“The One Who Loved David Schwimmer: My Journey to Finally Meet Ross from Friends”

I had a conversation in my head for over ten years with David Schwimmer, who played Ross on the show. Friends. When I learned that he was going to speak at a conference that I could reasonably convince my boss to send me to, I wondered if I would finally have the opportunity to have this conversation in person.

Without thinking too much, I registered for the conference and booked a flight from Boston to New York. It wasn’t until I found myself there, several weeks later, that the panic set in. In my head, David Schwimmer always said the right thing. What if this was not the case during a real conversation? Was it worth taking that risk? Strange as it may seem, there was a lot at stake.

Gail, my father’s younger sister, had run the comedy department at NBC. She had worked with the actors of Friends, Will et Grace, Little Flower and other series. After his suicide, at the age of 39, in November 1999, an episode of Friends had been dedicated to him. As she died before the internet became part of our daily lives, this dedication is the first thing that pops up when looking for her name, her whole life reduced to one question: “Who was Gail Joseph in Friends ?”

The answer is almost always incorrect.

The one who loved David Schwimmer

The episode is titled “The One With White Teeth”. Ross gets his teeth whitened and goes on a date with a woman who has a black light. When the lamps go out and the black light comes on, Ross’s teeth practically light up the room.

I always thought that would make my aunt laugh. Although she worked with a lot of celebrities, her friends told me that she had an affinity with David Schwimmer. She even named one of her cats “Rupert” because David used that name when he checked into a hotel. Hence the inner dialogue that I had been pursuing for years with this famous actor that I had never met.

When I was a kid in eastern Pennsylvania, my aunt was the coolest adult I knew. We would go see her in Hollywood, and everything we did together was brighter and dumber than everything else in my childhood. She simply had a strong personality, and in her presence I felt bigger and more important.

Try to write another ending

My aunt loved purple, and her apartment was full of purple stuff. When Wayne Newton came to see her at her NBC office, he wore a purple jacket. Gail had predicted that George C