BEL AIR—On June 19, legendary television director, James Burrows died at the age of 85. According to family, he died peacefully in his sleep in Manhattan. The 11-time Emmy award winner directed television shows still known today including “Taxi,” “Friends,” “Frasier” and “The Big Bang Theory.”
James Edward Burrows was born to a Jewish family in Los Angeles on, December 30, 1940. He is the son of composer, Abe Burrows, and his wife, Ruth (nee Levinson). They moved to New York soon after his birth. He later moved back to California and lived in Bel Air.
It was his during theater work in the 1970s that James wrote to actress Mary Tyler Moore, and her husband, Grant Tinker seeking a job at MTM Enterprises. Tinker hired Burrows as a director.
This was the start of Burrows’ career with MTM Enterprises as a director in 1974 directing classic television shows such as: “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “The Bob Newhart Show,” “The Cosby Show,” “The Golden Girls,” “Phyllis,” “Rhoda,” “Laverne and Shirley,” “The Ted Knight Show,” “Busting Loose,” “The Associates” and many more.
Burrows and brothers Glen and Les Charles, who previously worked together at MTM enterprises, co-created 76 episodes of the famous sit-com, “Cheers.”
Burrows continued directing sitcoms on his own after including “Night Court,” “Dear John,” and others. He later worked for HBO as actor and director in 2005, 2014, and 2026, playing himself in “The Comeback.”
He married Linda Solomon in 1981. They divorced in 1993. In 1997, James married celebrity hairstylist, Debbie Easton. He leaves behind his wife and three daughters, Katherine (Kat) Burrows Schatzow, Ellie Burrows Gluck, and Margaret Abigail (Maggie) Burrows, and one stepdaughter Paris Ann Sellon.
