Gunther (Friends character)
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Gunther was a character in the popular televison sitcom Friends played by James Michael Tyler. Gunther was the manager of Central Perk, where the six main characters spent a great deal of their free time.
Over the course of the series it emerged that Gunther had a crush on Rachel. He often fantasized about marrying her and let slip to Joey that one of the perks of his job was being able to stare at her all day. At Ross's bachelor party before his marriage to Emily Waltham he thanked Ross for not marrying Rachel. In the final episode, as Rachel prepared to leave for Paris, Gunther declared his undying love for her. He was politely turned down.
Gunther was a permanent fixture in the everyday lives of the friends, yet he never penetrated their inner circle. This became a running joke. At Ross' bachelor party, Chandler announced that he wanted Gunther to be his best man. Gunther immediately asked Chandler what his last name was; Chandler thought hard before defeatedly answering 'Centralperk?'. (His last name remains unknown to the audience for the entire series.)
Gunther's peroxide blonde hair was also a source of much entertainment. Rachel described it as being "as bright as the sun", and when he told Joey he had an appointment to have it dyed, Joey said, "but I love your natural colour". When guessing the identity of the father of Rachel's baby, Phoebe asked, "Is it Gunther?" which Rachel denied and Phoebe said "Thank God, 'cause that hair on a baby??". The hair colour was actually an accident. The day before the audition one of the actor's friends who studied to become a hairdresser experimented on his hair. When he showed up the producer liked it so much they decided to keep it.
He used to be an actor, having played a character called Bryce in All My Children, (the character was killed off by being buried in an avalanche) although this appears to be fictional.