Reoccuring Friends background actor James Michael Tyler has died from prostate cancer at the age of 59.

Tyler played the barista Gunther on the show, appearing in several fan-favorite episodes.

Gunther was the most frequently reoccurring background character in the show, appearing in 150 of the show’s 235 episodes. He was involved in a running gag – he has a crush on Rachel, who does not reciprocate his feelings.

Tyler had graduated with a master’s from the University of Georgia in 1987 and moved to Los Angeles to try and enter show business, where he ended up working as a barista at the Bourgeois Pig coffee shop.

He ended up being cast as an extra for $55 a day until he was promoted to his minor part after the producers found out he knew how to operate a coffee machine and had acting experience.

He went on to appear in Scrubs and Modern Music.

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