Matthew Perry’s family is marking the first anniversary of his death by celebrating his legacy the way he would have wanted.
In an exclusive interview with TODAY’s Savannah Guthrie, Perry’s mother, Suzanne Morrison, his stepfather and “Dateline” correspondent, Keith Morrison, and three of Perry’s sisters — Caitlin, Emily and Madeline Morrison — reflected on his final days, their enduring grief and a foundation aimed at continuing his life’s work.
Perry’s family announced this October the Matthew Perry Foundation of Canada, which addresses the impact of addiction by funding emerging research and “providing post-treatment support living with substance abuse disorders,” the organization’s website reads.
The Matthew Perry Foundation of Canada organization is distinct from the Matthew Perry Foundation of the U.S., which was founded days after his October 2023 death and shares similar intentions.
“He made it a big focus of his life to help other people, to encourage other people to say, ‘I need help.’ He tried to make people see that that was a brave thing,” Caitlin Morrison, who serves as the executive director of the Matthew Perry Foundation of Canada, told Savannah.
In his 2022 memoir, “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing,” Perry wrote, “When I die, as far as my so-called accomplishments go, it would be nice if ‘Friends’ were listed far behind the things I did to try to help other people.”
Aiding others gave him a “sense of purpose,” Caitlin Morrison added, and her family agrees.
“When someone came and asked him for help, he would drop everything and do it,” Emily Morrison said. “No matter where he was in life.”
Suzanne Morrison reflected emotionally on making peace with her own limits when it came to helping her son through his addiction struggles. “I’m a very lucky woman. But there was one glitch, there was one problem that I couldn’t — I couldn’t conquer it. I couldn’t help him,” she said.
It’s that feeling that makes her “want to support Catie,” her daughter, in her efforts with the foundation.
"He made it a big focus of his life to help other people, to encourage other people to say, ‘I need help.’ He tried to make people see that that was a brave thing."
Perry’s sister Caitlin Morrison
“The one thing I have to learn — (and it’s) very hard to — is you’ve got to stop blaming yourself. Because you don’t understand what your child or what your husband or wife is going through. And you’ve got to stop, because it tears you up,” she said.
Caitlin Morrison, in her work with the foundation and through her relationship with her brother, has come to understand the emotional toll of addiction.
“It can be a hopeless thing, and it wasn’t just Matthew. I hear it from people all the time now — that it’s a hopeless thing to be in that place where you’re in a constant battle between wanting to be free (of addiction) and your brain and your body are trying to rope you back in,” she said.
Perry died on Oct. 28, 2023, at age 54 after being found in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office, the actor died of acute effects of ketamine.
The “Friends” star had been undergoing ketamine treatment for depression and anxiety. But the supervised doses of ketamine are not what killed him, NBC News reported. He had also been using the drug unsupervised and had become addicted, according to prosecutors.
“I don’t even know if in his mind he had relapsed,” his sister Madeline Morrison said.
Five people were charged in relation to the actor’s death, including two doctors and the actor’s assistant, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said Aug. 15.
Suzanne Morrison said she is “thrilled” that five people have been charged in relation to Perry’s death.
“What I’m hoping, and I think the agencies that got involved in this are hoping, that people who have put themselves in the business of supplying people with the drugs that’ll kill them — they are now on notice. It doesn’t matter what your professional credentials are. You’re goin’ down, baby,” Keith Morrison said.
Suzanne Morrison also said she remembered Perry saying, just before he died, “I love you so much, and I’m so happy to be with you now,” almost as if it was a “premonition.”
When someone came and asked him for help, he would drop everything and do it."
Perry's sister Emily Morrison.
“There was an inevitability to — to what was going to happen next to him, and he felt it very strongly. But he said, ‘I’m not frightened anymore.’ And it worried me,” she said.
Reflecting on his stepson’s death, Keith Morrison said Perry “taught the world” something through his addiction.
“What he taught the world is that no amount of money will cure an addict. It needs something else. That’s what we’re trying to do (with the foundation),” Morrison said.
Pursuing that goal in Canada is fitting, given Perry’s roots there.
Though Perry spent much of his adult life in Los Angeles, he grew up in the Canadian capital of Ottawa, which is now home to the new foundation.
“Canada was very important to him,” Caitlin Morrison said. “I think that he was very important to Canadians. It's kind of a gift both ways. It’s a gift to get to serve Canadians. It’s a gift to keep him around.”
Perry had the opportunity to see just how treasured he was by his Canadian fans when promoting his memoir in 2022.
“He was astonished at the attention he got during the Canadian book tour,” Suzanne Morrison said. “He had no idea. He kept talking about it afterward. ‘Some people really like me still.’”
His mother continues to see evidence of fans’ devotion at the cemetery in California where Perry is buried.
“Whenever I’m there, there will be people coming to see him — still now. Usually that wears off,” she said. “They leave really lovely letters to him. Like, ‘I felt so sad. You helped me get through my teen years,’” she said, calling his impact on people “just unbelievable.”
His mother has kept the notes.
“I’ll maybe release them sometime, so people can see,” she said. “But they really did love him, because they could relate to him.”
