What We Know About Matthew Perry's Famous Father

"Friends" fans may remember John Bennett Perry's appearance in Season 4, Episode 18 of the classic sitcom, during which the elder Perry portrayed the father of Rachel's boyfriend, Joshua (Tate Donovan). As usual, comedic hijinks led to a variety of misunderstandings, which created an awkward situation when Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) met Joshua's parents for the first time in a minimum of clothing. Somewhat surprisingly, the two Perrys did not actually share any scenes.

However, the father-son duo appeared in a variety of other productions together. They first shared the small screen in a 1979 episode of "240-Robert," a series about a special task force within the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. The elder Perry led the series as Deputy Theodore Roosevelt "Trap" Applegate III. The younger Perry made his television debut at age 9 as a character named Arthur. In the episode, titled "Bank Job," Trapp's team is forced to combat a team of bank robbers, during which Trapp meets a number of young civilians, including Arthur, who are caught in the mix. They next joined forces in 1993 on the third episode of "Home Free," a short-lived sitcom centered on Matt Bailey, a character portrayed by a 23-year-old Matthew. In the episode, Bailey, a young and overly self-confident journalist, confronts a judge (John Bennett Perry), who he believes is corrupt. In 1997, they also both appeared in "Fools Rush In," a romantic comedy starring Matthew and Salma Hayek. 

Seven years later, the two were back on the small screen again, appearing in a single episode of "Scrubs" together. Their final shared TV appearance came courtesy of the final episode of Matthew's short-lived 2011 sitcom, "Mr. Sunshine." 

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