We've Already Lost Too Many Friends Actors

Award-winning actor Ron Leibman, who appeared as Rachel's cardiologist father, Dr. Leonard Green, in four memorable episodes of "Friends," died in 2019, his agent told the Associated Press. The cause of death was pneumonia, a family insider confirmed. He was 82.

A native of New York, Leibman was 3 years old when he saw his first ever Broadway show. He went on to a distinguished career on the stage, but made his mark in television first, earning a leading actor Emmy for his performance in 1979's "Kaz." He received a Golden Globe nomination for the 1986 TV movie "Christmas Eve," and, in 1993, he won a Tony Award for his turn as McCarthy-era lawyer Roy Cohn in Tony Kushner's "Angels in America," which was Leibman's tenth performance on the Great White Way. Three years later, he made his debut as Rachel's overbearing dad.

Dr. Green first shows up in the Season 2 episode, "The One with the Two Parties," surprising Rachel on her birthday. He reappeared in Season 3, and popped up again in Seasons 8 and 10, when the heart doctor suffers a heart attack. Ross is by his side when he wakes up in hospital, but that doesn't soften his opinion of him one bit. "So what's new with you, Geller?" he asks. "Knocked up any more of my daughters lately?"

Beloved character actress Conchata Ferrell, who played the unimpressed judge presiding over Ross and Rachel's annulment case, died at the age of 77 "of complications following a cardiac arrest" in 2020, Deadline confirmed. 

In "Friends," it was Ferrell who had to decide whether or not to void Ross and Rachel's shotgun wedding. She appears in the Season 6 episode, "The One with Joey's Porsche" and, after discovering that everything in their application is a total lie, tells them that their only option is divorce. An irate Ross and Rachel tell Ferrell's judge that they won't leave until she annuls their marriage, but they quickly change their stance when she fires back with: "Would you like to spend the night in jail?"

Ferrell already had around a hundred credits to her name by the time she popped up on "Friends" in 1999. She was nominated for an Emmy for her 20-episode stint on "L.A. Law" in 1992, but it took another decade before she achieved mainstream recognition. In her most famous role, the West Virginia native played Berta the housekeeper on Chuck Lorre's sitcom "Two and a Half Men," appearing in over 200 episodes and picking up a further two Emmy nods along the way. "Through it all she was a rock," Lorre said in a statement (via Deadline). "One of the greats. I was privileged to call her a friend."

North Carolina native Joel Beeson, who played Todd the Hombre Man in a standout Season 2 episode of "Friends," reportedly died at 51 years old while waiting for a liver transplant in 2017.  Beeson made his first television appearances in the late 1980s when he was a contestant on "The New Hollywood Squares." His acting career began in 1992 when he played the part of Lisle's bodyguard in Robert Zemeckis' black comedy "Death Becomes Her." He went on to land roles in rom-com "The Favour" and action flick "Ballistic" (also known as "Fist of Justice"), but Beeson was always best known as Todd, Joey's rival cologne spritzer in "The One with the Breast Milk."

To help pay the bills, soap actor Joey gets a job in a department store fragrance section. Things are going well until the hunky Todd, dressed as a cowboy and offering a manly cologne known as "Hombre," starts encroaching on his territory. Not to be outdone in front of co-worker Annabel, Joey gets himself a white cowboy costume and triggers an impromptu spritzing duel, which he wins by default — Todd loses his cool sprays a customer directly in the eyes.

Comedic juggernaut Robin Williams, who appeared alongside Billy Crystal in a "Friends" Season 3 guest spot, died by suicide in 2014. In the last years of Williams' life, he had unknowingly been living with Lewy body disease, a degenerative condition that affects both physical and mental health. "I saw the bravest man in the world playing the hardest role of his life," his widow, Susan Schneider Williams, told Neurology of her late husband, who died was 63.

The Chicago-born, Juilliard-trained Williams rose through the stand-up comedy ranks before transitioning into one of Hollywood's most beloved actors. He voiced the Genie in Disney's "Aladdin," fooled his family in "Mrs. Doubtfire," outran stampedes in "Jumanji" and played Theodore Roosevelt in the "Night at the Museum" films, though he deftly handled a number of serious roles, too. He was thrice nominated for Best Actor for his stellar work in "Good Morning, Vietnam," "Dead Poets Society" and "The Fisher King," and he later won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his memorable turn opposite Matt Damon in "Good Will Hunting."

