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Friends fans and those throughout the Hollywood community are still processing the loss of Matthew Perry. On Friday, fans were shocked to learn about what led to the actor’s unexpected death at 54 on October 28, 2023. There was one particularly heartbreaking detail that was included in the autopsy about a member of Perry’s family.
Dateline’s Keith Morrison Is Perry’s Stepfather
Many fans of the Friends actor didn’t know he’s not the only well-known member of his family. Matthew Perry’s mother, Suzanne Morrison, is married to Dateline‘s Keith Morrison. The two have been married since 1981 and Morrison has spoken about his bond with his stepson.
According to the autopsy, it was Morrison who identified Perry for the coroner. Morrison was photographed outside of Perry’s Pacific Palisades home, along with wife Suzanne and Perry’s father, actor John Bennett Perry.
Morrison spoke out about his stepson’s death for the first time about a month later when he shared a sincere message as he asked for donations to the Matthew Perry Foundation on Giving Tuesday.
“This is not the sort of thing I commonly do, this pitch. But this year is different. And tomorrow is Giving Tuesday. Do what you can; he would have been grateful,” he tweeted.
Matthew Perry Died of “Acute Effects of Ketamine”
The autopsy report examining Matthew Perry’s death was released by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office. Per Deadline, the beloved actor died from the “acute effects of ketamine.”
Additionally, the report cited drowning, coronary artery disease, and the effects of buprenorphine as contributors to his death. Buprenorphine is an FDA-approved medication used to treat Opioid Use Disorder (OUD).
PEOPLE also obtained a copy of the autopsy, which says that Perry, who battled addiction throughout his life, was “reportedly clean for 19 months” before his death. The beloved Friends actor was participating in ketamine infusion therapy, with the latest treatment happening “one and a half weeks” before he died.
“The ketamine in his system at death could not be from that infusion therapy since ketamine’s half-life is 3 to 4 hours or less,” the coroner noted in the report.
PEOPLE
The Actor Was Found Dead in His Pool
Matthew Perry was found dead at his Los Angeles home on Oct. 28. The autopsy cites his time of death at 4:17 p.m. About 15 minutes earlier, the actor was found unconscious in his hot tub. No illicit drugs were found in Perry’s home or near the hot tub where he was found.
The coroner believes that the actor “lapsed into unconsciousness” to the point he was unable to get himself out of the water as he became submerged in it.