LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: The world is reminded of Robin Williams while trying to come to terms with the sudden death of ‘FRIENDS’ star Matthew Perry.
While some fans are paying heartfelt tributes to the late actor to divest themselves of their pent-up emotions, another faction of the fans are re-living the same grief they felt when the great comic Robin Williams died in 2014.
TMZ reported that the ‘17 Again’ star was found unresponsive in the jacuzzi of his Los Angeles home by his assistant who called 911.
No drugs were found at the scene and the first responders responded to the call for cardiac arrest. The final report is, however, yet to come.
Perry had a long history of struggling with alcoholism and drug addiction, which he talked about in detail in his 2022 memoir, 'Friends, Lovers and the Big, Terrible Thing'.
After a jet ski accident, Perry was prescribed Vicodin, which subsequently led to his alcohol addiction.
He also went to rehab multiple times. After spending two and a half months in a private rehab center in 2002, he came back sober.
During that time, he told The New York Times, "I didn’t get sober because I felt like it. I got sober because I was worried I was going to die the next day.”
However, that was not the end as he suffered several other health scares throughout his life. The scariest of these came in 2018 when his colon exploded because of his years of opioid overuse.
He wrote in his memoir that his friends and family were told, “'Matthew has a two percent chance of making it through the night.'”
While Perry made a miraculous recovery to tell the world his magnificent story through his memoir, the death of the actor behind the iconic Chandler Bing made the fans realize that he was gone too soon.
Many of the fans even drew similarities between his and Williams’ life trajectories as the ‘Dead Poets Society’ star died shockingly at the age of 63.
How did Robin Williams die?
Robin Williams was found dead on August 11, 2014, in his California home. The final autopsy report in November revealed that he died of "asphyxia due to hanging," per The New York Times.
The autopsy further suggested that he suffered from severe Lewy body dementia (LBD), which causes anxiety, hallucinations, memory loss, and insomnia among others. No sign of drug abuse was found.
Williams’ widow, Susan Schneider Williams, told The Guardian in 2021, “The doctors said to me after the autopsy: ‘Are you surprised that your husband had Lewy bodies throughout his entire brain and brain stem?’ I didn’t even know what Lewy bodies were, but I said: ‘No, I’m not surprised.’ The fact that something had infiltrated every part of my husband’s brain? That made perfect sense.”
Williams too had his fair share of struggles with alcoholism. While he was sober for 20 years after quitting alcohol in 1983, he resumed drinking back in 2003.
Following rehab stints and struggles with his addiction, Williams also underwent a divorce from his second wife in 2008, largely due to his alcoholism, per The Guardian.
He said in a 2010 interview with the outlet about the consequences of his addictions, "You know, I was shameful, and you do stuff that causes disgust, and that's hard to recover from. You can say, 'I forgive you' and all that stuff, but it's not the same as recovering from it. It's not coming back."
'Same heartbreak I felt when we lost Robin Williams'
As the world is mourning the death of Matthew Perry, fans could not help but compare his death to another funnyman Robin Williams' untimely death in 2014. Fans were jarred at the eery similarity between the two great comedians' deaths.
A fan observed, "Been thinking about Matthew Perry all day. It's Robin Williams all over again. Addicts die young. Younger than they should. Either from health complications or suicide. As much as I admired them both, I don't want to end up like them."
Someone else said, "Haven’t been this sad about a famous death since Robin Williams. RIP Matthew Perry, goodbye Chandler Bing."
"Matthew Perry’s death hit me harder than I expected. The last time I felt like this was Robin Williams. Sending love and prayers to his friends and family, Matt LeBlanc, and the rest of the cast," added a devastated social media user.
A fan reflected on the similar circumstances of the two great actors' deaths, tweeting, "Robin Williams & Matthew Perry are two celebrity deaths that hit me the hardest & will always hurt my heart, both had their demons but still continued to make us feel happy, it’s like I knew them personally bc I grew up with them & their characters #ripmathewperry #chandlerbing."
"Matthew Perry’s passing is the first one since Robin Williams’ to affect me, I think. There’s something about people who have dedicated their lives to making others laugh while trying their best to conceal deep personal pain that just breaks me in its generosity," said someone else.
Another fan mourned, "Celebrity deaths hit me harder when it’s someone who is known for spreading smiles but ended up desperate for the ability to feel happy again. Chester Bennington, Robin Williams and now Matthew Perry. Society failed them. Society fails so much of us every day."
"Losing Matthew Perry feels like the same heartbreak I felt when we lost Robin Williams ??️ both incredible actors who had such a big impact on so many people. This just doesn’t feel real, I truly hope he’s at peace and felt no pain ? he will forever and always be remembered ?," said another.
