Matthew Perry's precious belongings up for auction: The story behind the rare items owned by late Friends star

A script scribbled with notes, tennis rackets played to the bone, Batman memorabilia, pre-worn suits and a renowned Banksy painting. 

These are the items owned by the late Matthew Perry that will soon be auctioned off to benefit his eponymous foundation, which helps those battling addiction.

It is a disease Perry faced himself - and one which ultimately led to his passing at age 54 following a ketamine overdose in 2023. 

Now his belongings will be available for purchase by fans seeking to own a memento of the actor who touched their hearts. 

On June 5, Heritage Auctions will be auctioning off an assortment of his belongings at its headquarters in Dallas, Texas and has offered the Daily Mail a preview of the precious items. 

Brian Chanes, Heritage Auctions' senior director, Hollywood & entertainment, revealed the special role the belongings played in Perry's life. 

'The outpour of enthusiasm and support and adoration for Matt has been amazing,' Chanes told the Daily Mail. 

The display contained the types of memorabilia a true Friends fan would treasure forever.

Originally titled Six of One, Perry's belongings included an outline of the series before it was renamed Friends - a rare item describing the premise of the series and the 'friends and lovers' it set out to follow.

'This was the name of Friends, Six of One, before it became Friends, but this is basically an outline, basically, "From the creators of Cheers and Frasier, you know, Six of One,"' Chanes said of the script. 

'"Six single people living in New York is about friends and lovers, IKEA furniture, cappuccino, bad date, Spanish soap operas, and Mr Potato Head," but anyway, it just gives the rundown of it, and then here is a pilot.'

Outside of acting, Perry was also an avid tennis player who grew up playing the sport. 

His rackets are among the possessions available for purchase, and their broken strings show the good use Perry got out of them.  

'Obviously well-worn, you can see the gut strings are popped on a couple of them,' Chanes said.

'He was heavily influenced by sports, especially tennis,' Chanes explained. 'He loved hockey too 'cause he was from Ottawa, but he felt particularly motivated by his idol Jimmy Connors.' 

Much like Connors, Perry devoted himself to tennis before pivoting to acting. 

'He would play up to ten hours a day when he was a kid,' Chanes said. 'He was a really accomplished, he was actually playing tournaments in Canada and when the family moved from Ottawa to LA, there was a lot more competition, everyone has a tennis court out here, and you can play year round, unlike Canada. 

'And so he realized it wasn't necessarily in the cards for him to play professional tennis. But it meant a lot to him. And he still played.'

Magazines collected by Perry's publicist also offer a snapshot into the Friends' heyday.  

'I know they just look like regular magazines and plaques, but one of his publicists, his job... everything that he appeared in, he ended up getting him a copy. And so that's what you see, a portion of it right here,' Chanes said. 

The auction boasts Banksy artworks projected to sell for more than a million, as well as an autographed Friends script donated by Warner Brothers already going for $16,000.

Yet Chanes stressed that the price point of numerous items was made with the fan who didn't have loads of cash to splash in mind. 

'One thing I want to make clear for people, is that we have things for just a few $100 and we have things that are going to sell for maybe a million or more, that Banksy over there, the girl with the balloon.'

A set of VHS tapes from Perry's collection are now available at $330 - a fraction of the millions the rare artworks will likely go for.  

'We have his set of VHS tapes that were from Warner Brothers,' Chanes said. 'It was like his master VHS of the final... It's from his collection.

'Right now, I think the bidding is at $330 and so you can have something of his that's a good commemorative morsel, if you will, and for [a] relatively small amount, and of course, knowing that the funds are going to his favorite cause is the real kicker.' 

Perry battled addiction for many years, a struggle that intensified during his time on Friends, when he became one of the biggest stars of his generation as Chandler Bing.

His rise to fame alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, and David Schwimmer on the iconic Friends sitcom from 1994 to 2004 was overshadowed by personal struggles.

Perry openly admitted that his addiction issues frequently interfered with his work during those years and he laid bare his struggles in his 2022 memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing.

He died aged 54 after drowning in a jacuzzi at his home in Los Angeles following a ketamine overdose in October 2023.

Five people have since been convicted for their part in his overdose, including Perry's drug counselor, his 'Ketamine Queen' drug dealer Jasveen Sangha, and two doctors. 

On Wednesday, Perry's one-time assistant Kenneth Iwamasa, who injected the Friends star 'repeatedly' with ketamine on the day he died, was sentenced to more than three years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine, causing death. 

The actor's final request to Iwamasa was 'shoot me up with a big one' before the injection was administered. 

Iwamasa, 60, was the first of the five people implicated in Perry's death to reach a plea deal with prosecutors in August of 2024.

In addition to his 41-month prison sentence, Iwamasa was ordered to pay separate fines of $10,000 and $100, and be on supervised release for two years.

He must surrender to authorities by 12pm on July 17 to begin his sentence.

Facing Perry's loved ones in court in LA on Wednesday, Iwamasa took the stand to say he was 'horribly, horribly sorry' for his role in Perry's death.

He said: 'I'm so sorry to all of you. I'm just so sorry to have done illegal acts that I will forever regret. I will take it to my grave.

'I hope I'll be a cautionary tale to someone who's in my position to make better choices.'

The Matthew Perry Foundation was established after his death to honor the actor's enduring commitment to helping others with addiction struggles.

The foundation features one of Matthew's most poignant quotes on its website: 'When I die, I don't want Friends to be the first thing that's mentioned. I want helping others to be the first thing that's mentioned. And I'm going to live the rest of my life proving that.'

His death sent shockwaves through Hollywood and beyond, and devastated his former castmates, who issued a joint statement describing themselves as 'more than just cast mates' but 'a family'.