Hank Azaria says Matthew Perry's funeral saw a mix of tears and laughter as he revealed he was among the handful of mourners at the intimate farewell.
Perry, who was best known for his role as Chandler Bing in the hit US sitcom Friends, was found dead in the hot tub of his Los Angeles home on October 28.
He was laid to rest at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles on November 3 with only a select number of family and friends, including his former Friends co-stars Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow and Courteney Cox, in attendance.
Azaria, 59, shared a special bond with Perry.
Aside from working with him when playing Kudrow's character Phoebe Buffay’s boyfriend David in Friends, Azaria and Perry were both sports fans and would often attend games together.
Azaria also credited Perry, who spoke openly about his own struggles with drug and alcohol abuse struggles, with helping him get sober.“I was at the funeral last weekend,” Azaria, who for decades has voiced a number of characters in animated TV series The Simpsons, told The Messenger, describing the environment at the event as “sad”.
“He was a hilarious man, so we would sort of [be] alternately laughing and crying remembering him,” he added. “We’ve all had people we’ve lost. The world really lost him. In a way, it’s nice to have the world sort of sharing with you.”
His remarks come after Perry’s death certificate was released on Friday.
It currently lists the American-Canadian actor’s cause of death as “deferred” while the coroner awaits the return of toxicology tests.
A postmortem was deemed “inconclusive” and initial tests showed no signs of meth or fentanyl in Perry's system at his time of passing.
It has been reported that a conclusive result for Perry's cause of death could take “four to six months".
