Sad news today, as renowned director James Burrows (Mid-Century Modern, Fraiser) has passed away. Burrows died peacefully in his sleep following his brief illness. He amassed more than 40 Emmy nominations and received four DGA Awards.
For those who don’t know, Burrows was born in Los Angeles on December 30, 1940. Burrows grew up in Manhattan’s West Side, in grade school he was a member of the Metropolitan Opera Boys Choir and would end up going for his undergraduate degree at Oberlin College in Ohio. He would then go for his graduate degree at the Yale School of Drama. He later gain a natural talent for directing and in 1966, he would get his first Broadway job as an assistant manager for a musical version of Breakfast at Tiffany’s. The young Burrows was able to meet one of the stars of musical, Mary Tyler Moore (Hot in Cleveland, Against the Current).
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Burrows wrote to Moore and was able to land a job at MTM and from there was not only directing her show The Mary Tyler Morre Show, but he went on to do three more. The company had him working on shows like Paul Sands in Friends and Lovers, Phyllis, Rhonda, The Bob Newhart Show, The Betty White Show, and Lou Grant. During his career Burrows helmed more than 20 telefilms and one movie, a comedy called Partners. In 2023, he returned to Fraiser to direct the first episode of the Paramount+ reboot and would handle other installments.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, when asked about the secret to his success Burrows issued this statement, “‘I’m not a martinet or a dictator,’ he said. ‘I don’t come in for the day of rehearsal knowing where my actors are going to be on the stage. I sit with my cast, and I talk to them about their characters. And I try to get them to like one another, because if they do, that’s going to come across onscreen. So I’ll try to do lunch together. Sometimes I’ll bring them here for a party, which I did with Mike & Molly. With the Friends kids, I took them to Vegas.’”
Burrows may be gone but his works will not be forgotten.