“The world knew him as Gunther (the seventh ‘Friend’), from the hit series Friends, but Michael’s loved ones knew him as an actor, musician, cancer-awareness advocate, and loving husband,” wrote his longtime manager, Tori Benson, in a statement. “Michael loved live music, cheering on his Clemson Tigers, and would often find himself in fun and unplanned adventures. If you met him once you made a friend for life.” Friends’ famous cast members also took to social media to share heartfelt tributes to the man who played one of the iconic sitcom’s most beloved supporting characters. “Friends would not have been the same without you,” Jennifer Aniston wrote on Instagram. “Thank you for the laughter you brought to the show and to all of our lives. You will be so missed.” She also shared a clip from the Friends series finale where Gunther professes his long-secret love for her character, Rachel Green. Courteney Cox, who played Monica Geller, wrote in tribute to Tyler in her own IG post, “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.” Lisa Kudrow, a.k.a. Phoebe Buffay, referenced Friends’ famous theme song by thanking Tyler for “being there for us all.” Both Matt LeBlanc, who played Joey Tribbiani, and David Schwimmer, who played Ross Geller, affectionately called Tyler their “buddy” in separate posts. This past June, the actor first revealed that he had stage 4 prostate cancer on the Today show and that it mutated to his bones. He was devoted to inspiring others to get a PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) test when they hit 40. “My goal this past year was to see my 59th birthday. I did that,” he shared on Today. “My goal now is to at least save one life.” Tyler appeared on all 10 seasons of Friends and had more appearances than any of the series’ other recurring characters. Of the show’s 236 episodes, he appeared on 150 shows. Tyler, who was born in Mississippi, had a Master of Fine Arts degree in acting and was working as an extra when he joined a brand new NBC sitcom called Friends in its first season. He was also working as a real-life barista at a coffee shop in Los Angeles. At the time, the show’s second assistant director who knew Tyler from other TV shows asked if he wanted work on the show for the day. For this struggling actor, not only was the $40 and free meal alluring, but the assistant director also thought the job could extend to more episodes. His character’s name was simply “the coffee guy.” For six months, he was brought back to work. “The show was getting more and more popular,” Tyler told Parade back in 2014. Then during the summer when the show was in reruns, it climbed to No. 1 in the ratings. “I wasn’t paying attention so I didn’t even know if I was coming back,” he shared. “So I still had my real job at the coffee shop being a real barista.” By the second season, his character was given lines to speak—and the name Gunther. Tyler became a sort of one-man Greek chorus and foil for Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Joey, Chandler and Ross. “It was 10 years of the most amazing experience,” shared Tyler. “I never thought I was going to work. We were always laughing." Friends producer Kevin Bright tweeted after Tyler’s passing, “Our Gunther passed away last night. He was an incredible person who spent his final days helping others. God bless you James, Gunther lives forever.” Tyler was not able to attend the Friends reunion that debuted earlier this year on HBO Max, but made an appearance through Zoom. “It was bittersweet, honestly. I was very happy to be included,” he shared. “It was my decision not to be a part of that physically and make an appearance on Zoom, basically, 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.’” When this reporter asked about what touched him most when he was on the Friends set, Tyler shared that he was most moved Make A Wish Foundation arranged to have children with terminal illnesses came to see taping of the show and meet the cast. “That was always really, really moving to me,” he said. Also, after 9/11, NBC and the show flew in lot of the families who were affected by the tragedy. “The families got to hang out on the set and watch how everything worked all week,” he recalled. “Just talking to these families was so touching. I will never forget it.” In addition to working on Friends, he also appeared on Scrubs, Just Shoot Me and LeBlanc’s show Episodes. Most recently he starred in two short films, Processing and The Gesture and the Word. He also performed the poem If You Knew by Stephen Kalinich on video as a benefit for the the Prostate Cancer Foundation. Tyler is survived by his wife, Jennifer Carno. Next, All 10 Friends Thanksgiving Episodes Ranked—You Can Thank Us Later
