The Canadian-American Actor Mathew Perry was hospitalised at a Los Angeles hospital on Tuesday, following reports of a serious stomach issue. The 48-year-old actor was reportedly suffering from a gastrointestinal perforation and had to undergo emergency surgery to fix it, according to US Weekly. The actor’s representatives told the outlet that he has been recovering since the surgery and has requested for “continued privacy as he heals.”

According to reports in the Radar Online, Mathew underwent a tracheostomy where doctors created an opening in the neck to access the throat. A source close to the actor told the website that the actor who was in bad shape has only recently shown signs of improvement, adding that he’s still not well.

Gastrointestinal perforation is a hole that forms through the stomach, large bowel or small intestine. While the cause of Matthew’s condition isn’t known, the perforations can be caused due to a lot of reasons, including trauma, appendicitis or Crohn’s disease. Perforations can often lead to Peritonitis or inflammation of the membrane that lines the abdominal cavity, which explains why the actor was made to undergo an emergency surgery.

The actor who shot to fame with the 1994 sitcom Friends played the role of the wise-cracking Chandler Bing, the most sarcastic of the six-member gang. Chandler soon became a fan favourite thanks to his self-deprecatory style of humour and his wry take on life. Matthew has also been nominated multiple times for Primetime Emmy and Screen Actors Guild Awards.

But the actor’s personal life has been beset with many upheavals, including many brushes with addiction. Even while filming the hit sitcom, Matthew was abusing prescription drugs and alcohol.

Here's Matthew's candid TV interview about his addiction:

A jet-ski accident in 1997 hooked him on the painkilling medicine Vicodin. He couldn't discontinue its use even after he was healed of his injuries. During this time, Matthew's professional life was soaring, and he was drawing as much as $1 million per episode. But his working relationships with his Friends cast got strained due to his addiction. He even revealed during an interview that in the throes of his addiction, he forgot three years of Friends, somewhere between season three and six. He sobered up eventually and converted his Malibu mansion into a halfway house for recovering addicts.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 08, 2018 12:30 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).