Matthew Perry\’s stepfather Keith Morrison says Friends star was \’happy\’ before his death aged 54 – and laments actor not getting chance to have \’third act\’ after lifelong battle with addiction

Matthew Perry\’s stepfather Keith Morrison has said the Friends star was \’happy\’ before his shock death aged 54.

Friends star Perry died from a ketamine overdose on October 28 2023, following a life blighted by alcohol and drug addiction.

Morrison, 76, who married Perry\’s mom Suzanne in 1981 when the future star was 12, told Hoda Kotb in an interview for her Making Spaces podcast that he agonized over Perry not getting the chance to have his \’third act.\’

He said: \’He was happy, and he said so, and he hadn’t said that for a long time.

\’So it’s a source of comfort. Also, he didn’t get to have his third act, and that’s not fair.\’

 

Journalist Morrison said he was both surprised and resigned when Perry died following his long history of substance abuse, saying: \’It was the news you never want to get, but you think someday you might. Yes and no, I guess, is the answer to that.

Regarding Perry\’s battle with addiction he said the star \’felt like he was beating it, but you never beat it, and he knew that, too.\’

Discussing Suzanne\’s grief, Morrison said: \’It’s not easy, especially for his mom.

\’I don’t think I’m giving away too much if I say that toward the end of his life, they were closer than I had seen them for decades, and texting each other constantly and him sharing things with her that most middle-aged men don’t share with their mothers.

Toward the end of his life, they were closer than I’ve seen them for decades.\’

Morrison lauded \’goofy, acerbic and larger-than-life\’ Perry, adding: \’He had that kind of very fiery personality, and mine is not like that, as you can imagine,” he said. “But we got along fine.

\’I never tried to replace his dad [John Bennett Perry, 83] , because dads are dads. But I was there for him, and he knew it, and we were close.\’

Close friends of the late star set up The Matthew Perry Foundation in his name after his death, devoted to help those struggling with addiction.

Perry had talked openly for years about his struggles with drug and alcohol addiction, estimating that his rehab costs had totaled $9 million.

Morrison said of the organization: \’The goal is to do whatever can be done to help organizations that are trying to identify the disease [addiction] and how to deal with the disease and agencies and organizations that are specifically helping rescue people in difficult situations … and give them a chance to beat it,.

\’The disease is built in. I really don’t think it ever goes away. It’s in your brain, and the brain doesn’t want to let it go.

\’It’s a whirlwind of a life to get involved in a program that became as wildly successful as it was, to be fighting an addiction that was so virulent that went after him so hard.

\’And he gave into it frequently. He’d get to a certain point, and then he knew he had to go into treatment, and he’d accept help when he needed it. As he said himself, it kept happening. And it was big bear, it was a tough thing to beat.\’

In announcing the foundation, a statement from the organization said: \’The Matthew Perry Foundation is the realization of Matthew\’s enduring commitment to helping others struggling with the disease of addiction.

\’It will honor his legacy and be guided by his own words and experiences and driven by his passion for making a difference in as many lives as possible,\’ the statement announcing the foundation declared.\’

The organization also cited a quote from Perry on their website, in his hope that he would be remembered for helping others struggling with addiction.

The quote reads: \’When I die, I don\’t want \’Friends\’ to be the first thing that\’s mentioned – I want helping others to be the first thing that\’s mentioned.

\’And I\’m going to live the rest of my life proving that. Addiction is far too powerful for anyone to defeat alone. But together, one day at a time, we can beat it down.\’

Morrison also said that the actor\’s death is an \’assault on the brain\’ that stays with him \’every day.\’

\’It\’s as other people have told me hundreds of times. It doesn\’t go away yet.

\’It\’s with you every day. It\’s with you all the time. And there\’s some new aspect of it that assaults your brain, and it\’s not easy.\’

Matthew\’s father, an actor, model, and musician, \’abandoned\’ him and his mom before his firth birthday, leaving them to move to Los Angeles and focus on his career.

Suzanne Perry, his mom, a former pageant queen and journalist who went on to become the press secretary for the Canadian Prime Minister, was fiercely focused on her career, which meant Matthew was often left desperately longing for her \’attention.\’

While he had a very close bond with his parents as an adult, the star has been very honest about how he struggled to cope with his parents\’ divorce and how he was left feeling \’on the outside looking in\’ after his mom got remarried and welcomed his half-siblings.

