James Michael Tyler, the actor best known for the role of Central Perk manager Gunther on Friends, died on Sunday morning. He was 59 years old.
Tyler’s death brings to an end his years-long struggle with cancer. The actor revealed in June that he was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer in Sept. 2018. When he broke the news during his June appearance on The Today Show, he revealed that ongoing hormone therapy treatments worked for a time but things took a turn during the height of the COVID pandemic in 2020.
The cancer mutated and left him partially paralyzed, from the waist down. That’s why Tyler, who did participate in May’s blockbuster Friends reunion on HBO Max, was there in a remote capacity. He said during his Today appearance a month later that Ross actor David Schwimmer knew, along with the producers, but it was intentionally left out of the reunion.
“I didn’t want it to be like, ‘Oh, Gunther has cancer,’ you know what I mean?” he said during the interview.
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Over 10 years, from 1994 through 2004, Tyler appeared in 148 episodes of Friends — well more than half of the 236 that span the full series. He played Gunther, manager of the Central Perk coffee shop where the main cast spent much of their time. Gunther made regular appearances on the show and informed some of the longer-term story arcs, including his unrequited love for Jennifer Aniston’s Rachel Green.
Tyler is survived by his wife, Jennifer Carno. The two married in 2017.
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