Tribute Post Comments Reveal Sweet Teenage Matthew Perry Love Story in Massachusetts

The one where Matthew Perry spent a summer at the Williamstown Theatre Festival after filming the Friends pilot and kissed Gwyneth Paltrow.

And bonus: The one about the girl who forgot about her teenage summer love story with Matthew Perry at Williams College.

Truly I'm in the camp of such sadness and shock at the unexpected and very sudden death of Matthew Perry at age 54 in his Los Angeles home on Saturday, October 28. If you're a Gen X'er like me then you understand the disbelief, especially if you watched Friends faithfully like a true fan.

The beloved, sarcastic, witty, hilarious, adorable Chandler Bing, along with Monica, Rachel, Phoebe, Joey, and Ross, entered our lives in 1994 as we too were entering the real world out of college. It's like we grew up along with them for those 10 seasons.

You might not realize this, but Matthew has a few New England connections.

He was born in Williamstown, Massachusetts, where his parents were living at the time. (His father is actually from there, and Matthew posted the photo above with his father just a week before his death.)

Matthew was raised in Ottawa, Canada after his mother remarried Canadian broadcaster Keith Morrison, known to most of us for Dateline NBC. Even though his father moved to Los Angeles to pursue modeling and acting, Matthew spent some time in Williamstown.

According to Gwyneth Paltrow's Instagram tribute to Matthew, she had a lovely summer and romantic kiss with him while they were acting in plays at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, just after Matthew had auditioned for "Friends."

I met Matthew Perry in 1993 at the Williamstown Theater Festival in Massachusetts. We were both there for most of the summer doing plays. He was so funny and so sweet and so much fun to be with. We drove out to swim in creeks, had beers in the local college bar, kissed in a field of long grass. It was a magical summer. He had shot the pilot of Friends but it had not aired yet. He was nervous, hoping his big break was just around the corner. It was. We stayed friends for a while until we drifted apart, but I was always happy to see him when I did. I am super sad today, as so many of us are. I hope Matthew is at peace at long last. I really do.

 

And imagine being reminded that you dated Matthew Perry during a summer at a tennis camp in Williamstown thanks to Gwyneth's post. Talk about remembering young love. This is so sweet!

RIP Matthew.