Kriti Mehrotra
Since Matthew Perry was one of the few actors who never needed an introduction owing to his iconic status, the world truly went into a tailspin when it came to light that he had passed away. The star sadly drowned in the hot tub of his own home on October 28, 2023, as a direct result of the acute effects of ketamine after years of struggling with alcohol abuse and drug addiction. Netflix’s ‘The One About Matthew Perry’ delves deep into the same, all the while underscoring his tireless work ethic in the hopes of one day thriving both personally as well as professionally.
How Did Matthew Perry Earn His Money?
Although Matthew Perry was born in Williamstown, Massachusetts, he primarily grew up in Ontario, Canada, with his mother after his biological parents separated when he was just a year old. They both later found love again, decided to remarry, and had children of their own, which their son claimed affected him deeply because he felt he no longer belonged with either family. He thus secretly turned to alcohol for solace at the tender age of 14, only for it to go unchecked to such an extent that he was drinking every single day by the time he reached his 18th birthday.
Matthew was admittedly a functioning alcoholic at the time – he did sometimes display behavioral issues, but he was so active, driven, and resolute that his struggles remained hidden. In fact, he often put on performances for family or practiced tennis for up to 10 hours a day with the sole aim of honing his skills in the fields he had developed a deep passion for at an early age. His love for entertainment stemmed from watching his father’s, John Bennett Perry’s, career as an actor-model before he made his own small debut alongside him in ‘240-Robert’ (1979). As for his devotion to the sport of tennis, he never revealed his history with the same, but he was a top-ranked junior player in Canada at one point and briefly even considered going pro.
However, things changed when Matthew relocated to Los Angeles, California, at about age 15 to live with his father as he realized the competition there was a lot tougher than in his homeland. He told the Chicago Sun-Times, “I played against really, really good players, and there was no way I could’ve made enough to eat as a pro in America. So, acting started to look better and better.” He hence began studying the same at Buckley School in Sherman Oaks, all the while also starting to dabble in improv comedy as he understood his humor and wit were great strengths. He was even actively auditioning for different roles at every possible opportunity by the time he graduated high school in 1987, following which he doubled down on pursuing his dreams.
Matthew had guest appearances on ‘Not Necessarily the News’ in 1983, ‘Charles in Charge’ in 1985, and ‘Silver Spoons’ in 1986 before he secured the lead role in Second Chance (1987-1988). He then went on to star in his debut film called ‘A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon’ (1988), after which he featured in ‘Growing Pains’ (1989), ‘Sydney’ (1990), and ‘Home Free’ (1993), amongst several other shows. It was around early 1994 when he committed to a pilot for a new sitcom titled ‘LAX 2194,’ where he would take on the role of a baggage handler at Los Angeles Airport 200 years in the future. However, the show never got picked up, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise as he landed the opportunity to read for a character his acting friends already told him he was perfect for.
That’s how Matthew secured the role of Chandler Bing in ‘Friends,’ arguably his most iconic and impressive project, since he was merely 24 when he was hired as a main cast member. He also did some theater work at the time to prove his mettle before taking full advantage of his newfound fame, spreading his wings with a lot of different roles across television and movies. He starred in ‘Getting In’ (1994), ‘Fools Rush In’ (1997), ‘Almost Heroes’ (1998), ‘The Whole Nine Yards’ (2000), ‘Serving Sara’ (2002), and ‘Ally McBeal’ (2002), all the while also juggling ‘Friends’ and his addiction issues. He even appeared in seasons 4 and 5 of ‘The West Wing’ (2003-2004) before making his directorial debut in an episode of ‘Scrubs’ season 4 (2004), where he also acted alongside his father.
After ‘Friends’ came to a close following immense success over 10 seasons in 2004, Matthew continued to hone in on his craft while also doing his best to manage his addiction. He held leading roles in ‘The Whole Ten Yards’ (2004), ‘The Ron Clark Story’ (2006), ‘Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip’ (2006-2007), and ‘Numb’ (2007), the latter of which he also produced. Then, he did ‘Birds of America’ (2009), ’17 Again’ (2009), and an episode of ‘Children’s Hospital’ (2011), and lent his voice for the 2010 video game ‘Fallout: New Vegas.’ In 2011, he created, produced, wrote, and starred in a sitcom titled ‘Mr. Sunshine’ before taking a recurring role in ‘The Good Wife’ (2012-2013) and starring in ‘Go On’ (2012-2013).
Matthew’s credits further include ‘Cougar Town’ (2014), ‘Web Therapy’ (2015), ‘The Odd Couple’ (2015-2017), ‘The Good Fight’ (2017), ‘The Kennedys: After Camelot’ (2017), and many more. It’s also imperative to note that he was actually the creator, executive producer, and writer for ‘The Odd Couple’ as well as the executive producer for ‘The Kennedys: After Camelot’ miniseries. Moreover, he debuted as a playwright in 2016 with ‘The End of Longing,’ a dark comedy about addiction, life, and relationships, all the while unabashedly advocating for addiction rehabilitation. Around 6 years later, the Spokesperson for a non-profit called All Rise released ‘Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir,’ where he didn’t hold anything back.
Matthew Perry’s Net Worth
With all of Matthew’s hard work – 15 film credits, 40 show credits, a video game voice credit, a play as a writer, and a memoir – it goes without saying he accumulated significant wealth before he passed away in 2023. However, it’s hard for us to ascertain his precise gross income over the years because he was careful about keeping all financial details well away from the public eye. In fact, to ensure privacy, avoid probate that could make records public, and prevent any issues among his loved ones, he placed almost everything he had in a living trust long ago. According to records, the late actor named his likely significant trust Alvy Singer Living Trust, seemingly after Woody Allen’s character in one of his favorite movies of all time, ‘Annie Hall’ (1977).
Matthew did have some money in a personal bank account, reportedly just over $1.5 million, $1,596,914.47 to be exact, but the rest of his assets, investments, and returns were all likely in his trust. From what we can tell, the actor who went from making $22,500 per episode during ‘Friends’ season 1 to bagging $1 million per episode during seasons 9 and 10 owned two properties in Los Angeles, California, in 2023. However, the title of the Pacific Palisades home he died in was in the name of his trustee, Lisa Ferguson, whereas the title of his other house was in the name of Alvy Singer LLC, the same name as his trust. Nevertheless, taking all these factors into account, along with his philanthropic work and alleged expenses of over $7 million for just his addiction treatments throughout his 54 years, he had a net worth of close to $120 million.
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