Paxton Whitehead, best known for appearing as a guest actor in Friends, has sadly died aged 85.
The veteran actor - who was a stage actor and regular guest star in an array of Nineties sitcoms - passed away on Friday (June 16) at a hospital in Arlington, Virginia.
His son, Charles Whitehead, confirmed the devastating news to The Hollywood Reporter.
The late actor - whose full name is Francis Edward Paxton Whitehead - was born in 1937 in Kent, England. He began his career in small touring companies before being signed by the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1958.
Whitehead trained at London’s Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art at the age of 17 before venturing on a remarkable acting career that saw him perform on stage and screen.
He made his Broadway debut in Ronald Millar’s The Affair which debuted in the 1960s and later starred in the critically acclaimed Beyond the Fringe. Notably, the late stage actor also played Sherlock Holmes opposite Glenn Close in 1978’s The Crucifer of Blood - which was nominated for four Tonys, winning one.
During that decade, Whitehead became the artistic director of the Shaw Festival in Canada, where he welcomed world leaders such as Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Indira Gandhi, and Pierre Trudeau, per THR.
The actor also performed in 1990's Lettice and Lovage opposite Maggie Smith, and most recently starred alongside Janet McTeer in 2018’s Bernhardt/Hamlet.
Due to his stellar acting in his Broadway career, Whitehead received a Tony nomination for his performance as Pellinore in the 1980 revival of Camelot.
Whitehead also enjoyed a film career in the 1980s, starring opposite Whoopi Goldberg in 1986's Jumpin' Jack Flash and Diane Keaton in Baby Boom (1987).
He also had a memorable role in Rodney Dangerfield’s 1986 comedy Back to School, playing business school professor Dr. Barbay and the boyfriend of literature professor Diane Turner (played by Sally Kellerman).
On television, Whitehead made several appearances in Murder, She Wrote, Law and Order, and 3rd Rock from the Sun. He also recurred as the uptight across-the-hall neighbor Hal Conway on NBC’s Mad About You from 1992-99.
However, he will be known to many for playing Rachel Green's (Jennifer Aniston) boss, Mr. Waltham, in the hit sitcom Friends, as well as his cameo in the popular long-running series Desperate Housewives as the father of a love interest to Teri Hatcher’s character, Susan.
Before he passed, the actor revealed in a 2017 interview that he enjoyed acting in farces the most, saying: "Everybody says [they] are difficult to do, but it depends," adding, "You either have a knack for it or you don’t. I think it is hard for some people. I found it not so difficult. I don’t know. I just seemed to respond to it."
Whitehead is survived by his son Charles and daughter Alex.
Our thoughts are with his family, friends, and fans at this time.