On the TV show "Friends", how did Gunther say his soap-opera character was killed off?

On "Friends," Gunther said his soap-opera character was killed in an avalanche.

Before becoming the manager and senior barista at Central Perk, Gunther tells Joey that he had acted on the daytime soap opera "All My Children." His character, Bryce, was written out of the show by being buried in an avalanche. Gunther describes this during the season-two episode "The One Where Eddie Won't Go."

The wording sometimes appears as "buried in an avalanche" rather than "killed in an avalanche," but both describe the same event and identify the canonical answer. It is not Gunther himself who dies; the avalanche kills Bryce, the fictional character he played.

That detail explains why Gunther is working at Central Perk when the friends know him. James Michael Tyler's character began as a background waiter and became one of the sitcom's most recognizable recurring figures, largely because of his unrequited love for Rachel. His former soap-star history is a small joke that adds an unexpected backstory to the otherwise mysterious coffee-shop manager.