David Schwimmer’s generosity on Friends was rediscovered after Matthew Perry’s death

In the crowd of new appreciation for Matthew Perry and his work Friends This week, following his death last weekend, David Schwimmer’s generosity to his five teammates was revealed.

Perry and his five co-stars on the record-breaking sitcom, which ran from 1994 to 2004, were a famously close couple both on and off screen. Over the weekend, The Guardian newspaper highlighted Schwimmer’s role in spreading the wealth that awaited the cast due to the huge success of the show.

The paper cites Perry’s memoir Friends, lovers and the big terrible thingIn it, the actor revealed that it was Schwimmer who was considered the show’s breakout star and was paid more due to the success of Rachel Ross’ love story with Jennifer Aniston.

Perry wrote that before the third season, Schwimmer proposed the idea that they should negotiate their salaries together instead of a larger share. And he asked Aniston if she would take a pay cut with him so the others could get the same salary.

Perry applauded Schwimmer in his memoir. “David certainly could have gotten the most money and he didn’t,” he wrote. “I’d like to think I would have made the same move, but as a greedy 25-year-old I’m not sure I would. But his decision made sure we looked out for each other in the network negotiations, which turned out to be very stressful, and that gave us a tremendous amount of strength.”

Last season, they all made $1,100,040 per episode, Perry revealed, and filmed fewer episodes. “What we were given was thanks to David’s kindness and shrewd business sense. I owe you about thirty million dollars, David.”

Perry’s five cast members issued a joint statement this week following his death last Saturday. They said they are still coming to terms with their incredible loss and will say more in due course.

All five joined Perry’s friends and family at his memorial service Friday at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Los Angeles.