In his singular "Friends" appearance, "The One with the Ultimate Fighting Champion," Williams appears alongside Crystal in the opening scene as Tomas and Tim, a pair of Central Perk customers that squeeze onto the gang's regular sofa. Monica abandons her story and they all begin to eavesdrop when Tim reveals he's sleeping with Tomas's wife.

If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

Two-time Golden Globe nominee Audra Lindley, who played Phoebe's adoptive grandmother and longtime flatmate, Frances, died at age 79 due to complications from leukemia in 1997, the Los Angeles Times confirmed. Speaking to the newspaper a decade earlier, Lindley revealed that she had always wanted to follow in the footsteps of her actor parents. "From the first time I can remember, maybe 4 years old, I dreamed of being a movie star," she said. 

After appearing in a number of uncredited film roles in the early 1940s, Lindley's onscreen career began in earnest the following decade when she became a regular on American television screens. She attained TV stardom in the 1970s when she played wealthy mother Amy Fitzgerald on "Bridget Loves Bernie" and then landlady Helen Roper on "Three's Company," her most famous role. She was nominated in the supporting comedy actress category at the Golden Globes for her work on both of those shows, the latter of which spawned a spin-off series, "The Ropers."

Her role in the "Friends" Season 2 episode, "The One with Phoebe's Dad," was one of her last, airing two years before her death. Frances only appeared in a single episode, but she continued to live with Phoebe until her offscreen death in Season 5.

B-movie star Beverly Garland, who played Monica's aunt Iris in the Season 1 episode, "The One with All The Poker," died in 2008 at the age of 82. Her career took off in the 1950s when she starred in a string of low-budget films, five of them directed by Roger Corman. Garland appeared in "Gunslinger," "It Conquered the World," "Naked Paradise," "Not of This Earth" and "Swamp Women," which went on to earn cult status. "Swamp Women" co-star Mike Connors called her "a terrific actress" when he spoke with the Los Angeles Times, adding, "She was one of those special gals who was fun to work with."

Garland found mainstream success in the late '60s when she debuted as Barbara Harper Douglas on the sitcom "My Three Sons," though she wasn't exactly fond of the overnight attention. "The only thing that bothers me is that everybody loves this character so much," Garland said at the time. "I don't remember anybody loving me all that much." She played Douglas in 74 episodes of the long-running show and would take on a wide variety of roles in the decades that followed, including professional poker player.

In her "Friends" appearance, Garland teaches the girls how to play poker so they can have a better chance against the boys. It comes down to a head-to-head between Ross and Rachel at the end of the night, with the latter coming out on top.

TV stalwart Mary Pat Gleason, who played obnoxious ER receptionist Nurse Sizemore in the Season 1 episode, "The One with George Stephanopoulos," died of cancer in 2020 at age 70, her family confirmed (via The New York Times).

A veteran of the industry with almost 200 credits to her name by the time of her death, Gleason played small roles in films, including "The Crucible," "Intolerable Cruelty," "A Cinderella Story," and "I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry," but she was usually found on television. She made her debut on NBC's "Texas," playing the character Doris Hodges in the episode of the same name, and then joined the cast of long-running soap "Guiding Light" as Jane Hogan. The ever-reliable character actress went on to appear in everything from "ER" and "Grey's Anatomy" to "Sex and the City," "Shameless" and "Desperate Housewives," on which she recurred as school teacher Elenora Butters.

Gleason could do both scary and funny, and she brought both to her "Friends" character. Ross comes to her emergency room after being struck in the face with a puck at a hockey game and has to wait while she finishes up an important call — a complaint to a candy bar company. He gets his own back when he has to wrestle the puck away from a kid and accidentally sends it flying in the nurse's direction.

Miami-born actor Paul Gleason, who played Phoebe's boss in a two-part alternate universe episode titled, "The One That Could Have Been," died from a rare type of lung cancer at age 67 in 2006, his wife told The New York Times.

Gleason was a minor league baseball player before he turned his attention to acting. He started training with world-renowned coach Lee Strasberg in the 1960s, and by the end of that decade had made appearances on "The Green Hornet" and "The F.B.I," an ABC police procedural that ran until the mid 1970s. He became best known for playing irate high school principal Richard Vernon in John Hughes '80s classic "The Breakfast Club," but keen-eyed fans of "Friends" will no doubt recognize him as Jack, who fires Phoebe from her job as an investment banker after she loses his company millions of dollars. This triggers her second heart attack of the episode (in this version of reality, Phoebe is a chain-smoking workaholic).

