Harrowing tragedies of the Friends cast – suicide, rare disease and sudden death
The showbiz world is in mourning after Friends star Stan Kirsch took his own life aged just 51 last weekend.
The actor – who was found dead at his Los Angeles home by his wife Kristyn Green on Saturday – played Monica's love interest Ethan in The One with the Ick Factor in 1995.
And sadly he's not the only star from the long-running show to have lost his life in tragic circumstances.
From funnyman Robin Williams to the HIV-related death of Alexis Arquette, a whole host of actors have gone too soon…
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Taylor Negron – Monica's boss
Taylor made his first appearance in season 4's The One Where They're Going To Party as furious chef Allesandro.
His restaurant of the same name had been slammed in a review by Monica, but when he went to confront her, he instead offered her a job as head chef.
That spelt the end for Monica's catering business with Phoebe. But she did keep working there all the way through to season nine.
Sadly, Taylor was diagnosed with liver cancer in 2008 and died in 2015 aged just 57.
Paul Gleason – Phoebe's boss
Breakfast Club star Paul played Phoebe's boss at Merrill Lynch who had to tell her she'd been fired following her first heart attack.
Hearing the news in The One That Could Have Been Part 2, she promptly suffered a second heart attack before turning her back on her career to become a masseuse.
Just two years after the show ended, Paul died aged 67 from pleural mesothelioma – a lung cancer connected to asbestos exposure.
It's though he came into contact with the material while working on building sites with his dad as a teenager.
Alaina Reed Hall – Angry hospital receptionist
Alaina starred as the hospital admissions woman in season 1's The One With Two Parts: Part 2.
Scary and sassy, she was the one who branded Monica an 'idiot' for trying to pretend she was Rachel because her own health insurance had run out.
Outside of the show, her first husband Kevin Peter Hall died from AIDS-related pneumonia in 1991 after receiving a contaminated blood transfusion following a car accident the year before.
Alaina married Tamim Amini in 2008 but died from breast cancer just 12 months later aged 63.
Robin Williams – Betrayed husband in Central Perk
The late comedian popped up in The One With The Ultimate Fighting Champion along with actor Billy Crystal.
Their cameo wasn't actually written into the script and only came about when writers saw them in the building and asked if they'd like to appear.
Both quickly agreed and ad-libbed the majority of the conversation which saw Robin's character Thomas ask the Friends gang to move up so he could sit with his friend Tim (Billy).
The group then overheard Thomas tell Tim he feared his wife is being unfaithful, only for Tim to admit he was the other man.
Legendary actor Robin took his own life in August 2014 aged just 63 after suffering anxiety and depression thought to have been caused by a form of dementia.
Alexis Arquette – Waiter in drag
Alexis – whose brother David was married to Friends star Courteney Cox – made several appearances in the show, but most memorably as a waiter in drag in The One With Chandler’s Dad.
The season 7 episode saw her interact with sister-in-law Courteney, who played Monica, when she and Chandler drove to Las Vegas to track down his estranged dad.
Alexis was born Robert and had started identifying as a man before her death in September 11, 2016, from cardiac arrest caused by a heart condition stemming from HIV.
Kellie Waymire – Phoebe's friend
The actress starred as Phoebe's friend Colleen who helped guide Monica and Chandler through the adoption process in The One Where Ross Is Fine.
Sadly, just one month later she died unexpectedly aged 36.
The Six Feet Under star suffered a cardiac arrest in November 2003 caused by undiagnosed cardiac arrhythmia.
It's thought to have been linked to the mitral valve prolapse she was diagnosed with as a teenager.
Terry Rhoads – Maitre d'
Season 7's The One With The Holiday Armadillo saw Terry play a Maitre d' who Chandler tries to smoothly tip to get a table at a popular restaurant.
He died in 2013 of the rare disease Amyloidosis, which causes a protein to build up in tissues and organs, distorting their shape and leading to organ failure. He was just 61.
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