James Burrows, a multiple Emmy winner who co-created the classic sitcom Cheers and directed several episodes of Friends, Frasier, Will & Grace and dozens of other hit series, has died.
Burrows died in his sleep early Friday after a brief illness, according to Deadline. He was 85.
“Jimmy was the greatest comedic television director in the history of the medium,” Burrows’ longtime agent Rick Rosen told Deadline. “He directed the most iconic, defining shows of generations. Always a gentleman, it was an absolute honor to represent him.”
Burrows created Cheers along with Glen Charles and Les Charles in 1982. In addition to producing the series, which starred Ted Danson, Shelly Long, George Wendt, John Ratzenberger, Kelsey Grammer and Woody Harrelson, Burrows was one of the main directors on Cheers.
“We celebrate the extraordinary life and enduring legacy of James ‘Jimmy’ Burrows, who passed away peacefully today surrounded by his loving family,” Burrows’ family said in a statement issued to People on Friday. “For more than five decades, Burrows was one of the most influential and beloved directors in television history. As a legendary director, mentor, and creative force, he helped shape generations of comedy and brought immeasurable joy to audiences around the world.”
Burrows was a prolific director, as his family noted in the statement to People that he had directed more than 1,000 TV episodes. He directed 236 episodes throughout the 11 seasons of Cheers, which ran on NBC from 1982 to 1993. Burrows also directed all 246 episodes over the 11 seasons of Eric McCormack and Debra Messing’s Will & Grace on NBC, which included the revival of the series from 2017 to 2019. Like Cheers, Burrows was an executive producer on Will & Grace.
“We lost a giant today, a mentor to me and a dear friend. #JamesBurrows directed every single episode of #Will&Grace… and pretty much everything else,” McCormack wrote in a tribute to Burrows on Instagram on Thursday. “The 800 lb gorilla of television comedy for fifty years, he was beloved by everyone, and has left not a mark but a footprint. An incredible legacy. Jimmy, thank you for everything you gave us. I love you. And I send so much love to Debbie and your whole beautiful family.”
Burrows also directed 15 episodes of the hit NBC sitcom Friends from 1994 to 1998 and 21 episodes of NBC’s Caroline in the City from 1995 to 1998. More recently, he directed four episodes of the revival of Grammer’s sitcom Frasier, which ran for two seasons on Paramount+ from 2023 to 2024. Burrows had previously directed 32 episodes of Frasier, which originated on NBC, from 1993 to 1997.
The TV great won 11 Primetime Emmy Awards over his career, including four for Best Comedy Series for Cheers as a producer, and two more for directing. He also won a Best Comedy Series in 2000 for producing Will & Grace, as well as an Emmy for directing Frasier.
Burrows also won five Directors Guild of America awards, including two for Cheers, one for Frasier and one for Will & Grace. Burrows also won a DGA for directing Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear’s ‘All in the Family’ and ‘The Jeffersons,’ and was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the guild in 2015.
On ABC, Burrows directed 75 episodes of the network’s hit sitcom Taxi — starring Judd Hirsch, Andy Kaufman, Marilu Henner, Tony Danza, Jeff Conaway and Danny DeVito — throughout the show’s first four seasons from 1978 to 1982.
In additon to serving as an executive producer on the show, Burrows, who in addition to executive producing the series, directed 47 episodes of Melissa McCarthy and Billy Gardell’s CBS sitcom Mike & Molly from 2010 to 2012.
James Burrows Directed His First TV Episode In 1974
Born Dec. 30, 1940, in Los Angeles, James Burrows career in television began in 1974 as a director on an episode of James L. Brooks and Allan Burns’ legendary sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Burrows directed three more episodes of the series through 1975.
Burrows directed more than 140 TV shows throughout his career, which included The Bob Newhart Show, The Tony Randall Show, Laverne & Shirley, Lou Grant, Rhoda, Wings, Roc, NewsRadio, Dharma & Greg, Two and a Half Men, Back to You, The Millers, 2 Broke Girls, The Big Bang Theory and Gary Unmarried (on which he was also an exective producer).
Burrows’ last TV credit was in 2025, when he directed and executive produced all 10 episodes of the Hulu series Mid-City Modern, starring Nathan Lane, Matt Bomer and Nathan Lee Graham. Mid-City Modern also earned Burrows a Primetime Emmy nomination for Best Directing.
The director would on occassion step in front of the camera for cameo. Among Burrow’s appearances was a stint as himself — Jimmy Burrows — on The Comeback, which reunited him and Friends star Lisa Kudrow.
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