25 famous actors you didn’t know appeared on Friends

7. Kathleen Turner and Morgan Fairchild

Charles and Nora Bing – multiple episodes

Throughout the entire Friends run, Chandler made numerous references to his supposedly horrible childhood. He used it as an excuse for everything from his inability to cry to his fear of commitment. In “The One With the Thanksgiving Flashbacks,” Chandler explains how his parents announcement of their impending divorce caused him to boycott Thanksgiving for the rest of his life. He considers his parents, Charles and Nora Bing, to be a source of embarrassment and humiliation thanks to Nora’s job writing romance novels and Charles’ lifestyle as a drag queen.

Both characters are brilliantly played by Morgan Fairchild and Kathleen Turner. (The only time we see Charles out of drag is when we see the back of his head during the Thanksgiving flashback.) Nora Bing, writing under her full name of Nora Tyler Bing, embarrasses Chandler when she’s a guest on The Tonight Show and jokes with Jay Leno about her sex life. The mother-son pair have it out after Nora kisses Ross at a restaurant. Charles Bing, however, embarrasses Chandler simply by existing apparently.

At Monica’s urging, Chandler travels to Vegas to announce his engagement and invite his father to the wedding. In spite of the fact that his father is a talented and adored performer, Chandler sulks throughout the show.

Turner and Fairchild had great chemistry, and their sarcastic verbal sparring makes each of their appearances fun to watch. Before they became the Bings, Kathleen Turner was known for movies like Peggy Sue Got Married and Romancing the Stone while Morgan Fairchild had built a career in television thanks to roles in shows like Falcon Crest and The City.