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Celebrities and people close to Friends star Matthew Perry have been sharing memories of moments they shared with the actor, after his sudden death at 54.

Among the many tributes paid to the sit-com star are stories from his friends, co-stars and other celebrities who crossed paths with him.

‘A gracious celebrity crush’

British comedian and actress Miranda Hart shared a photo of herself on social media, wearing a bright, cabaret-style dress.

“This is what I looked like when I met my all time crush #matthewperry,” she wrote.

“I was filming in the same studios and got the chance to meet him.

“I had often said publicly he should be my husband which was embarrassing to address in first meeting! Plus I forgot this was what I was wearing.

“Half way through our chat I suddenly realised and screamed ‘this isn’t who I am!’

“And proceeded to try and explain in a garbled way as I tried to prove I could well be wife material. He was very gracious in my utter madness.

“Thanks for all you did on and off screen to be there for people. And thanks for being a gracious celebrity crush.”

‘A magical summer’

Gwyneth Paltrow, who had a brief relationship with Perry, recalled meeting the actor before his Friends fame.

“I met Matthew Perry in 1993 at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Massachusetts. We were both there for most of the summer doing plays,” she wrote on Instagram.

“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.”

‘We went to meetings together’

Hank Azaria, who played Phoebe’s boyfriend David in Friends, posted on social media that he and Perry were like “brothers”, and revealed that the pair battled alcohol addiction together, crediting Perry with helping him get sober.

“Matthew was the first friend I made in Los Angeles when I moved there. I was 21. He was 16,” he said in a video.

“We were there for each other in the early days of our career and he was to me as funny as he was on Friends, and he was and other things too; in person he was just the funniest man ever.”

Speaking of his drug and alcohol abuse, he said: “I really loved him. A lot of us who were close to him felt like we lost him to drugs and alcohol a long time ago because as he documented in his autobiography there was so much suffering.

Azaria, who said he’s been sober for 17 years, added: “I want to say that the night I went into AA, Matthew brought me in. The whole first year I was sober, we went to meetings together.

“As a sober person, he was so caring and giving and wise,” he said.

“And he totally helped me get sober.”

‘Hey Dad’

Romancing The Stone star Kathleen Turner, who played Perry’s father in Friends, said she last saw Perry “at least 10 years ago”.

“He came to see one of my Broadway shows and he came backstage,” she told People Magazine.

“When he saw me, he yelled out, ‘Hey dad’ and everyone thought it was pretty cool. I think it was for Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf.”

‘Schoolyard games’

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who went to primary school with Perry, said he remembered the “schoolyard games” the two played during their younger years.

“Thanks for all the laughs, Matthew. You were loved – and you will be missed,” he added in his post on X.

On the set of The Whole Nine Yards

Rumer Willis, whose father Bruce Willis starred alongside Perry in The Whole Nine Yards – wrote on her Instagram story: “I’m so sad to hear about Matthew Perry passing.

“When I was a kid and I was on set while he and my dad were doing [The Whole Nine Yards] he was so kind and funny and sweet with my sisters and me.”

“I think his physical comedy and that movie still makes me laugh so much. I know he had many challenges in his life and brought a lot of joy to people with his comedy.

“I hope he can rest peacefully.”

A tricky Valentine’s Day restaurant reservation

American actress Shannen Doherty, best known for Beverly Hills, 90210 and Charmed, reflected on a “lifetime” of friendship with Perry.

“We were a gang way back,” she wrote in a lengthy statement on Instagram.

“We all grew up together going to the Formosa, North and constantly laughing. Matt, Roger, David, Roxana. We played dare and Matt had to say ridiculous things to girls at the bar.

“We just always had fun and supported each other. You would always find us all together in a booth speaking in our own made up language. And yes, Matt always had THAT sense of humour.

“Matt and I had a date and it was on Valentine’s Day. He wanted to get a reservation at a restaurant in Malibu but couldn’t so my dad got the reservation for him.

