Veteran TV director James Burrows has died aged 85, with Hollywood stars lining up to pay respects to one of the most prolific names in American sitcom history.
Burrows’ career in entertainment began in the mid-60s, but really took off in 1982 when he co-created legendary US comedy Cheers, devised alongside Taxi screenwriters Glen and Les Charles.
The show, based around a Boston bar and its owner Sam Malone (Ted Danson), would go on to run for 11 seasons (totalling almost 300 episodes), and live on in the form of spin-off Frasier (starring Kelsey Grammer as his stand-out supporting character).
Burrows remained involved through the Frasier years as a recurring director, with 32 episodes of the acclaimed comedy to his name, while he also built a reputation in Hollywood as a trusted hit-maker in the genre.
Over the last few decades, Burrows has had a hand in such juggernauts as Friends, The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men, Will & Grace and 2 Broke Girls, with his name regularly at the top of wish lists for pilot episodes.
Famously, it was Burrows that took the cast of Friends on a trip to Las Vegas just before the series premiered, telling them with astonishing foresight that it would be their last holiday before becoming wildly famous.
In later years, he remained connected with some of the cast, playing himself in Lisa Kudrow‘s Hollywood satire The Comeback (which concluded earlier this year) and directing episodes of Matt LeBlanc’s more recent sitcom Man With a Plan.
Both paid tribute to Burrows on their social media as the news was announced, with Kudrow sharing an image of herself and the director on the set of The Comeback, with a caption thanking him “for everything”.
Meanwhile, LeBlanc wrote in a heartfelt post that “words cannot describe the impact and influence you had on us and everyone who was lucky enough to have known you. You sir, are a true icon on so many levels.”
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Friends co-star David Schwimmer has also joined the chorus of praise, writing that Burrows “brought out the best in every actor he ever worked with, and elevated every show he directed, making it funnier and more moving than anyone expected”.
He continued: “His warmth, humility and generosity made us feel safe, like family, and I’m sure we weren’t the only cast to feel that way. He looked out for us, on camera and off. He became another father figure for me, and I’m sure others.”
That sentiment was echoed by Cheers star Danson, who said in a statement (via Deadline) that Burrows was his “show business father, my mentor and my friend”.
Danson explained: “For 11 years his laughter taught me what was funny and what was not. Nothing made me happier than to make him laugh. I can only imagine that there are thousands of actors who feel the same way.”
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2 Broke Girls co-star Beth Behrs also shared fond memories of working with Burrows in the early days of that sitcom, recalling: “I’ll never forget the smile and thumbs-up you gave me after the first scene of the network run-through.
“Or the way you hugged me and said, ‘I got you, kid,’ when I was handed a brand new opening monologue seconds before the first ‘action’ in front of a live audience.”
She added: “After we shot the pilot, but before we got picked up [for a series], I ran into my hero, Jennifer Aniston, in an elevator. I told her I had just done a pilot with you. She said, ‘Oh, you have Jimmy? You’ll get a pickup.’ That was the reputation. The legend.”
Rounding out the tributes are Will & Grace stars Eric McCormack and Debra Messing, who worked closely with Burrows over almost 250 episodes of the New York City-set sitcom.
McCormack described Burrows as an “800 lb gorilla of television comedy” who was “beloved by everyone,” while Messing suggested he “brought laughter and love into more homes, globally, than any other TV director in history”.
A statement from Burrows’ family, first shared with People, reveals that he “passed away peacefully… surrounded by his loving family” after a short illness.
