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https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/19/arts/television/james-burrows-dead.html

James Burrows, Master of the TV Sitcom, Dies at 85

Beloved by actors, he helped create rCLCheersrCY and directed more than 1,000 episodes of hit shows like rCLTaxi,rCY rCLFriendsrCY and rCLThe Big Bang Theory.rCY

By Glenn Rifkin
Published June 19, 2026
Updated June 20, 2026, 10:44 a.m. ET
James Burrows, the genre-shaping master of the television situation comedy
who was a creator of rCLCheersrCY and directed more than 1,000 episodes of that show and other TV classics like rCLThe Mary Tyler Moore Show,rCY rCLThe Bob
Newhart Show,rCY rCLTaxi,rCY rCLFrasier,rCY rCLFriendsrCY and rCLThe Big Bang Theory,rCY
died on Friday. He was 85.

His agent, Rick Rosen, confirmed the death, but did not say where he died
or specify a cause.

Mr. Burrows earned a reputation as the rCLSteven Spielberg of sitcoms,rCY winning 11 Emmy Awards and receiving 47 nominations in a career that
spanned five decades. In 1995, Bill Carter, writing in The New York Times, described him as rCLthe man whose visual style and comedic instincts have helped create more comedy hits than anyone else in television.rCY

With a unique flair for the multicamera sitcom, Mr. Burrows won audiences
by focusing on the laughs.

rCLWhen I direct a television show, I try to reach that sweet spot where the best script meets the best performance and the best chemistry between performers,rCY Mr. Burrows wrote in his 2022 autobiography, rCLDirected by James Burrows,rCY written with Eddy Friedfeld. rCLHitting that exact moment, where these factors land in combination, results in the sweetest and most enduring laugh.rCY

Whatever the setting, whether a New York taxi garage or a neighborhood bar
in Boston, he sought to nurture his actors into ensembles. rCLI guess I have
a gift for creating families,rCY he told The Times in 2023.

Distinctly different from film directors, who control every aspect of a movierCOs creative development, television directors often act as traffic
cops on a set and toil in relative anonymity. They are part of a creative
team led by a writer and executive producer, who also acts as the
showrunner.

Television directors donrCOt usually exert control ahead of the writers. But Mr. Burrows defied that tradition. He was so skilled that he became the
most sought-after and highly paid sitcom director during the golden age of network comedies in the 1980s, rCO90s and early aughts.

rCLIrCOm concerned about believability and the economy of the comedy, the shortest distance between the character and the laughter,rCY Mr. Burrows
wrote in his autobiography. rCLWhen I direct an episode, I have lots of
notes. I am apt to tell writers: rCy50 percent of what I say is gold and 50 percent is garbage. ItrCOs your job to figure out which is which.rCOrCY

He grew up immersed in the world of Manhattan theater as the son of the Broadway playwright and director Abe Burrows, who helped create such hits
as rCLGuys and DollsrCY and rCLHow to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.rCY

He even started his career approaching television episodes as if he was directing a stage play, and the ensemble casts, including such stars as
Ms. Moore, Mr. Newhart, Judd Hirsch, Ted Danson, Jennifer Aniston, Sean
Hayes and Kelsey Grammer, loved working with him.

rCLHe is without a doubt the person any actor wants calling the shots when
the cameras are rolling,rCY Mr. Grammer, who played the psychiatrist Frasier Crane on rCLCheersrCY and rCLFrasier,rCY said in a 2019 episode of rCLInside the
Actors Studio.rCY

Because of his intuitive understanding of the timing and structure of a successful sitcom episode, Mr. Burrows was in constant demand, often
working on more than one series at a time. He directed a staggering 75
pilot episodes that became series.

rCLI try to break down those barriers between writer and actor and director, and make everybody feel like theyrCOre all a part of the process, without incurring the wrath of a writer,rCY Mr. Burrows said in a 2023 interview on the public radio station KCRW.

In 1994, for example, Mr. Burrows not only directed but also helped cast rCLFriends.rCY Before shooting the pilot, he gathered the group of mostly unknown young actors rCo Lisa Kudrow, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer, Matthew Perry and Ms. Aniston rCo and flew them on a private
plane to Las Vegas for a dinner at Spago at Caesars Palace.

He wanted to ensure that the cast members bonded. At dinner, he told them: rCLThis is your last shot at anonymity. Once the show comes on the air, you guys will never be able to go anywhere without being hounded.rCY

James Edward Burrows was born in Los Angeles on Dec. 30, 1940, to Abe and
Ruth (Levinson) Burrows. When he was 5, the family moved to New York City, where he grew up. His mother was a homemaker and social activist who
instilled a lifelong sense of social justice in James and her daughter, Laurie.

His parents divorced when Mr. Burrows was 8, a trauma he said he carried
into adulthood. His fatherrCOs success exposed him to theater luminaries. Having a famous father, however, was a mixed blessing.


Mr. Burrows knew he would always be considered rCLAberCOs kid,rCY so to avoid his fatherrCOs long shadow, he decided he had no interest in a theater
career. Nonetheless, he attended New YorkrCOs High School of Music and Art
and eventually found himself unable to resist show business. Countless
visits to his fatherrCOs productions and rehearsals left an indelible impression about how to work with actors and crews.

Mr. Burrows graduated from Oberlin College in 1962 and the Yale School of Drama in 1965. There, he realized he couldnrCOt sing, dance or write, but he became intrigued with the idea of directing.

After graduating, he became an assistant stage manager for rCLBreakfast at TiffanyrCOs,rCY a short-lived 1966 musical that featured Mary Tyler Moore. After working as a stage director at dinner theaters for the next few
years, Mr. Burrows realized that television situation comedies rCo which in essence are short stage plays in front of a camera rCo might be a perfect outlet for his skills.

In 1974, he wrote to Ms. Moore asking for a chance to work for her
company, MTM, which produced her hit show. Her husband, Grant Tinker,
invited Mr. Burrows to Los Angeles, where he was given his first shot at directing a sitcom. There, he met the veteran television director Jay Sandrich, who became a mentor.

After rCLThe Mary Tyler Moore Show,rCY he directed episodes of the spinoffs rCLRhodarCY and rCLPhyllisrCY and later rCLThe Bob Newhart Show,rCY rCLLaverne &
ShirleyrCY and rCLTaxi.rCY In 1982, he teamed up with the writer-producer brothers Glen and Les Charles, whom he knew from rCLTaxi,rCY to create rCLCheers,rCY which changed the trajectory of his career and eventually brought him vast wealth through syndication and residuals.

Of the 275 episodes of the series over 11 seasons, Mr. Burrows directed
all but 35. Its finale, in 1993, drew the second-largest audience for a
series finale in television history. (Only the finale of rCLM*A*S*HrCY in 1983 drew more viewers.)

In 1981, he married Linda Solomon, with whom he had three daughters, Kat, Ellie and Maggie. The couple divorced in 1993. Mr. Burrows married Debbie Easton in 1997; she survives him, along with his daughters; a
stepdaughter, Paris; and seven grandchildren.

Working into his 80s, Mr. Burrows maintained unabated enthusiasm for his craft.

rCLThe laughter behind me is so rewarding for my soul, I would almost do it for free,rCY he told The Times in 2023. rCLAnd itrCOs nice to be able to go back
to what happened to me 50 years ago and still have this feeling of
creativity. When pilot season comes this year, I hope there is a pilot
that I like.rCY

John Koblin contributed reporting.

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