Matthew Perry Took in Another Struggling Addict at 'the Height of His Fame,' Documentary Reveals: 'He Saved His Life'

Matthew Perry took in another struggling addict at the height of his fame.

The creators of his upcoming documentary, The One About Matthew Perry, opened up about his decision to help out a fellow addict on the Monday, October 26, episode of TODAY With Jenna and Sheinelle.

"A huge part of Matthew's legacy pertains to the number of people whose lives he impacted and saved, and we feature the account of Tim Harrington, which he's never shared before," filmmaker Mary Robertson told hosts Jenna Bush Hager and Sheinelle Jones.

Robertson teamed up with Perry's sister, Mia Perry Bowick, for the three-part docuseries about his life three years after he passed away from the acute effects of ketamine. The series comes out on October 27.

Perry reportedly met Harrington "at the height of his fame" while Harrington was on the verge of a relapse.

"He met Matthew when Tim was in a vulnerable place, and he felt as though if he didn't move out of his present living situation, that Tim would relapse and use again," Robertson explained.

After struggling with addiction for several years himself, Perry reportedly decided to move Harrington into his home where they could hold one another accountable.

"Tim was about to move into his car and about to become unhoused," she explained. "And Matthew said, 'Wait a minute, you are going to move in with me.'"

"And this was at the height of his fame. He was on Friends. He lived in a nice house," she continued. "And he plucked Tim from his car to his very nice house and into his life."

Harrington reportedly appears in the forthcoming docuseries and tells stories of his relationship with the late actor and their time together at his California residence.

"In the film, Tim describes the rhythm of their days," Robertson shared. "They would go to multiple meetings together and smoke cigarettes and listen to 'Drops of Jupiter,' and they would go to premieres together."

Harrington reportedly credits Perry with "saving his life" and even maintained a relationship with the actor until his shocking death at 54 in October 2023.

"He would call every year on Matthew's birthday," she gushed.

Bowick, Perry's sister, dedicated her career to addiction treatment as an addiction counselor during his life and pivoted to spreading awareness following his death, including working on a book about addiction.

She gushed over who her brother was and the legacy she hopes he left behind after playing a beloved character on people's television screens for years.

"So many of us have those actor celebrities who we just love and feel comforted by and then we will talk with our friends and say do you think they're that great in real life?" she revealed about her late brother. "And I want to tell everybody, you are right, he really was that wonderful."