Entertainment
Oh. My. God. As the world gets ready to watch the Friends cast (minus Matthew Perry) reunite in a tribute to the show's creator Sunday night, you're probably wondering what happened to Janice from Friends? She kidnapped Chandler and that's why Perry won't appear in Must See TV: An All-Star Tribute to James Burrows. Kidding! Totally kidding, people. In fact, Janice Litman, the nasal New Yorker who captured fans' hearts with her laugh and her, er, over enthusiastic love for all things Bing, is actually nothing like Maggie Wheeler, the actress who immortalized her in the classic sitcom.
Wheeler, whose role on Friends was so well-liked, Janice appeared on almost every season, doesn't even have a nasal voice. She told OWN that she saw the sides for her Friends audition, which read "fast-talking New Yorker," and the voice just came to her. She appeared as Janice for the first time in Friends in 1994 in the episode called "The One with the East German Laundry Detergent," where fans see Chandler struggle to break up with her... for the first time. But besides Friends, What else has she done? Where is she now? So many Janice questions, so here are some answers.
Despite A Rumor That Surfaced Last Year, Wheeler Is Not Dead
Last year, the Facebook fan page "I miss friends The best Tv series ever" posted a morbidly false rumor that Wheeler had passed away. Total rubbish, reported International Business Times on Aug. 13, 2015. Wheeler's attorney cleared up the misunderstanding and allayed fans with the news that Wheeler celebrated her 54th birthday on Aug. 7.
She Was In A Movie With Lindsay Lohan
Indeed, Wheeler played Marva Kulp Jr. one of the major camp counselors in The Parent Trap (1998) starring little Lindsay Lohan.
She Appeared Opposite Larry David
One of my favorite Wheeler appearances has to be on Curb Your Enthusiasm's episode "Palestinian Chicken" in 2011, where she played Ilene Solotaroff, a woman who overused the phrase "LOL," to her husband's dismay. Her husband hired Larry David to tell her to knock it off. The plan goes horribly awry (of course).
She Appeared On 'The X-Files'
That's right, Wheeler was on season 1 of The X-Files playing Detective Sharon Lazarda. It's a creepy episode where a young girl is the prime suspect in several strange and unusual deaths.
She Appeared On 'Californication'
Wheeler reunited with David Duchovny again on Californication, in which she played Marcy's man-hating spiritual guide, Ophelia Robbins, in a five episode arc in 2013.
She Appeared On 'Everybody Loves Raymond'
Wheeler took on a recurring role on Everybody Loves Raymond as Linda Gruenfelder. Linda and her husband Bernie were good friends with Ray and Debra Barone. Wheeler appeared on 12 episodes from 1996 to 2004.
She Voiced Trinette McGoon On 'Archer'
Wheeler voiced a recurring character on Archer, the adult animated show that tackled covert operations and espionage, as well as the kooks behind the covert-op scenes. Wheeler voiced a non-nasal Trinette McGoon, a former prostitute who Sterling Archer, er, employed. Trinette had a son Seamus who, (spoiler alert!) turned out not to be Archer's son, but whom Archer cared for as his own. Wheeler's character appeared on Archer from 2009 to 2011.
She Had Multiple Other TV Appearances
Wheeler kept busy with other TV appearances, including stints on Friday Night Lights (2006), ER, (2006), How I Met Your Mother (2007) and The Closer (2011). Slay, woman, slay!
She Won A Comedic Actress In Television Award
In 2010, she was recognized by the LA Femme International Film Festival and awarded its Comedic Actress in Television award. The organization's mission is to promote "new emerging talent and support established women in cross-over roles." Go, Janice! (I mean Wheeler.)
She Has A Personal Life, Too
Today, Wheeler lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two daughters. She's the director of an African choral music choir, according to the website Where Are They Now? I'm pretty sure she's retired the nasal voice for this gig. But what else has she done?
She Loves Her Fans
When Friends celebrated its 20th anniversary with a special pop-up Central Perk cafe in New York, Wheeler stopped by to the delight of fans.
So while Wheeler has had quite the career, and doesn't seem to be slowing down a bit, she will also always be Janice to Friends fans. And it seems like that's just fine by her.
Must See TV: An All-Star Tribute to James Burrows airs Sunday, Feb. 21, at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.
