Biography

Handsome leading man Matthew Perry has managed to translate the fame and popularity he garnered from playing Chandler Bing on the hit NBC sitcom Friends into an increasingly successful film career as a romantic comedy lead. Born in Massachusetts, the son of actor John Bennett Perry, his parents divorced when he was still a baby. His mother got full custody and moved Perry to Ottawa, Canada, where she worked as a political assistant (years later, Perry's mother would work as a press secretary for prime minister Pierre Trudeau). As a youth, Perry was an extremely talented tennis player and was once ranked third in Canada's doubles competition. At the same time, the teenaged Perry was interested in acting and had been appearing in school productions since he was 13. At age 15, he relocated to L.A. to join his father, in hopes of becoming both a tennis pro and a working actor. However, in 1984, Perry suffered a devastating loss during a major tennis event and decided that he would have more success as an actor. Shortly after the fateful sporting match, he debuted on an episode of the sitcom Charles in Charge.

Though Perry was still in high school, it rapidly became apparent that his education would take a backseat to acting. While in a restaurant, he was spotted by director William Richert, who offered the 16-year-old a small role opposite River Phoenix in A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon (1988). Though Perry wanted to become a successful professional actor, his father was pressuring him to attend U.C.L.A. As a compromise, Perry agreed that if he could not find an acting job in the first year after high school graduation, he would attend college. Not long after that, he was hired by Fox television to star in the series Boys Will Be Boys. The series bombed, but Perry was then starred opposite Valerie Bertinelli in a new series, Sydney. While this show too was short-lived, it started Perry on a professional guest-star career that would land him roles on such series as Beverly Hills 90210, Growing Pains, and his father's show 240 Roberts. He made his sophomore film appearance in She's Out of Control (1989) opposite Ami Dolenz and Tony Danza. In the early '90s, Perry and his colleague, Andrew Hill, penned the pilot to a situation comedy about a bunch of friends in their twenties who like hanging out. They called their show Maxwell House and sold it to Universal. They pitched the idea to NBC, but the network had a similar vehicle in the works. Instead of taking Perry and Hill's show, they offered to co-star Perry in their program, Friends. The first episode aired in 1994 and became a Top Ten hit. In features, Perry had his first major success with the romantic comedy Fools Rush In (1997). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Filmography

Beginning of Wisdom, The (2003) .... Del
Fever (2003)
Whole Ten Yards, The (2003) .... Nicholas 'Oz' Oseransky
54th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, The (2002) (TV) .... Himself
Serving Sara (2002) .... Joe Tyler
NBC 75th Anniversary Special (2002) (TV) .... Himself
... aka NBC 75th Anniversary Celebration (2002) (TV) (USA)
Friends: The Stuff You've Never Seen (2001) (TV) .... Himself/Chandler Muriel Bing
Kid, The (2000) (uncredited) .... Zz Top Informatician
... aka Disney's The Kid (2000) (USA: complete title)
Whole Nine Yards, The (2000) .... Nicholas 'Oz' Oseransky
... aka Nouveau voisin, Le (2000) (Canada: French title)
51st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, The (1999) (TV) .... Himself
Three to Tango (1999) .... Oscar Novak
Almost Heroes (1998) .... Leslie Edwards
Fools Rush In (1997) .... Alex Whitman
Microsoft Windows 95 Video Guide (1995) (V)
Day with, A (1995) (TV) .... Himself
Getting In (1994) .... Randall Burns
... aka Student Body (1994)
"Friends" (1994) TV Series .... Chandler Bing
Parallel Lives (1994) (TV) .... Willie Morrison
Deadly Relations (1993) (TV) .... George Westerfield
"Home Free" (1993) TV Series .... Matt Bailey
Call Me Anna (1990) (TV) .... Desi Arnaz Jr
"Sydney" (1990) TV Series .... Billy Kells
She's Out of Control (1989) .... Timothy
Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon, A (1988) .... Fred Roberts
Dance 'Til Dawn (1988) (TV) .... Roger
"Second Chance" (1987) TV Series .... Chazz Russell
... aka "Boys Will Be Boys" (1987)

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