Matthew Perry knew he'd really scored when he earned the part of sarcastic, lovable Chandler Bing on a freshman series about six best friends figuring it all out in New York City.
"I was the second baseman for the New York Yankees. I couldn't f--k that up," the actor wrote in his 2022 memoir of landing on Friends alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer. "I would never forgive myself."
He credited his 10-season stint on the impossibly popular NBC comedy for helping him stay sober, noting, "When you're earning $1 million a week, you can't afford to have the seventeenth drink."
And while his run as Chandler no doubt tops his life's resume, it's far from the only entry for the actor who died on Oct. 28.
While he continued to collect TV and movie credits (Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, The Good Wife, and, most recently, the 2017 mini-series The Kennedys After Camelot), perhaps one of the more meaningful accomplishments was Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, his 2022 tome that detailed everything from his big Friends break to his famed romances to his previously private struggles with addiction.
"People have just loved it," Matthew told E! News in an exclusive interview at last November's GQ Men of the Year event. "I shied away from nothing and I told the truth and the biggest thing was, the goal was, to help people and I know of a lot of people already who have been helped by it."
Most importantly, he continued, "We've already heard about five different people that have read it and then checked into rehab the next day."
And could he have been more brave to share the full truth? "There's been some real up and downs in my life and this is a lot about the downs," he noted, "but the further down you go the more people you can help."
Across his 54 years, Perry was truly there for a lot of people. Relive his enormously full life in the pictures below.
1988
The Boys Will Be Boys star poses for a photo while at the Limelight in New York City.
1990
The Sydney actor takes a break while on the set of the CBS series in Los Angeles, California.
1994
The Friends star sits by the well-known fountain that serves as the backdrop for the show's opening sequence.
1996
The Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing author attends the Scream premiere in Los Angeles.
1997
Perry poses while on the set of Friends as his beloved character Chandler Bing.
2000
The 17 Again star attends the Los Angeles premiere of The Grinch.
2004
The actor hits the red carpet for the premiere of The Whole Ten Yards.
2006
The Mr. Sunshine star attends the Entertainment Weekly and Matrix Men upfront party.
2012
The Odd Couple actor hangs out backstage at an event in celebration of the 64th Primetime Emmy Awards.
2016
Perry poses for a photo while at the play The End Of Longing.
2017
The American-Canadian actor was front and center at The Circle premiere in New York City.
2022
Perry attends the 2022 GQ Men of the Year party.
2023
Six months prior to his passing, the Almost Heroes star discussed his memoir while on stage at the 2023 Los Angeles Times Festival.