“We went and he talked about my dad’s Irish persuasiveness the majority of the night. Our friendship spanned a long time. A lifetime really.

“I know many are hurting, especially our little gang. He will be missed by many and definitely by us. Yes. I could be more poetic or say things better but right now, shock and sadness prevail.”

Opening up his home

Journalist and author Jon Ronson, who worked with Perry in 2014 when he wrote and directed The Dog Thrower, said the late actor was “extremely thoughtful and generous”.

“I worked with Matthew Perry nine years ago and got to know him a little,” he added. “He was extremely thoughtful and generous, even letting us stay in his home, for no reason other than kindness.

“Anyway, when someone is that kind, you should let people know, hence this tweet.”

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Joy star James Norton on the ‘postcode lottery’ of IVF – and playing the scientist who was part of creating the first ‘test-tube baby’

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Joy star James Norton on the 'postcode lottery' of IVF - and playing the scientist who was part of creating the first 'test-tube baby'

Actor James Norton, who stars in a new film telling the story of the world’s first “test-tube baby”, has criticised how “prohibitively expensive” IVF can be in the UK.

In Joy, the star portrays the real-life scientist Bob Edwards, who – along with obstetrician Patrick Steptoe and embryologist Jean Purdy – spent a decade tirelessly working on medical ways to help infertility.

The film charts the 10 years leading up to the birth of Louise Joy Brown, who was dubbed the world’s first test-tube baby, in 1978.

James Norton stars in Joy. Pic: Kerry Brown/ Netflix
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In the UK, statistics show the proportion of IVF cycles paid for by the NHS has dropped from 40% to 27% in the last decade

Norton, who is best known for playing Tommy Lee Royce in the BAFTA-winning series Happy Valley, told Sky News he has friends who were IVF babies and other friends who have had their own children thanks to the fertility treatment.

“But I didn’t know about these three scientists and their sacrifice, tenacity and skill,” he said. The star hopes the film will be “a catalyst for conversation” about the treatment and its availability.

“We know for a fact that Jean, Bob and Patrick would not have liked the fact that IVF is now so means based,” he said. “It’s prohibitively expensive for some… and there is a postcode lottery which means that some people are precluded from that opportunity.”

Bill Nighy, Thomasin McKenzie and James Norton star in Joy. Pic: Netflix/ Kerry Brown
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Bill Nighy, Thomasin McKenzie and James Norton star in Joy. All pics: Netflix/ Kerry Brown

Now, IVF is considered a wonder of modern medicine. More than 12 million people owe their existence today to the treatment Edwards, Steptoe and Purdy worked so hard to devise.

But Joy shows how public backlash in the years leading up to Louise’s birth saw the team vilified – accused of playing God and creating “Frankenstein babies”.

Bill Nighy and Thomasin McKenzie star alongside Norton, with the script written by acclaimed screenwriter Jack Thorne and his wife Rachel Mason.

The couple went through seven rounds of IVF themselves to conceive their son.

James Norton and Thomasin McKenzie star in Joy. Pic: Kerry Brown/ Netflix
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Norton portrays scientist Bob Edwards, while McKenzie plays embryologist Jean Purdy

While the film is set in the 1970s, the reality is that societal pressures haven’t changed all that much for many going through IVF today – with the costs now both emotional and financial.

“IVF is still seen as a luxury product, as something that some people get access to and others don’t,” said Thorne, speaking about their experiences in the UK.

“Louise was a working-class girl with working-class parents. Working class IVF babies are very, very rare now.”

In the run-up to the US election, Donald Trump saw IVF as a campaigning point – promising his government, or insurance companies, would pay for the treatment for all women should he be elected. He called himself the “father of IVF” at a campaign event – a remark described as “quite bizarre” by Kamala Harris.

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Bill Nighy ‘proud’ of new film on IVF breakthrough

“I don’t think Trump is a blueprint for this,” Norton said. “I don’t know how that fits alongside his questions around pro-choice.”

