Matthew Perry

Matthew Langford Perry was born Aug. 19, 1969 in Williamstown, Massachusetts. His parents are actor John Bennett Perry and Suzanne Perry Morrison. The couple divorced before Perry’s first birthday.

Perry was raised by his mother in Ottawa, Ontario. In his younger years, Perry developed an interest in tennis and was a top-rated junior player. He attended Rockcliffe Park Public School and Ashbury College, where he got his first acting role in a school production in seventh grade.

At fifteen, Perry left Ottawa and loved to Los Angeles to live with his father and start his acting career. Throughout the late 1980s Perry appeared in numerous forgettable guest television spots and planned on enrolling at the University of California but fate intervened when he was offered the lead role in “Second Chances” and Perry became noticed in Hollywood. “Second Chances” only lasted one season; Perry went back to doing guest appearances.

Perry’s big break came when he was cast as “Chandler Bing” on the longest running comedy of the 1990s, “Friends.” Due to the show’s immense popularity, Perry secured several big feature film roles such as 2000’s “The Whole Nine Yards,” starring Bruce Willis and its sequel “The Whole Ten Yards.”

Although primarily known for his comedic timing, Perry has received acclaim for his dramatic work as well. He appeared three times on “The West Wing,” and those appearances earned him two Emmy nominations for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series in 2003 and 2004.

After “Friends” wrapped in May 2004, Perry made his directorial debut by directing an episode of “Scrubs.”

Perry will star in the upcoming Aaron Sorkin sitcom “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,” which will premiere on NBC in fall 2006.