Tributes continue to pour in for Matthew Perry. Kathleen Turner, who portrayed Helena Handbasket, the transgender parent of Perry’s Chandler Bing on Friends, is remembering the actor, saying she is “very sad for Matthew” following his sudden death Saturday.
In a statement to People, Turner said she last saw Perry at least 10 years ago at event. “I liked him,” she said in a statement to People. “He had a good sense of humor and a good heart. he liked other people, which, to me, is terribly important, especially for an actor.”
“It’s extremely sad when you think about how young [he was] and a pity he couldn’t get more control.” Referring to the Friends cast, she adds, “I can’t imagine the pressure those guys lived under being a worldwide phenomenon. It must have been overwhelming.”
Turner first appeared on Friends in 2001 as Helena, a transgender woman, who was...
In a statement to People, Turner said she last saw Perry at least 10 years ago at event. “I liked him,” she said in a statement to People. “He had a good sense of humor and a good heart. he liked other people, which, to me, is terribly important, especially for an actor.”
“It’s extremely sad when you think about how young [he was] and a pity he couldn’t get more control.” Referring to the Friends cast, she adds, “I can’t imagine the pressure those guys lived under being a worldwide phenomenon. It must have been overwhelming.”
Turner first appeared on Friends in 2001 as Helena, a transgender woman, who was...
- 10/30/2023
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Matthew Perry is being remembered by his TV parent Kathleen Turner.
On Friends, the 69-year-old actress played Helena Handbasket, a transgender woman who was the father of Matthew‘s character Chandler Bing.
Following Matthew‘s tragic death on Saturday (October 28) at the age of 54, Kathleen shared a statement remembering her TV son.
Keep reading to find out more…
“He came to see one of my Broadway shows and he came backstage,” Kathleen recalled to People. “When he saw me, he yelled out, ‘Hey dad’ and everyone thought it was pretty cool. I think it was for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf.”
Even though she hadn’t seen him in “at least 10 years,” Kathleen said Matthew‘s personality always stuck with her.
“I liked him,” Kathleen said. “He had a good sense of humor and a good heart. he liked other people, which, to me, is terribly important, especially for an actor.
On Friends, the 69-year-old actress played Helena Handbasket, a transgender woman who was the father of Matthew‘s character Chandler Bing.
Following Matthew‘s tragic death on Saturday (October 28) at the age of 54, Kathleen shared a statement remembering her TV son.
Keep reading to find out more…
“He came to see one of my Broadway shows and he came backstage,” Kathleen recalled to People. “When he saw me, he yelled out, ‘Hey dad’ and everyone thought it was pretty cool. I think it was for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf.”
Even though she hadn’t seen him in “at least 10 years,” Kathleen said Matthew‘s personality always stuck with her.
“I liked him,” Kathleen said. “He had a good sense of humor and a good heart. he liked other people, which, to me, is terribly important, especially for an actor.
- 10/30/2023
- by Just Jared
- Just Jared
In the wake of the untimely and tragic death of Matthew Perry, many people are sharing their favorite memories and moments from his performance as Chandler Bing in the long-running, beloved sitcom "Friends." Over the course of 10 seasons and 236 episodes that people have watched and rewatched and rewatched ad infinitum, there is so much material to choose from -- whether it's the sly, sarcastic one-liners Perry would throw out to fill a space of uncomfortable silence, or the large-scale physical gags that he was equally adept at. Of course, there are also the tender moments that people remember from his relationship with Courteney Cox's Monica.
There is one particular element of Chandler's character you will not see people reminiscing about. Whenever a show lasts as long as "Friends" did, there will inevitably be storylines from the show that the audience doesn't like, and there will be just as...
There is one particular element of Chandler's character you will not see people reminiscing about. Whenever a show lasts as long as "Friends" did, there will inevitably be storylines from the show that the audience doesn't like, and there will be just as...
- 10/29/2023
- by Mike Shutt
- Slash Film
Matthew Perry, the affable actor who became a television superstar playing Chandler Bing on the beloved NBC sitcom Friends, had died. He was 54.
Perry died Saturday in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home, law enforcement sources told the Los Angeles Times. Authorities responded around 4 p.m. to his home, where he was discovered unresponsive, they said.
While Perry had achieved massive success as part of Friends, one of the most successful shows of all time, he also battled alcohol and substance abuse for decades.
Debuting in 1994, Friends, of course, followed the lives and loves of six young New Yorkers trying to find themselves as they banded together for support. Through their ups and downs, trials and tribulations, one thing remained constant (as affirmed by the show’s theme song): These friends would always be there for each other.
Striking a chord with twenty-somethings everywhere, Friends was a ratings powerhouse.
Perry died Saturday in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home, law enforcement sources told the Los Angeles Times. Authorities responded around 4 p.m. to his home, where he was discovered unresponsive, they said.
While Perry had achieved massive success as part of Friends, one of the most successful shows of all time, he also battled alcohol and substance abuse for decades.
