Who is James Michael Tyler's wife? Jennifer Carano 'didn't marry into the Gunther fame'
James Michael Tyler, who starred in 'Friends' as Gunther who had an indelible crush on Jennifer Anniston’s character Rachel Green, lost his battle with cancer and died Sunday, October 24, at the age of 59.
The actor passed away at home in Los Angeles from prostate cancer, said his manager Toni Benson, after being first diagnosed with advanced illness in 2018. "The world knew him as Gunther (the seventh 'Friend'), from the hit series 'Friends,' but Michael's loved ones knew him as an actor, musician, cancer-awareness advocate, and loving husband," Benson said in a statement. “Michael loved live music, cheering on his Clemson Tigers, and would often find himself in fun and unplanned adventures. If you met him once you made a friend for life. [Tyler] is survived by his wife, Jennifer Carno, the love of his life.”
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Tyler was previously married to Barbara Chadsey from 1994 to 2004 when the tenth season of 'Friends' was being filmed. In 2014, they called it quits due to "irreconcilable differences." The pair separated in 2003 and they officially divorced in 2014.
Who is Jennifer Carno?
Jennifer Carno is an office production assistant and a script coordinator. She worked on scripts and continuity for movies like 'Lipshitz Saves The World,' Pirates of the Caribbean: At Word's End,' You, Me, and Dupree' and more. She is the second wife of Tyler. They met on the internet and got married in 2017.
In a 2019 interview with Express, Tyler revealed that Carno was not at all familiar with 'Friends' when they started dating. The actor revealed his spouse wasn’t “familiar” with the show when they met. “I’ve just started [watching] it again with my wife,” he began. “She never really watched the show during it’s run and wasn’t familiar with it even when we started dating. She told her best friend she had started seeing this guy - we’re on the fourth date and her friend was like, ‘Wait the actor guy from Friends, Gunther?’ and she was like, ‘Oh yeah he’s an actor, he was on Friends but I didn’t watch it’. So I guess that’s good, she didn’t marry into the Gunther fame!”
Last year, Tyler uploaded a throwback picture of him and Carno on what looked like a replica of the 'Friends' set. "Sept. 15, 2015. From a photo of us at the very first Friendsfest in London. A great time was had by all. :) #friendsfest #friends #wife #friendstvshow @friends #gunther #painting #graphicdesign," he captioned the photo.
Tyler appeared at the 'Friends Reunion' via Zoom
Despite being a key member of the 'Friends' cast, Tyler did not appear in person in the reunion which was released last year on HBO Max and instead made a brief appearance via Zoom. Later he told Today that he did not want his illness to be a “downer” during the special. “I wanted to be a part of that, and initially I was going to be on the stage, at least, with them, and be able to take part in all the festivities,” he said. “It was bittersweet, honestly. I was very happy to be included. It was my decision not to be a part of that physically and make an appearance on Zoom, basically, because I didn’t wanna bring a downer on it, you know? ... I didn’t want to be like, ‘Oh, and by the way, Gunther has cancer.’”