Friends: What Happened To Mr. Heckles?
Character actor Larry Hankin is a ubiquitous on-screen presence, even if you don't know his name. Hankin has nearly 200 acting credits, which he recounts in his aptly titled memoir "That Guy: A Cautionary Memoir," though he's particularly known for his performances as Carl in "Billy Madison," Old Joe in "Breaking Bad," and actor Tom Pepper in "Seinfeld."
One of Hankin's best-known roles was the strange and surly Mr. Heckles, the downstairs neighbor of Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) and Monica (Courtney Cox) on "Friends." Despite only a handful of appearances, Mr. Heckles was a standout character in Season 1, frequently blaming the noisy sextet for disturbing his birds, his oboe playing, or any number of fabricated hobbies.
Mr. Heckles was accusatory, odd, and an unabashed liar. In his "Friends" debut in "The One with the Blackout," he attempts to claim a lost cat as his own. He repeats the ploy in "The One Where the Monkey Gets Away," in which he finds Ross' (David Schwimmer) capuchin, Marcel, and says it's his own monkey named Penny. He gives up the ruse when animal control threatens to get involved.
After a few memorable turns, Mr. Heckles was killed off in Season 2, Episode 3. After asking Rachel and Monica to keep it down one last time, Mr. Heckles dies of a heart attack. In his will, Mr. Heckles gives all of his earthly possessions to the "noisy girls" upstairs. Believed by Monica to be a gesture of goodwill, the possessions turn out to be junky and worthless.
Mr. Heckles' death was moving for Chandler (and shocking to Larry Hankin)
Mr. Heckles' death was a surprisingly profound experience for Chandler (Matthew Perry). In digging through Mr. Heckles' possessions, Chandler finds that the two have a lot in common, including a noted sense of humor and a superficial pickiness when it comes to dating women. Taken aback by these commonalities, Chandler is certain he too will become a curmudgeonly hermit, until his friends cheer him up. When the gang cleans up the last of Mr. Heckles' things, Chandler is the last to leave the empty apartment, warmly acknowledging that they'll try to keep it down.
Mr. Heckles' death was primarily used as a plot device to have Chandler experience some character growth. For Larry Hankin, however, the death came as a shock. After appearing in a few episodes of "Friends," Hankin had acquired a certain amount of fame. He was well on his way to becoming a recurring character, which would have come with a bigger paycheck.
"I got a call from my agent saying, 'I have good news and bad news. First, 'Friends' called for your fifth appearance...'" Hankin recalled to Cracked. "In that moment, I thought, 'I have a house.' Then he said, 'You have a heart attack and die.'"
Hankin was livid when he got to set. "After we taped, I lost it," he continued. I went over to the producers and shouted, 'What did you do!?!' Everybody just shut up." Despite the outburst, Hankin seemed to patch things up with the "Friends" producers, returning for the Season 3 episode "The One with the Flashback."