While he did the majority of his notable feature length work in the '80s — on top of "The Breakfast Club" he appeared in "Trading Places" and "Die Hard," in which he played stubborn LAPD deputy Dwayne T. Robinson — Gleason remained active into the '00s, popping up in comedies including "Not Another Teen Movie" and Ryan Reynolds' "Van Wilder: Party Liaison."

Danny Dayton made a brief but memorable appearance on "Friends." He played Buddy Doyle, Mr. Heckles's lawyer, who was tasked with telling the gang that their unfriendly neighbor had died. He then unceremoniously read Heckles's will, which revealed that he left all his belongings to "the noisy girls upstairs" — aka Monica and Rachel. In the episode, which comes at the beginning of Season 2, they spend days sorting out the junk in his apartment, but by the end of it, the group, especially Chandler, are seeing Heckles in a whole different light, marking a bittersweet ending for the character.

Unfortunately, for Dayton, it would also be one of the last roles in his prolific career. He died four years after his appearance on the sitcom at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on February 1999, due to emphysema. Dayton was 75 years old.

Dayton came to "Friends" with credits in "The Facts of Life," "M*A*S*H," "Columbo," and the popular musical crime-comedy "Guys and Dolls." He was also a director, having directed episodes of "Occasional Wife," "Good Morning World," and "Here's Lucy." While he continued working for the next few years until his death, it was in bit roles in series like "Mike Hammer, Private Eye," "The Naked Truth," and "The Nanny."

"Friends" welcomed countless celebrity guest stars throughout its 10-year run. Legendary actor Charlton Heston appeared in the show — hilariously playing himself — during the Season 4 episode, "The One with Joey's Dirty Day." The actor was shooting a movie with Joey, who ends up using Heston's private shower to wash off the smell of a three-day fishing trip. When he's caught, Joey explains he did so because he stinks, but the movie star believes he's speaking in metaphors and offers him some words of wisdom about his acting career.

Of course, with Heston's acting prowess, his guest appearance on "Friends" was only a small addition to his impressive filmography. Heston has done it all, from TV, film, and stage. He played Moses in "The Ten Commandments," starred in "Planet of the Apes," and won several Golden Globes and the Academy Award for Best Actor in "Ben-Hur." The actor was even bestowed with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2003 for his achievements in entertainment.

Sadly, Heston died on April 5, 2008, at 84 years old in his Beverly Hills home from complications related to late-stage Alzheimer's disease. In a statement (via People), Heston's family celebrated the star. "We knew him as an adoring husband, a kind and devoted father, and a gentle grandfather, with an infectious sense of humor," they reminisced. "He served these far greater roles with tremendous faith, courage and dignity. He loved deeply, and he was deeply loved."

The second episode of "Friends'" third season, "The One Where No One's Ready," shows Ross trying to usher his friends out of the apartment for an event, but they each get distracted by different things around them. For Chandler, it was other people sitting in his seat which resulted in a full-blown argument between himself and Joey that involved an unnecessary amount of clothes. They eventually work it out, but Chandler loses it again when they're at the museum event and Sherman Whitfield — played by actor Peter Dennis — steals his chair to talk to Ross.

The British actor's small role in the sitcom was comedy gold, but Dennis was actually better known for his dramatic roles. He has acted in everything from the crime series, "Prime Suspect," to the popular British soap "EastEnders." Alongside these TV parts, Dennis primarily made his living from voice acting, nabbing roles in films like "Eragon" and "Shrek," in which he played an Ogre Hunter. Dennis's passion was touring around Europe and the United States, performing A. A. Milne's beloved "Winnie-the-Pooh" stories to audiences. He fell in love with Milne's tales as an adult, but found them very relatable and told The Tampa Tribune (via the Los Angeles Times) in 1997 that "Pooh and his friends in the forest show the whole of humanity."

Dennis sadly died on April 18, 2009, at home from cancer at age 75. He was survived by his wife of 30 years, Diane Dennis.

In "The One Where Phoebe Hates PBS," struggling actor Joey is desperate to get on TV. He thought he bagged himself a role hosting a PBS telethon and shows up in a tux only to discover that Gary Collins was the show's frontman. He ends up off-camera working the phones, but when Phoebe's donation gets him some attention, he ends up speaking with Collins, who praised him as one of PBS's best-dressed volunteers.

