Early Life. Actor and screenwriter Matthew Langford Perry was born on August 19, 1969, in Williamstown, Massachusetts. A talented performer, Matthew Perry is most famous for his portrayal of Chandler Bing on the long-running television sitcom Friends. His actor father, John Bennett Perry, split up with his mother, Suzanne, while Matthew was still an infant. He went to live with his mother in Ottawa, Canada. Growing up, Perry developed two passions—playing tennis and acting. He moved to Los Angeles around the age of 15 to live with his father.