Actor James Michael Tyler died on Sunday at age 59. Tyler had been fighting a long battle with prostate cancer when he passed away in his home in Los Angeles.
Tyler was best known for his role on “Friends,” where he played the owner of the Central Perk Coffee shop where the group gathered nearly every episode. He was in 150 episodes across 10 seasons, giving him far more screen time than any character outside of the main six.
“When he started as an extra on ‘Friends,’ his unique spirit caught our eye and we knew we had to make him a character,” read a statement from the show’s creators, Marta Kauffman and David Crane. “He made Gunther’s unrequited love incredibly relatable. Our heart goes out to his wife, Jennifer Carno.”
While he was born in Mississippi, he later moved to Anderson, South Carolina where he attended T.L. Hanna High School, which is less than half an hour from Clemson. After graduating in 1980, he went on to attend Clemson University. He graduated with a degree in geology in 1984.
“Michael loved live music, cheering on his Clemson Tigers, and would often find himself in fun and unplanned adventures,” said his manager Toni Benson. “If you met him once you made a friend for life.”
