Matthew Perry is being remembered by his family, including half-sister Caitlin Morrison, ahead of the one-year anniversary of his death.
Caitlin, 43, and her dad, “Dateline” journalist Keith Morrison, spoke to “Hello! Canada” on Wednesday about the tragic loss. Perry overdosed on ketamine on October 28, 2023 at age 54.
“He had this ability to fill up a room with light,” Caitlin said in her first interview since her famous half-brother’s death.
“When people were in a room with [Perry], there was this magnetic energy,” she added. “Everybody just had a smile on their face and they clung to everything that he said.”
Keith, 77, also remembered the late “Friends” actor.
“When [Perry] suddenly died, it was incredibly shocking … anybody who has lost a child will tell you that, even if you are in some way prepared for the possibility, it’s shattering,” the journalist said. “What we have decided to do is hang on to that determination and try to do something useful.”
In the year since Perry’s death, Keith and Caitlin have started the Matthew Perry Foundation, aimed to help those battling substance abuse.
“The work that I’m doing now is very selfish because it kind of feels like I’m sitting right next to Matthew, working with him every day on something that was important to him,” said Caitlin, the executive director of the charity.
“I have this treasure of getting to keep him very, very close to my life all the time,” she also said, “which is wonderful.”
Keith added of Perry, “He would like to be remembered for doing something to help people suffering from addiction.”
Perry’s parents were John Bennett Perry and Suzanne Perry. Suzanne served as press secretary to Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau before pivoting to political consulting and fund-raising.
The former couple split in 1970, less than one year after Perry was born, and Suzanne went on to marry Keith in 1981. Keith and Suzanne had four children together: Caitlin, Emily, Will and Madeline.
Perry had a fifth half-sibling, Maria Perry. Maria is the daughter of Perry’s dad and his second wife, Debbie.
After Perry’s death, his mom and dad, Caitlin, and his ex-girlfriend Rachel Dunn were all named beneficiaries of his estate.
The late actor never married or had any children of his own.
Perry drowned in the Jacuzzi of his home in the ritzy Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles last year. A toxicology report confirmed he died from acute effects of ketamine. His manner of death was ruled accidental.
Perry’s assistant Kenny Iwamasa, drug broker Erik Fleming, Dr. Salvador Plasencia, Dr. Mark Chavez and alleged “ketamine queen” Jasveen Sangha have all been charged in connection to Perry’s death.
Iwamasa is accused of administering at least 27 shots of ketamine to his boss during the last five days of his life — including three final shots that allegedly resulted in Perry’s “death and serious bodily injury.”
He pleaded guilty in August to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death.
After the five arrests were made over the summer, Perry’s family released a statement where they said, “We were and still are heartbroken by Matthew’s death, but it has helped to know law enforcement has taken his case very seriously.”
“We look forward to justice taking its course,” they added.
Perry’s stepfather previously reflected on his grief on Hoda Kotb’s Making Space podcast in March.
“As other people have told me hundreds of times, it doesn’t go away,” Keith said. “It’s with you every day. It’s with you all the time, and there’s some new aspect of it that assaults your brain.”