Matthew Perry was born in Williamstown, Massachusetts, to Suzanne Marie
(Langford), a Canadian journalist, and
John Bennett Perry, an American
actor. His ancestry includes English, Irish, German, Swiss-German, and
French-Canadian.
Perry was raised in Ottawa, Ontario, where he became a top-ranked
junior tennis player in Canada. However, after moving to Los Angeles at
the age of 15 to live with his father, he became more interested in
acting. In addition to performing in several high school stage
productions, he remained an avid tennis player. Perry ranked 17th
nationally in the junior singles category and third in the doubles
category. Upon graduating from high school, Perry intended to enroll at
the University of Southern California. However, when he was offered a
leading role on the television series,
Second Chance (1987), he seized
the opportunity to begin his acting career.
Perry appeared in the hit comedy film
Keine halben Sachen (2000),
as the neighbor of a hit man, played by
Bruce Willis. His other feature film
credits included
Fools Rush In - Herz über Kopf (1997),
Jimmy Reardon (1988),
Hände weg von meiner Tochter (1989)
and
Tödliches Klassentreffen (1994).
He also co-starred with
Chris Farley in the buddy comedy
Fast Helden (1998) and in the
romantic comedy,
Ein Date zu dritt (1999), opposite
Neve Campbell. Perry resided in Los
Angeles. He enjoyed playing ice hockey and softball in his spare time.
