Here are all the deaths on Friends. The cult classic NBC sitcom catapulted its main actors into mainstream popularity as they played young adults figuring out their lives while living in New York. Known for its humorous storylines funny banters among the cast, Friends also tackled some darker materials, including death.
Running for 10 seasons, Friends saw Monica (Courtney Cox), Rachel (Jennifer Aniston), Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow), Chandler (Matthew Perry), Ross (David Schwimmer), and Joey (Matt Leblanc) went through various life experiences. Each one of them navigated their way through dealing with their professional and personal lives — all while sticking together and supporting each other. Admittedly, however, the show doesn't really have a realistic depiction of the life of 20-year-olds living in New York City; the show watered down the struggles of each cast member to ensure that the sitcom is still an easy-watch which proved to be a clever decision in the long run as it's easily rewatchable. That said, just because the show tends to be humorous doesn't mean that they veered away from anything serious. There were some truly gut-wrenching moments in Friends like the Bings' struggle to conceive, as well as, Ross' many divorces.
To be able to still take on these more emotional aspects of life, Friends incorporated humor to balance things out. That's what it usually did when they explored the subject of death because looking back at it now, the sitcom has had a lot of them during its one-decade-run.
Mr. Heckles
Friends barely featured other tenants from the gang's apartment building but Mr. Heckles (Larry Harkin) was an exception, who lived in the unit below Monica and Rachel's apartment. In the earlier seasons of the show, he gave the girls a difficult time, complaining about the most absurd and farfetched things. When he died in season 2, episode 3 titled "The One Where Heckles Dies" while banging on his ceiling, demanding the six friends to keep it quiet, the crew learned more about his lonely life. This impacted Chandler the most as he found himself too similar to Mr. Heckles, therefore, having the fear that he, too, will die alone like he did.
Mrs. Adelman
Phoebe worked a string of odd jobs to make ends meet; one of her regular gigs was working as a masseuse. In Friends season 2, episode 11 titled "The One With Lesbian Wedding," she had a client named Mrs. Adelman who, unfortunately, died on her massage chair. Phoebe believed that the old lady had possessed her because Mrs. Adler still had some unfinished business to attend to. This compelled Phoebe to spend the day with Mr. Adelman (Phil Leeds), seeing all the New York sights as it's supposed to be the last thing his wife wanted to do. The pair ended up at Carol (Jane Sibbett) and Susan's (Jessica Hecht) lesbian wedding where Mrs. Adelman happily proclaimed that by witnessing the union, she has finally seen everything and moves on.
Dr. Drake Ramoray
After years of trying to break into Hollywood, Joey finally got the chance of a lifetime when he was cast as Dr. Drake Ramoray in Days of Our Lives. Unfortunately, the actor's overeagerness to better his role led to angering the soap opera's writers. In retaliation, the character was immediately killed off as seen in Friends season 2, episode 18 titled "The One Where Drake Ramoray Dies" by comically falling down an elevator shaft. That said, given the dramatic nature of the series, the character was eventually brought back in season 7 via a brain transplant from Jessica Lockhart (Susan Sarandon). Joey kept playing the character until the end of Friends, but it was revealed in the Friends spin-off Joey that Dr. Drake Ramoray was killed off again after a nurse stabbed him while performing surgery.
Joanna
Rachel's decision to quit waitressing at Central Perk gave her the courage to finally pursue a career in fashion. Among her earliest job was at Bloomingdale's where she had Joanna (Allison La Placa) as her boss. Things then got complicated with their working relationship when Joanna and Chandler started dating. While that obviously didn't go anywhere, Rachel's dynamic with her boss only got worse. She learned that Joanna made derogatory statements to jeopardize her career; this led to her almost quitting until she was offered a promotion to become an assistant buyer. Unfortunately, before the paperwork was filed, Joanna was accidentally hit by a cab and subsequently died in Friends season 4, episode 9 titled "The One Where They're Going To Party."
Frances Buffay
The mother of Phoebe's adoptive mother, Lily, Frances Buffay (Audrey Lindley) only appeared in Friends season 2, episode 9 titled "The One With Phoebe's Dad." In the outing, she was confronted about the truth regarding Phoebe's real father after her friends told her that the photo she'd been carrying around was a placeholder image in sole frames. While she never appeared in more episodes, Phoebe referencer her grandmother, whom she was living with, from time to time. That's until Frances died as revealed in season 5 episode 13 titled "The One With Joey's Bag." According to Phoebe, they were out on a supermarket run when her grandmother "bent down to get some yogurt and she just never came back up." At the funeral, Phoebe finally met her long-lost father, Frank Buffay Sr. (Bob Balaban).
Estelle Leonard
Through Joey's struggles to become a successful actor, his agent, Estelle Leonard (June Gable) was with him every step of the way. She continued to find projects for him and helped him land the role of Dr. Drake Ramoray in Days of Our Lives. While they had their conflicts, while Joey had lots of relationships with other women, he was loyal to Estelle, staying with her agency until her death due to coronary embolism in Friends season 10, episode 15 titled "The One Where Estelle Dies." Worried of how Joey might take the tragic news, Phoebe impersonated Estelle just to give him the chance to properly say goodbye not knowing that he already knew about what happened.
Lily Buffay
Phoebe's life was full of dramatic twists and fascinating details. Over the years, she talked about her life prior to the events of Friends, including how her mother, Lily Buffay died of suicide. As she explained, she and her twin Ursula were 14 when their drug-dealing mom killed herself by carbon monoxide poisoning. Typically, Phoebe used this sob story to get what she wants, but it is eventually revealed, however, that a lady named Phoebe Abbott (Teri Garr) is her biological mother.
Others:
Althea Geller - played by Alice Drummond, Ross and Monica's Nana died in season 1, episode 8 titled "The One Where Nana Dies Twice."
Aunt Phyllis Geller - Ross and Monica's other aunt who was apparently already dead for six years and yet the latter only found out about it after Nana died in season 1.
Fun Bobby's Grandfather - Monica on-and-off dated Fun Bobby (Vincent Ventresca), and in season 1, episode 10 titled "The One With The Monkey," it's revealed that his grandfather just died. He couldn't get a flight until the next day so he decided to attend Monica's New Year's Party.
Aunt Sylvia - Ross and Monica's aunt whom they hated died in season 3, episode 20 titled "The One With The Dollhouse." Instead of grieving over what happened, Monica celebrated as it meant she could finally get her hands on Aunt Sylvia's dollhouse.
Phoebe's Mailman, Aunt Mary, Albino Bob - In season 3, episode 8 titled "The One With The Giant Poking Device," Phoebe refused to go to the dentist despite her toothache because she believed someone she knows will die based on past experiences. She mentioned that all of them died while she was in the chair.
Animals:
LaPooh - Rachel found out that her childhood dog died after it was hit by an ice cream truck and dragged for 19 blocks in season 5, episode 5 titled "The One With The Kips."
Joey and Chandler's Chick and Duck - Joey and Chandler's pets, the Chick and the Duck made several appearances on Friends. In season the season 6 finale, however, it was revealed that they had died of old age, although the gang decided to lie about it to Joey, telling him they were just on a farm, to save his feelings.
Bob the Rat - Phoebe's house rat was accidentally killed after she unknowingly agreed to Mike (Paul Rudd) setting up traps in her apartment in Friends season 9, episode 12 titled "The One With Pheobe's Rats."