'Friends' Actor James Michael Tyler Has Died

LOS ANGELES – Actor James Michael Tyler, who played Gunther on the NBC sitcom "Friends," has died of complications from prostate cancer. He was 59.

Tyler died peacefully in his home Saturday evening, according to published reports. The actor was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2018. He had campaigned tirelessly for individuals to start testing for the disease as early as age 40.

Tyler was best-known for playing Gunther on Friends, a worker at the show’s coffee shop hangout, Central Perk.

In June, he confirmed to the "Today Show" that the “late-stage cancer” he was suffering from had spread to his bones and spine, resulting in paralysis of his lower body.

Tyler was born in Greenwood, Mississippi on May 28, 1962, and was the youngest of five children. By age 12, both of his parents had died and. he moved in with a sister in South Carolina.