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Actor James Michael Tyler, who’s best known for playing Gunther on Friends, died Sunday of a stage 4 prostate cancer. He was 59.
Tyler’s death was confirmed to the BBC by his manager, who said the actor passed away peacefully in his Los Angeles home. “The world knew him as Gunther (the seventh Friend)… but Michael’s loved ones knew him as an actor, musician, cancer-awareness advocate, and loving husband. If you met him once you made a friend for life,” the actor’s manager said in a statement.
While he’s best-remembered for playing Friends‘ Central Perk coffee shop manager, Tyler also appeared in Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Scrubs, and other TV shows and movies.
Recently, the actor participated in HBO Max‘s Friends: The Reunion special via video conference. “It was bittersweet, honestly. I was happy to be included,” Tyler told Today in June. “It was my decision not to be a part of that physically and make an appearance on Zoom… because I didn’t wanna bring a downer on it, you know? I didn’t want to be like, ‘Oh, and by the way, Gunther has cancer.'”
Following the actor’s death, many of his Friends costars took to social media to pay tribute.
Jennifer Aniston took to Instagram to honor her late co-star, sharing a scene between their characters from the series finale. “Friends would not have been the same without you,” she wrote. “Thank you for the laughter you brought to the show and to all of our lives. You will be so missed #JamesMichaelTyler 💔.”
Courtney Cox also remembered Tyler, sharing a photo of him from set on Instagram. “The size of gratitude you brought into the room and showed every day on set is the size of the gratitude I hold for having known you,” she wrote. “Rest In peace James. ❤️”
Lisa Kudrow also paid tribute to Tyler with an Instagram post of her own, sharing the same photo as Cox. “James Michael Tyler, we will miss you,” she said. “Thank you for being there for us all. #jamesmichaeltyler.”
