As Gunther
From 1994 to 2004 James Michael Tyler played Gunther on the hit NBC sitcom Friends. Gunther was a coffee shop worker at Central Perk who had unrequited love for Rachel Green, played by Jennifer Aniston. Tyler, originally a nameless extra, was cast as Gunther because he was the only extra who knew how to operate an espresso machine, having worked in several coffee shops before getting into acting. This led to a ten-year career with appearances in 131 of Friends' 236 episodes; he is the show's most-frequently-appearing guest star.
In honour of Friends' 15th anniversary in 2009, Tyler opened to the public a Central Perk replica in Carnaby Street, London, open for two weeks from September to October. He appeared in the unaired pilot satire sitcom Nobody's Watching, playing himself as a present from the studio executives on the set of Central Perk.
Tyler appeared in the BBC/Showtime sitcom Episodes (Series 2, Episode 6) as himself playing an ice hockey coach, when Matt LeBlanc tries unsuccessfully to get the other main stars from Friends to appear in the promotional video for the fictional television show Pucks.
Read more about this topic: James Michael Tyler
Famous quotes containing the word gunther:
“If a man’s from Texas, he’ll tell you. If he’s not, why embarrass him by asking?”
—John Gunther (1901–1970)