James Michael Tyler, the seventh friend

American actor James
Michael Tyler famously known as Gunther from the NBC hit sitcom ‘Friends’ passed
away on Monday after his battle with prostate cancer.

From 1994
through 2004, James Tyler portrayed Gunther.

Gunther was a Central Perk coffee
shop employee who had an unrequited passion for Jennifer Aniston‘s Rachel
Greene. The character was frequently referred to as the ‘seventh friend’ by fans.

The actor had a ten-year career on Friends, appearing in 148 of Friends’
236 episodes and becoming the show’s most frequent guest star.

Also Read: James Michael Tyler’s best Gunther moments from ‘Friends’

Tyler, the
youngest of five children, was born on May 28, 1962, in Greenwood,
Mississippi. His father and mother died when he was ten and
eleven years old respectively. Tyler relocated to Anderson, South Carolina,
with his sister when he was 12 years old.

He earned a
two-year degree from Anderson College in 1982 and a geology degree from Clemson
University in 1984.

He was a part of
a student theatre group throughout his undergraduate years, and the experience
ignited his interest in acting. In 1988, he worked as a production assistant
and assistant film editor on Fat Man and Little Boy.

Also Read: Jennifer Aniston breaks silence on dating rumours with David Schwimmer

James Tyler
opened a temporary Central Perk pop-up version in London in 2009 to commemorate
Friends‘ 15th anniversary. It was only open for two weeks, and fans could apply
for tickets in exchange for a free cup of coffee. In 2014, he made appearances
at a central perk replica in Soho to commemorate Friends’ 20th anniversary.

He played
himself on the set of Central Park in the unaired pilot satirical comedy
Nobody’s watching. Tyler’s most recent appearance was in HBO’s ‘Friends: The
Reunion,’ which broadcast on May 27.

Also Read: 9/11: Why a ‘Friends’ episode was altered after the September 11 attacks

James Tyler
married Barbara Chadsey in 1995. He filed for divorce in 2014, alleging
irreconcilable differences, after the pair split up in 2003. In 2017, he
married Jennifer Carno. He disclosed he had metastatic prostate cancer in 2021.