American actor James Michael Tyler, best known for playing Gunther in the sitcom ‘Friends’, died on Sunday morning, the BBC reported. He was 59.
Tyler had been diagnosed with cancer in 2018.
“Wanting to help as many people as possible, he bravely shared his story and became a campaigner for those with a prostate to get a... blood test as early as 40-years-old,” Tyler’s manager Toni Benson said, according to the BBC.
Gunther, Tyler’s character in ‘Friends’, was the manager of the coffee shop Central Perk, where the six main characters of the show spent most of their time.
The show revolves around the lives of a group of friends – Rachel Green played by Jennifer Aniston, Monica Geller portrayed by Courteney Cox, Phoebe Buffay by Lisa Kudrow, Ross Geller by David Schwimmer, Chandler Bing by Matthew Perry and Joey Tribianni by Matt LeBlanc.
Aniston shared a video clip of the scene where Tyler’s character confesses his love for her character on the show.
“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.”
Cox, Aniston’s co-star on the show, said: “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. Rest In peace James.”
LeBlanc also paid a tribute to Tyler. “We had a lot of laughs buddy,” he said. “You will be missed. RIP [Rest in peace] my friend.”
Kudrow wrote: “James Michael Tyler, we will miss you. Thank you for being there for us all.”
‘Friends’ creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane reminisced Tyler as a “genuinely kind, sweet man,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“When he started as an extra on ‘Friends’, his unique spirit caught our eye and we knew we had to make him a character,” they said. “He made Gunther’s unrequited love incredibly relatable. Our heart goes out to his wife, Jennifer Carno.”
Tyler had also appeared on television shows ‘Just Shoot Me’, ‘Scrubs’ and ‘Modern Music’.
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