Matthew Perry: Officials provide more details about actor’s death

LOS ANGELES — Authorities in Southern California shared new details about the death of “Friends” star Matthew Perry on Monday but said it will still take some time to determine the actor’s cause of death.

>> Read more trending news

Perry, 54, known for his role as Chandler Bing on the sitcom “Friends” from 1994 to 2004, died Saturday from an apparent drowning. He was found at his home in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Officials received a medical call from Perry’s home at about 4 p.m. PDT Saturday stating that the actor was in a freestanding hot tub and was not breathing, the Los Angeles Times reported. The identity of the caller has not been revealed.

Officials told reporters on Monday that the Los Angeles Fire Department arrived at Perry’s home at 4:07 p.m. PDT, with the Los Angeles Police Department arriving three minutes later, according to the newspaper.

“An adult male patient was deceased prior to first response arrival,” the Los Angeles Fire Department said in a statement. “The patient was found by a bystander who had re-positioned the victim where the head was out of water” in the hot tub.

“Firefighters pulled the victim out of the jacuzzi and did a quick medical assessment to find he was deceased,” firefighters said in their statement.

An autopsy was completed Perry but his cause of death was listed as “deferred,” the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office said Sunday.

The coroner’s office updated its case online on Sunday. A deferred case generally means that an autopsy has been completed, but the examiner needs more time and additional investigation into the death, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Law enforcement sources told the Times that no illicit drugs were found at Perry’s home.

Capt. Scot Williams, who leads the Los Angeles Police Department’s robbery-homicide division that is investigating Perry’s death, said Sunday that the “cause of death may not be known for some time, but at this point foul play is not suspected.”

One law enforcement source, who spoke to the newspaper on condition of anonymity because the ongoing investigation, said prescription medications recovered at the home will be part of the review.

Such a review is common practice, the Times reported.

ExpandAutoplay

Image 1 of 26

Photos: Matthew Perry through the years 1994: Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing on "Friends" in 1994. (Reisig & Taylor/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)

ExpandAutoplay

Image 1 of 10

Remembering Matthew Perry A person takes pictures of a makeshift memorial for Matthew Perry outside the building known as the "Friends" building in New York, Sunday, Oct. 29, 2023. Fans lingered in the rain, taking pictures and leaving flowers on the corner outside the building shown in exterior shots on the popular TV show. Perry, who played Chandler Bing on NBC’s “Friends” for 10 seasons, was found dead at his Los Angeles home on Saturday. He was 54. (AP Photo/Brooke Lansdale) (Brooke Lansdale/AP)

©2023 Cox Media Group