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In the UK, statistics from fertility regulator HEFA show the proportion of IVF cycles paid for by the NHS has dropped from 40% to 27% in the last decade.

“It’s so expensive,” Norton said. “Those who want a child should have that choice… and some people’s lack of access to this incredibly important science actually means that people don’t have the choice.”

Joy is in UK cinemas from 15 November, and on Netflix from 22 November

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Cillian Murphy and wife Yvonne McGuinness buy cinema Oscar winner visited as a child

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Cillian Murphy and wife Yvonne McGuinness buy cinema Oscar winner visited as a child

Cillian Murphy and his wife Yvonne McGuinness have bought a cinema the Oscar-winning actor used to visit as a child.

The couple will refurbish The Phoenix Cinema in Dingle, County Kerry, south-west Ireland, next year.

The venue, which had previously been used as a dance hall, had been in operation for more than 100 years, and on the market for three before Murphy and McGuinness bought the building.

Oppenheimer and Peaky Blinders star Murphy, from Cork, said: “I’ve been going to see films at The Phoenix since I was a young boy on summer holidays.

“My dad saw movies there when he was a young man before me, and we’ve watched many films at The Phoenix with our own kids. We recognise what the cinema means to Dingle.”

McGuinness added: “We want to open the doors again, expand the creative potential of the site, re-establishing its place in the cultural fabric of this unique town.”

FILE - Cillian Murphy poses in the press room with the award for best performance by an actor in a leading role for "Oppenheimer" at the Oscars in Los Angeles on March 10, 2024. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)
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Murphy won big this awards season. Pic: AP

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The Phoenix is the only cinema in the tourist area of the Dingle Peninsula, and without it, the closest other movie theatre for residents of the town is in Tralee, almost 30 miles away.

It opened in 1919 and was reconstructed twice in the decades that followed, after fires damaged the building.

Its previous owners struggled to keep The Phoenix going amid the COVID-19 pandemic and shut the cinema’s doors in November 2021, citing rising costs, falling attendance and challenging exhibition terms.

Murphy took awards season by storm this year, winning a Golden Globe, a Bafta and an Oscar for his performance as the titular character in Oppenheimer.

Next year, he will reprise one of his most well-known roles by playing Tommy Shelby in a movie version of Peaky Blinders.

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Ed Sheeran ‘helped Ipswich sign player’ before appearing on stage with Taylor Swift

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Ed Sheeran 'helped Ipswich sign player' before appearing on stage with Taylor Swift

Ed Sheeran helped Ipswich Town to sign a player over the summer just before getting on stage with Taylor Swift, according to the club’s chief executive.

Mark Ashton claims the pop star got on a video call to encourage a prospective new signing to seal his move to the East Anglia outfit.

He did not reveal the player’s name, but said he is “certainly scoring a few goals” and is a fan of Sheeran, who is a minor shareholder at his hometown club.

“Ed jumped on a Zoom call with him at the training ground, just before he stepped on stage with Taylor Swift,” Ashton told a Soccerex industry event in Miami.

“Hopefully that was a key part in getting the player across the line.”

Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran perform onstage during "Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour" at Wembley Stadium on August 15, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management )
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Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran at Wembley Stadium. Pic: Gareth Cattermole/TAS24/Getty Images

Sheeran and pop icon Swift were on stage together on 15 August at Wembley Stadium, one day before Sammie Szmodics signed from Blackburn.

After scoring an overhead kick in Ipswich’s 2-1 win over Tottenham this month, he shared a picture of himself with Sheeran on Instagram.

“Overhead kick, Win & a smudge with big ed. GET IN THERE,” Szmodics wrote alongside the post.

Ashton joked Sheeran is now “officially a part of our recruitment team”, adding he is a “local man” and “global superstar”.

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Sheeran has been the club’s shirt sponsor since 2021 and is regularly seen at matches at the club’s Portman Road stadium.

Ipswich host giants Manchester United on Sunday, a match that’s particularly notable for being Ruben Amorim‘s first game in charge of the Red Devils.

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