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Arrests made in investigation of actor Matthew Perry’s ketamine overdose death
Arrests have been made in the death investigation of “Friends” actor Matthew Perry, two law enforcement sources confirmed to CBS News on Thursday.
The arrests come nearly a year after the 54-year-old actor was found unresponsive in the jacuzzi of his home in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles on Oct. 28, 2023. The toxicology report released by the Los Angeles County medical examiner attributed Perry’s cause of death to the “acute effects of ketamine,” with contributing factors including “drowning, coronary artery disease and buprenorphine effects.” Buprenorphine is a medication used to treat opioid use disorder.
At the time, the coroner said Perry’s death was accidental and there were no signs of foul play. But months later, the Los Angeles Police Department announced there was an open criminal investigation into the actor’s death, which was being assisted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.
Trace amounts of ketamine were found in Perry’s stomach, according to the autopsy report, but the amount discovered in his bloodstream was the same as what would be used in general anesthesia.
At the time of his death, Perry had been undergoing medically supervised ketamine treatments for depression and anxiety. According to the autopsy report, his last prescribed ketamine treatment was a week and a half before his death.
The report also noted that Perry’s cause of death was not connected to his prior sessions of ketamine infusion therapy as the drug’s half-life is just three to four hours. So, the ketamine was taken in another manner, according to the report.
The sudden death of Perry, known for his role as Chandler Bing on “Friends,” sent shockwaves through Hollywood.
Perry had been vocal about his struggles with addiction, addressing them in his best-selling memoir “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing.” The book was released two years before he died.
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New documentary explores the private life of “Superman” icon Christopher Reeve
Long before comic book characters dominated movie screens, actor Christopher Reeve made the world believes in superheroes with the 1978 classic “Superman.”
Reeve died in 2004, nearly a decade after an accident re-shaped his life. “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” is using interviews with family and friends and never-before-seen home videos to explore his real-life heroism.
Reeve started his career on the stage, studying at the prestigious Juilliard School and living with comedian Robin Williams. The pair had a friendship that was “more like a brotherhood,” said Reeve’s son Matthew. Reeve was in awe of Williams’ energy and versatility, Matthew Reeve said, but audiences quickly clued into Reeve’s own star power when he took on the role of the Man of Steel.
To his children, though, he “was just dad,” Matthew Reeve said. The documentary explores how Matthew Reeve and his sister Alexandra Reeve Givens grew up watching their dad take the stage as Superman. “Super/Man” also reveals their heartbreak over their parents’ breakup and the joy they found when Reeve re-married. He tied the knot with Dana Reeve in 1992, and the pair welcomed another child, William Reeve, later that year.
“Dana was sunshine,” Alexandra Reeve Givens recalled. “She just brought joy with her wherever she was and could find it even in the darkest moments.”
Those dark moments came suddenly, when in 1995, a near-fatal horseback riding accident left Reeve paralyzed from the neck down. The documentary allows viewers to see, for the first time, what went on out of the public’s view. Reeve can be heard talking about how he “ruined (his) life and everybody else’s,” but in a touching moment, old friend Robin Williams is seen visiting him in the hospital.
“Robin showed him ‘Hey, you’re still you,'” Alexandra Reeve Givens said. “‘You still have this foundation of friendship and people around you, who adore you. And you’re going to find those fun moments in life again.'”
That support from friends and family re-ignited Reeve’s legacy of activism. He made appearances at the Democratic National Convention and the 68th Academy Awards in 1996, about a year after the accident. Matthew Reeve said watching his father address his industry peers at the Oscars was “one of (his) most proud moments.”
“It was just a production for him to get out of bed every morning, let alone get across the country and go out in public for the first time,” Matthew Reeve said. “It was a big deal. It was a big deal to him, but it was also a big deal to the entire disability community. We stayed up in London till like three in the morning to watch that live. It’s a fond memory.”
Reeve also went on to launch what would become the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, which is dedicated to advancing research into spiral cord injury and help individuals and families impacted by paralysis. It was his dad’s mission to find a cure, Matthew Reeve said, while his stepmother wanted to focus on improving the lives of paralyzed people and their families. The foundation and Reeve’s platform helped bring unprecedented attention and funding to spinal cord injury research.
Reeve even kept acting and realized his lifelong dream of directing with the 1997 HBO movie “In the Gloaming.” Reeve died in 2004 from heart failure at 52.
“There is a huge amount of great actors and actresses out there, where their filmography might be amazing and what they achieve on a cultural level might be amazing, but have they actually achieved anything really as a human that moves the needle for our society?” said filmmaker Ian Bonhote, who made the documentary with Peter Ettedgui. “And Chris has done both things.”
“Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” will open in theaters on Friday, Oct. 11.
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