. The parents were photographed with authorities and crossing police tape.
Matthew Perry was born Aug. 19, 1969, the only child of John Bennett Perry and Langford. By age 5, he was splitting time between Montreal, Canada, where he lived with his mom, and visiting his dad in Los Angeles, California.
In 1981, Langford remarried Morrison, now a “Dateline” correspondent, and welcomed four children. John Bennett Perry also remarried and had one child with his second wife.
On Oct. 15, a few days before his death, Matthew Perry shared a rare picture of him and his dad.
“Here is me, and my father John, both holding a beverage,” he captioned the Instagram post.
Matthew Perry’s Parents Meet
Matthew Perry wrote in his memoir, “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing,” that his mother was the former Miss Canadian University Snow Queen, while his dad, John Bennett Perry, was the lead singer for folk group the Serendipity Singers.
The pair met when the singing group performed at a 1967 pageant.
“At the time, they were two of the most gorgeous people on the face of the planet — you should see pictures of them from their wedding — you just want to punch them in their perfectly chiseled faces,” Matthew Perry wrote.
Matthew Perry’s Parents Split up Quickly.
Matthew Perry was born just two years after their meet-cute. But his father left when Matthew Perry was nine months old and his mother was 21.
Living at the time in Williamstown, Massachusetts, the family of three drove to the Canadian border to meet his maternal grandfather.
“I would have been excited to see him, and then, I’m told, my father took me out of my car seat, handed me into my grandfather’s arms, and, with that, he quietly abandoned me and my mother,” Matthew Perry wrote.
Matthew Perry added that his dad “became a wonderful father” later in life, but growing up, he couldn’t understand why he left them to pursue his dream of acting in California.
Langford, who took her husband’s last name Perry professionally, became the press secretary for then Canadian prime minister Pierre Trudeau, according to Matthew Perry’s memoir.
“My mom’s job therefore meant that she was away at work a lot — and I was left to compete with the ongoing concerns of a major Western democracy and its charismatic swordsman leader if I wanted a little attention,” he wrote.
After being recognized constantly standing beside Trudeau, Langford was then offered the position of anchoring the news for Global Television in Toronto.
His dad, who would call every Sunday, was off finding acting gigs in New York and later Hollywood, Matthew Perry wrote. Eventually, John Bennett Perry became the “Old Spice guy.”
“I saw his face more often on TV or in magazines than I did in reality,” Matthew Perry wrote, adding that he still viewed his dad as “perfect” whenever he visited him.
“Bottom line, though, was: my dad was my hero,” Matthew Perry wrote.
During her time in Toronto, Langford married Keith Morrison, who was working as the “Canada AM” host and would later be on NBC’s “Dateline.” They welcomed a daughter Caitlin, Matthew Perry’s first half-sibling, and he loved her “instantly.”
The family of four moved to Ottawa where Matthew Perry attended all-boys secondary school Ashbury College. The actor then discovered his love for making people laugh while garnering a major role in the school play “The Death and Life of Sneaky Fitch.”
Later, Matthew Perry’s second sister Emily was born, and he again wrote that he “loved her instantly,” but he felt on the outside of the “new family.”