Debuting in 1994, Friends, of course, followed the lives and loves of six young New Yorkers trying to find themselves as they banded together for support. Through their ups and downs, trials and tribulations, one thing remained constant (as affirmed by the show’s theme song): These friends would always be there for each other.
Striking a chord with twenty-somethings everywhere, Friends was a ratings powerhouse.
- 10/29/2023
- by Chris Koseluk
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Marta Kauffman, the Emmy Award-winning co-creator of the quintessential 1990s sitcom “Friends” has made an apology to the transgender community over the way her show handled a trans character.
E! News reported on a forthcoming BBC “World Service” interview, that will air next week, in which Kauffman touched upon the character “Helena Handbasket,” Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry)’s trans parent, played by Kathleen Turner. “We kept referring to [Helena] as ‘Chandler’s father,’ even though Chandler’s father was trans,” Kauffman said in the interview.
Indeed, we first meet the character in a seventh-season episode called “The One With Chandler’s Dad,” and she is referred to primarily as a drag queen.
“Pronouns were not yet something that I understood, so we didn’t refer to that character as ‘she.’ That was a mistake,” she added.
Last week it was revealed that Kauffman made a 4 million donation to fund a professorship...
E! News reported on a forthcoming BBC “World Service” interview, that will air next week, in which Kauffman touched upon the character “Helena Handbasket,” Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry)’s trans parent, played by Kathleen Turner. “We kept referring to [Helena] as ‘Chandler’s father,’ even though Chandler’s father was trans,” Kauffman said in the interview.
Indeed, we first meet the character in a seventh-season episode called “The One With Chandler’s Dad,” and she is referred to primarily as a drag queen.
“Pronouns were not yet something that I understood, so we didn’t refer to that character as ‘she.’ That was a mistake,” she added.
Last week it was revealed that Kauffman made a 4 million donation to fund a professorship...
- 7/7/2022
- by Jordan Hoffman
- Gold Derby
“Friends” co-creator Marta Kauffman opened up about the misstep in referring to Chandler Bing’s transgender parent, played by Kathleen Turner, in the original series as a man.
Kauffman, who created the 1994 to 2004 series with David Crane, admitted that “referring to her as ‘Chandler’s father’, even though Chandler’s father was trans” was a “mistake.”
“Pronouns were not yet something that I understood. So we didn’t refer to that character as ‘she.’ That was a mistake,” Kauffman said during “The Conversation” on the BBC World Service (via The Huffington Post).
Matthew Perry as Chandler endured numerous jokes about his “dad,” played by Turner, on the series. Turner played Chandler’s parent Charles Bing, who performed as Helena Handbasket for her drag stage show Viva Las Gaygas. The series never explicitly addressed whether Charles was trans, but Kauffman confirmed that she was.
Kauffman added that she set out to...
Kauffman, who created the 1994 to 2004 series with David Crane, admitted that “referring to her as ‘Chandler’s father’, even though Chandler’s father was trans” was a “mistake.”
“Pronouns were not yet something that I understood. So we didn’t refer to that character as ‘she.’ That was a mistake,” Kauffman said during “The Conversation” on the BBC World Service (via The Huffington Post).
Matthew Perry as Chandler endured numerous jokes about his “dad,” played by Turner, on the series. Turner played Chandler’s parent Charles Bing, who performed as Helena Handbasket for her drag stage show Viva Las Gaygas. The series never explicitly addressed whether Charles was trans, but Kauffman confirmed that she was.
Kauffman added that she set out to...
- 7/5/2022
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
After pledging 4 million to Brandeis University over “guilt” about the lack of racial diversity on “Friends,” co-creator Marta Kauffman is now expressing regret over how the show represented another demographic: transgender people.
In an interview with The Conversation on the BBC World Service that will air on July 11, Kauffman called it a “mistake” to refer to the transgender mother of Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry) as his “father.”
“Pronouns were not yet something that I understood,” Kauffman told the BBC. “So we didn’t refer to that character as ‘she.’ That was a mistake.’”
The character, who had the stage name of Helena Handbasket, was played by Kathleen Turner, who said on “Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen” in 2019 that she wouldn’t have accepted the role if it was offered to her again “because there would be real people able to do [the role].”
Kauffman is also the creator of the...
In an interview with The Conversation on the BBC World Service that will air on July 11, Kauffman called it a “mistake” to refer to the transgender mother of Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry) as his “father.”
“Pronouns were not yet something that I understood,” Kauffman told the BBC. “So we didn’t refer to that character as ‘she.’ That was a mistake.’”
The character, who had the stage name of Helena Handbasket, was played by Kathleen Turner, who said on “Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen” in 2019 that she wouldn’t have accepted the role if it was offered to her again “because there would be real people able to do [the role].”
Kauffman is also the creator of the...
- 7/5/2022
- by Sasha Urban
- Variety Film + TV
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