Matthew Perry, a fan favourite during his years on Friends has been found dead at his home in Los Angeles.

Perry, 54, was found at a Los Angeles-area residence on Saturday after authorities rushed to a call over a cardiac arrest, emergency sources told the publication.

Perry was found in a Jacuzzi with no sign of foul play, a law enforcement source told the Los Angeles Times.

Asked by AP to confirm a police response to what was listed as Perry’s LA home, LAPD officer Drake Madison told The Associated Press that police had gone to the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood “for a death investigation of a male in his 50s.”

There were no drugs at the scene, according to celebrity website TMZ, which initially broke news of the death.

Perry was best known for his role as Chandler Bing on all 10 seasons of Friends, starring opposite Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow and David Schwimmer as a friend group in New York.

Tweet from @FriendsTV

Family releases statement

Perry’s family shared, “We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of our beloved son and brother. Matthew brought so much joy to the world, both as an actor and a friend.”

“You all meant so much to him and we appreciate the tremendous outpouring of love,” their statement said.

Matthew Perry’s childhood classmate, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, has also paid tribute.

Tweet from @JustinTrudeau

Loved by millions

As Chandler, Perry played a sarcastic yet insecure and neurotic roommate of Joey and Ross, played by LeBlanc and Schwimmer respectively.

The series was beloved by millions of fans worldwide, with all the main cast members reuniting in 2021 for a reunion special.

Perry received one Emmy nomination for his Friends role and two more for appearances as an associate White House counsel on The West Wing.

He also had several notable film roles, starring opposite Salma Hayek in the rom-com Fools Rush In and opposite Bruce Willis in the the crime comedy The Whole Nine Yards.

In recent years, Perry had begun to open up about his health battles, which ranged from pancreatitis to alcohol and opioid addiction.

He documented his struggle with addiction and an intense desire to please audiences in his memoir, Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing.

‘I had a secret’

“Friends was huge. I couldn’t jeopardise that … I loved my co-actors. I loved the scripts. I loved everything about the show but I was struggling with my addictions, which only added to my sense of shame,” he wrote.

“I had a secret and no one could know.

“I felt like I was gonna die if the live audience didn’t laugh, and that’s not healthy for sure. But I could sometimes say a line and the audience wouldn’t laugh and I would sweat and sometimes go into convulsions,” Perry wrote.

“If I didn’t get the laugh I was supposed to get, I would freak out. I felt that every single night. This pressure left me in a bad place. I also knew of the six people making that show, only one of them was sick.”

-with AAP