Matthew Perry's Mom On Friends Had A Connection To His Real-Life Dad
The tragic death of "Friends" star Matthew Perry has brought to the surface a plethora of fan-favorite on-screen moments, as well as his struggles, successes, and connections to different cast members. In fact, Perry's onscreen mother in "Friends" — Morgan Fairchild, who played Nora Tyler Bing — had actually met him many years before they worked together.
In David Wild's "Friends ... 'til the End: The One With All Ten Years," Fairchild recounted how she came to be on the show: "When they first called I thought 'Oh my God, I'm too young to play this guy's mother.' But I had seen the show and it's such a good show, so I thought it would be fun to do."
When the two first encountered each other on set, Perry revealed that he already knew her. "I got on the set and Matthew said, 'You don't remember me but my father is John Bennett Perry and I used to visit you on the set of "Flamingo Road."' His dad played the sheriff on 'Flamingo Road' and also was on 'Falcon Crest,'" Fairchild explained. "So then I started thinking, maybe I am old enough to play his mother."
In his memoir, "Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing," Matthew Perry revealed that his father's acting career came at the expense of their early relationship. He describes how John Bennett Perry "quietly abandoned" him and his mother when Matthew was just nine months old, "too young to understand where California was, or what it meant to 'go follow his dream of being an actor.'" However, when Matthew was a little older he began to visit his father in Los Angeles, and when he was 15 years old he moved out there to live with him. Though their relationship got off to a rocky start, Perry says that "later in life [John] became a wonderful father" and fiercely supported him through his battles with alcoholism and opioid addiction.
A TV family
John Bennett Perry began his career on the Broadway stage before moving to California to build his career on screen. He was particularly well-known for playing a sailor in Old Spice commercials ("I saw him both as my father, and as the Old Spice sailor guy," Matthew Perry recalled in his memoir), but he also had a steady career in film and television – including roles alongside Morgan Fairchild on "Flamingo Road" and "Falcon Crest."
When John Bennett Perry played the sheriff in both TV shows alongside Fairchild, no one could have imagined that Matthew Perry would grow up to play opposite his dad's former co-star. Still, that is what happened and it worked out well. In fact, the two Perry men even ended up working together on the movie "Fools Rush In" and the comedy series "Scrubs," playing a fictional father and son both times, and on "Friends" when John Bennett Perry guest-starred in "The One with Rachel's New Dress."
Morgan Fairchild shared a tribute to Perry, her on-screen son, following the news of his death, writing on a post on X:
"I'm heartbroken about the untimely death of my 'son,' Matthew Perry. The loss of such a brilliant young actor is a shock. I'm sending love & condolences to his friends & family, especially his dad, John Bennett Perry, who I worked with on 'Flamingo Road' & 'Falcon Crest.'"