Matthew Perry’s stepfather and younger sister have broken their silence nearly a year after the actor’s passing.
The ‘Friends’ actor shot to fame playing Chandler Bing on NBC sitcom from 1994 to 2004 and was killed on 28 October, 2023, aged 54 from the “acute effects” of anaesthetic ketamine after receiving three injections of the drug, with five people arrested as part of an investigation into his death.
Keith Morrison and his daughter Caitlin Morrison, whose mother is Suzanne Morrison, gave a joint interview to HELLO! Canada about Matthew as they opened up about work they have been doing in his memory.
Keith, 77, who married Matthew’s mum in 1981, said: “(Matthew) would like to be remembered for doing something to help people suffering from addiction.”
He added it was “incredibly shocking” when the actor “suddenly died” last year, saying: “Anybody who has lost a child will tell you that, even if you are in some way prepared for the possibility, it’s shattering.
“What we have decided to do is hang on to that determination and try to do something useful.”
Caitlin, 43, is executive director of the Matthew Perry Foundation of Canada, and told HELLO! doing the work makes her feel like “I’m sitting right next to Matthew, working with him every day on something that was important to him.
“I have this treasure of getting to keep him very, very close to my life all the time, which is wonderful.”
The organisation she is working for is separate from the U.S. Matthew Perry Foundation, which was launched shortly after his death.
Caitlin also told HELLO! he had an ability to “fill up a room with light”, adding: “When people were in a room with (him), there was this magnetic energy.
“Everybody just had a smile on their face and they clung to everything that he said.”
