Friends: Gunther actor has passed away after cancer battle

gunther friends

Sad news to start the week, with it revealed Sunday evening that Friends star James Michael Tyler, who memorably played Central Perk’s Gunther, has passed away at only fifty-nine years old after a battle with prostate cancer. Tyler’s last public appearance was on the HBO Max Friends reunion show. He reminisced about his popular character, who was often considered the unofficial seventh friend by fans of the show.

Tyler had been in ill health for some time, with him documenting his cancer battle via his popular Instagram account. Gunther was always a fan favorite, with him nursing a huge crush on Rachel throughout the show. In fact, if you go back and rewatch Friends, Gunther made a few pivotal decisions that had huge ramifications on the storyline. After all, he was the one who hired Rachel at Central Perk, and he was also the one that revealed to Rachel that Ross had cheated on her while they were “on a break.”

Several of Gunther’s former castmates took to social media Sunday night to share tributes to their former co-star:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h26ka1JCpUc

Source: CNN

About the Author

Chris Bumbray began his career with JoBlo as the resident film critic (and James Bond expert) way back in 2007, and he has stuck around ever since, being named editor-in-chief in 2021. A voting member of the CCA and a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, you can also catch Chris discussing pop culture regularly on CTV News Channel.