The two prayers of Friends star Matthew Perry

On 28 October, the much-loved Friends star Matthew Perry died at his home in Los Angeles, aged 54.

In his autobiography Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing published just last year, Perry recalled how the first prayer he ever prayed was: ‘Please God make me famous, you can do anything you want to me, just make me famous.’ Just three weeks later he landed the life-changing part in the sitcom Friends, playing Chandler Bing.

Later in his life, he reflected that he believed this ‘very dumb prayer’ had been answered so he would understand how unfulfilling fame is. He said: ‘I had the American dream – the house, the job, the fame. And I loved it, for about six months. But then I walked into my house one day and thought “Ah man, this is not fixing this problem that I have”.’