Chandler Bing

Chandler Muriel Bing was a fictional character, played by Matthew Perry, on the popular sitcom Friends, which ran from 1994 to 2004.

Chandler Muriel Bing, son of Nora Tyler Bing and Charles Bing (the gay star of ‘Viva Las Gaygas’), was the roommate of Ross Geller in college. Chandler met Ross' sister Monica Geller and her friend Rachel Green while celebrating the holidays at the Geller family residence. Chandler later moved to apartment #19, across the hall from the apartment of Monica and her then roommate Phoebe Buffay. Joey Tribbiani joined him shortly and Chandler stayed with him until he decided to move across the hallway with Monica upon their engagement in season 6.

Chandler worked as a Data-Processor, a job which he thoroughly loathed. However, Chandler was unable to simply quit his job as it was his nature to avoid ending anything forcefully, be it his job, a relationship or even his membership with a gym. Possibly the finest - and most extreme - example of his determination to avoid ending a relationship forcefully involves the 'mind-numbingly annoying' character Janice, who was a constant reoccurring fixture in his life. His final attempt to leave her once and for all involved Chandler claiming he was moving to Yemen (address: 15 Yemen Road, Yemen), and then actually boarding a plane and flying to Yemen (albeit reluctantly) just to prove to her that he is not lying.

Chandler’s ‘wise-cracks’ were a particular highlight of the show. Some fine examples include Chandler describing Rachel’s attempts to stop him smoking by throwing away every cigarette he puts into his mouth as "the least fun game ever", quoting A.A. Milne as having said "Get out of my chair, Dillhole" in an attempt to persuade Joey to vacate the chair he'd been sitting in, and his insistence that his surname is Gaelic for ‘thy turkey’s done’. His conversations with Phoebe, which ranged from why Donald Duck wears a towel when getting out of the shower, to why there isn’t a superhero called ‘Goldman’, were another highlight of the show. Often, when he and Ross are trying to pickup women, he would be referred to as 'The Funny One'.

One Thanksgiving when Chandler was young, his father announced that he was a homosexual. He later moved to Las Vegas where he opened up an all-male burlesque called ‘Viva Las Gaygas’. He was a crossdresser and was played in the series by Kathleen Turner. As a result of this, Chandler hates Thanksgiving and refuses to eat any Thanksgiving food. Chandler also highlights this as the point where he began to use humour as a defence mechanism. Chandler himself is often mistaken for being gay by friends, colleagues and, most importantly, women.

Chandler famously shared an apartment with his best friend Joey Tribbiani. Chandler and Joey's apartment became an important focal point for the series as one of the meeting areas of the gang. The two formed perhaps one of the most likeable and enduring television friendships in sitcom history. Their adventures included losing Ross's son on a bus, building an 'entertainment center' which was so big it covered both of their doors, buying a chick and a duck (affectionately named 'The Chick and The Duck'), replacing their dining table with a foosball table and spending hours watching Baywatch. In the final episode the two symbolically destroyed the foosball table, before Chandler moved to Westchester; however, despite no longer living in the same apartment block, Chandler and Monica made it known that their new home would have a specially designated 'Joey room'.

In season 4, Chandler began an affair with his close friend Monica Geller in London. They had been friends for some time as Chandler's college roommate Ross is Monica's brother. The two fell in love and eventually moved in together. They married (their wedding was officiated by Joey, who was ordained over the internet) and, in the final episode, watched as their adopted twins - Erica and Jack - were born.

Some interesting Chandler facts:

• Monica accidentally severed his toe with a knife one Thanksgiving.
• He had a third nipple (his "nubbin"). Apparently, it was "the source of all his power." However, he had a "nubbinectomy" after he lost a girl, Ginger, who was bothered by it.
• Recieved mail addressed to "Ms. Chanandler Bong"