Perry battled addiction during the height of his fame, but has credited his parents\’ and \’beautiful\’ siblings\’ ability to \’never turn their back on him\’ with helping him to get through his darkest days.

Morrison said: \’He was always the center of attention everywhere he went, that kind of personality. He was goofy. He was funny. He was acerbic.

\’But even if he didn’t say a word, he was the center of attention. And so yes, that’s gone, but you still feel the echo of it everywhere around here.

\’I take him to hockey games on Saturday mornings, and he would always score all goals. And if he didn’t score all the goals, he was so angry all the way home and he wouldn’t talk to anybody. He was really mad.

\’You take him to a tennis match, and he was a very good tennis player, but if he missed a shot a couple of times, his racket is on the ground, and he’d be stomping on it and trying to break (it) into pieces, he was so mad,\’ said the Dateline journalist.

\’And so he had that kind of very fiery personality. And mine is not like that, as you can imagine. But we got along fine. I never tried to replace his dad, but I was there for him, and he knew it. We were close.\’

Morrison took to X to urge people to donate to the Matthew Perry Foundation in a heartfelt post following his tragic death.

He wrote: \’This is not the sort of thing I commonly do, this pitch. But this year is different. Do what you can; he would have been grateful.\’

Perry left more than $1million in a trust he established named after a famed Woody Allen film character.

Per legal documents obtained by DailyMail.com, the late Friends star created a will in 2009 saying he wanted to leave \’a majority of his belongings to a trust.\’

He created the trust named the Alvy Singer Living Trust – named after Allen\’s 1977 Annie Hall character.

The documents list the value of the star\’s personal property as a \’little over $1million\’ – this money is what his executors found as additional assets that are not already in his private trust.

Perry was worth an estimated $120million. The star who died without ever having children had made a distinction in his will that any kids he may have after 2009 were not \’explicitly entitled\’ to his fortune.

Lisa Ferguson and Mike Myers\’ ex-wife Robin Ruzan are listed as co-executors of the will – both Perry and Ruzan worked on game show Celebrity Liar in the 2010s.

Other trust beneficiaries listed are the star\’s father John Perry, mom Suzanne Morrison, half-sister Caitlin Morrison and ex Rachel Dunn.

Perry dated Dunn from 2003-2005. He signed the will on October 26, 2009.

The Chandler Bing actor – who starred on Friends from 1994-2004 – made a reported $20million a year in residuals from the show.

Perry\’s parents will likely take on his acting royalties as well as other parts of his estate which includes his 2022 memoir, according to Day Pitney trusts and estates partner Tasha Dickinson.

Perry died from the \’acute effects of ketamine\’ and drowning, his autopsy  revealed – with the actor having similar quantities of ketamine in his system as a hospital patient under general anesthetic.

\’The County of Los Angeles Department of Medical Examiner determined the cause of death for 54-year-old actor Matthew Langford Perry as the acute effects of ketamine,\’ the Los Angeles coroner\’s office said.

\’Contributing factors in Mr Perry\’s death include drowning, coronary artery disease, and the effects of buprenorphine (used to treat opioid use disorder). The manner of death is accident.\’

Perry was found face-down in the hot tub which adjoins the swimming pool at his Los Angeles home at 4.17pm on October 28, stunning the world of showbiz and breaking the hearts of fans worldwide.

He had been receiving ketamine infusion therapy as treatment for depression, the medical examiner reported – but the last session was a week and a half before he died, and the ketamine is only in your system for three to four hours, which means it did not lead directly to his death.

\’At the high levels of ketamine found in his postmortem blood specimens, the main lethal effects would be from both cardiovascular overstimulation and respiratory depression,\’ the medical examiner, Raffi Djabourian, concluded.

Perry\’s blood ketamine levels were at 3,540 ng/ml in peripheral blood, and 3,271 ng/ml in central blood.

For a patient under general anesthetic, in a hospital, a blood ketamine level of 1,000 – 6,000 ng/ml would be normal, the medical examiner explained.

\’Drowning contributes due to the likelihood of submersion into the pool as he lapsed into unconsciousness; coronary artery disease contributes due to exacerbation of ketamine induced myocardial effects on the heart.

\’Buphrenorphine effects are listed as contributory, even though not at toxic levels, due to the additive respiratory effects when present with high levels of ketamine.\’

He had no alcohol, cocaine, heroin, meth or fentanyl in his system.

He was declared dead at the scene and the medical examiner conducted the autopsy on October 29.