Chandler Muriel Bing is one of the main characters on the
NBC sitcom Friends, played by
Matthew Perry. His most notable traits are his awkwardness with women and his witty sense of humor, which he uses to compensate for his difficulties with human relationships.
Chandler’s parents are quite well off. His mother,
Nora Tyler Bing, is a romance novelist (
Euphoria at Midnight among others). His father discovered his
homosexuality when Chandler was young and announced it over
Thanksgiving dinner in
1978, which led to his parents’ divorce. His father now is the proprietor of the
Las Vegas nightclub
Viva Las Gaygas. Chandler has sworn off Thanksgiving and refuses to eat turkey or other traditional
turkey day fare.
At college, he was roommates with
Ross Geller. About this time, people started to think he was gay, a problem which still plagues him. It wasn’t helped by Ross, who encouraged people to believe it, especially women they were both attracted to.
After college, he was roommates with
Kip, an ex-boyfriend of
Monica Geller. When Kip got married, he moved out and was replaced by
Joey Tribbiani. Joey was briefly replaced by the psychotic
Eddie.
He got a temp job as a
data processor shortly after graduating, which soon became permanent when he became
middle management.
He had a third nipple (a "
nubbin") which he had surgically removed. The tip of one of his toes is missing – it was severed when Monica dropped a knife on Thanksgiving
1988 as part of a bizarre plan (gone awry) to humiliate him for calling her fat the previous year.
His problems with intimacy and relationships stem probably stem from his parents’ strange breakup, and he’s left a trail of awkward breakups in his wake. The most notable past relationships are the on again off again one with the very annoying
Janice and the one with Joey’s ex, Kathy. He’s now married to Monica, a relationship which began when they both slept together in
London before Ross’ second wedding.
Chandler was briefly unemployed after quitting his job when he was transferred to
Tulsa, Oklahoma, but now has a job in
advertising.