Choir director and children’s book author: this is the new life of the actress who played Janice in Friends

Who rcan forget Janice, Chandler’s off-and-on girlfriend from NBC’s iconic series Friends with her thick New York accent, raucous cackle and ‘Oh My God’ catchphrase.

Maggie Wheeler brought Janice to life and revealed that she was originally only hired for one episode but her appearance was such a hit with the public that the production team phoned her back. “I was always a surprise on Friends,” she told Access Hollywood in 2019. They opened the door and I think that episode was a big success and Janice obviously made people happy and so they just kept bringing me back and bringing me back. Who knew, when I set out to do that first episode that that would happen but it was just the greatest blessing”.

Janice in Friends

She featured in 19 episodes, appearing at least once in each season of the series (her last appearance was in 2004) and has nothing but happy memories of her time on set and hanging out with the show’s stars. “They were great to me. I was there at the very beginning. Sort of the humble beginnings of the show. Everybody hung out and played poker in the green room, it was very congenial and we all hung out together. We had a great time and I love them all, it was just a fantastic cast to work with, phenomenal writers and producers, the environment on the set was like none other and it was a blast, it was as much fun as it looks”.

Born in New York City on 7 August 1961, Margaret Emily ‘Maggie’ Jackson started out as a voiceover artist, doing radio spots for CBS Records and MTV in the 1980s before going into acting.

She appeared in several shows including Seinfeld, LA Law, Ellen and Everybody Loves Raymond in the 90s and continues to do voiceover work, and was hired for The Addams Family and Dr. Dolittle 3.

Maggie Wheeler’s love of singing

Music has always been her big passion - she brought out a nine-track a cappella CD Sweet Time in 2008 and is a long-term member of The Golden Bridge Community Choir, a non-auditioned, inter-generational choir based in Los Angeles which she also co-directs with Emile Hassan Dyer.

“I discovered that I could give myself permission to create songs in a different way. I realized that this was my work,” she told Bestselfmedia.com. “The list of positive outcomes from this type of music is endless. It cures loneliness, heals isolation, lifts you when you’re sad, and elevates you even more when you’re happy. I’ve been fortunate to tenaciously follow my passions in this life, and they have led me to some incredible places. I’ve been able to adopt and embrace this passion for connecting through music because it lives through me”.

In 2023 she self-published her first children’s book Ebeneezer Finds A Reason, a whimsical tale about a young shrew who can’t stop sneezing - following in the footsteps of her mother Barbara who is also a writer.

Life in LA with husband Daniel and daughters

Maggie married sculptor Daniel Borden Wheeler in Los Olivos, California in October 1990. The couple have two daughters: Gemma and Juno and live in Los Angeles. “As a couple, we are both involved and invested in creating spaces for people to express themselves. He does it with his art, and I do it with my music,” the actress said.

It’s been over 20 years since her last appearance as Janice on Friends but Maggie was saddened to learn of the premature death of her old costar, Matthew Perry, and paid tribute to him on Instagram: “What a loss. The world will miss you Mathew Perry. The joy you brought to so many in your too short lifetime will live on. I feel so very blessed by every creative moment we shared.”

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