Collins's role on the sitcom mirrored his real life career. He was a prolific TV host, helming "Hour Magazine" — for which he won an Emmy in 1983 — as well as "The Home Show" and "Pillsbury Bake-Off." He received a further five Emmy nominations for Outstanding Talk Show Host and was immortalized on the Hollywood Walk of Fame when he received his star in 1985. He was also a natural film star and had a role in 1970's "Airport." Collins also portrayed an American astronaut involved in a UFO coverup in "Hangar 18" in 1980. He also guest starred on successful shows such as "Perry Mason," "The Six Million Dollar Man," and the original "Charlie's Angels."

In 2012, Collins died of natural causes at the age of 74. He was survived by his three children.

James Michael Tyler's Gunther was often referred to as the honorary "seventh friend" and — outside of Monica, Ross, Rachel, Chandler, Phoebe, and Joey — was the face most often seen in the gang's favorite coffee house. Alongside more than 150 appearances in "Friends," Tyler appeared in TV shows like "Scrubs" and "Sabrina the Teenage Witch." He took on his last acting credit in the 2020 short film, "The Gesture and the Word," in which he starred as Gilbert the postman. But it seems Tyler related to his "Friends" character the most. Like Gunther, he worked in a coffee shop for years before and during "Friends," except it was in Hollywood, not New York.

Tyler revisited the role of Gunther in the 2021 "Friends" reunion, but appeared via Zoom because of health concerns. The actor had previously revealed that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, and sadly died from the disease on October 21 of that year at 59 years old.

In a joint statement celebrating the life of the actor, "Friends" co-creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane revealed that the small role of Gunther became much bigger thanks to Tyler. "When he started as an extra on Friends, his unique spirit caught our eye and we knew we had to make him a character. He made Gunther's unrequited love incredibly relatable," they said. Jennifer Aniston also shared a special message about Tyler saying "Friends" would not have been the same without him.

Mike Hagerty has over 100 acting credits to his name, but "Friends" fans will remember him best as Monica, Rachel, Joey, and Chandler's gruff building manager, Mr. Treeger. Despite his hard shell exterior making Rachel cry, Treeger's shining episode, "The One With the Ballroom Dancing," reveals his kind-hearted nature and Joey even ends up having fun hanging out with him.

Alongside his memorable appearances in "Friends," the Chicago-born character actor has appearances in "Star Trek: The Next Generation," "Ally McBeal," and "Seinfeld" under his belt. His later TV credits included popular shows like "Community," "Grey's Anatomy," "Glee," "Brooklyn Nine-Nine," and "Shameless." At the time of his death, Hagerty was filming the second season of the TV dramedy "Somebody Somewhere." He previously admitted to Collider that he filmed his self-tape audition for the show on his iPad. "I don't think it looked very good, but they liked it, and they bought it. That's how I came to it," he said, adding that he was very happy with how his portrayal of the character turned out.

Hagerty suddenly died on May 5, 2022 at age 67. He was suffering from an infection in his leg which hadn't fully healed, and he was taken to the hospital ahead of filming, but had a severe adverse reaction to antibiotics while being treated. This caused him to have a seizure and go into a coma before passing away at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Matthew Perry needs no introduction. The world knows him as Chandler Bing, the show's "funny man," and he definitely brought a lot of laughter to "Friends" fans. And they all went into mourning on October 28, 2023, when the news of his death was announced after he was allegedly found unconscious in his home's hot tub.

Perry enjoyed more success after "Friends" with roles in movies like "Birds of America" and "17 Again," before returning to TV to play Mike Kresteva in "The Good Wife" and its spin-off "The Good Fight." From 2015 to 2017, he had a starring role in "The Odd Couple" playing Oscar Madison opposite Thomas Lennon.

In an interview with US Weekly (via Deadline), Perry commented, "I really lived life to its fullest, and that got me in trouble from time to time." He was referring to his addiction, which he chronicled in his 2022 memoir, "Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing." In it, he shared how Jennifer Aniston was a big support to him during that time in his life. Aniston and the remaining "Friends" co-stars put out a joint statement (via People) in honor of Perry. "We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew." The brief statement asked for time and space to process their grief. "For now, our thoughts and our love are with Matty's family, his friends, and everyone who loved him around the world," they concluded.