James Burrows, director of Cheers and Will & Grace, dies at 85

James Burrows died Friday, June 19, 2026, at age 85. ” No location or cause was provided. Burrows directed 243 of the 273 episodes of Cheers, which he co-created, and all 246 episodes of Will & Grace.

He also directed multiple episodes of Frasier, Friends, and Mike & Molly, and the pilots of Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory. He began directing sitcoms in 1974 at age 35, starting with The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, and Laverne & Shirley. Born James Edward Burrows on December 30, 1940, in Los Angeles, he moved to New York at age 5.

He spent five years in the Metropolitan Opera Children’s Chorus, attended LaGuardia High School of Music & Art, earned a bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College, and studied at the Yale School of Drama alongside Robert Klein, John Guare, and John Badham. His father was Broadway writer and director Abe Burrows.

Crackerby! in 1965 and working as an assistant on The Patty Duke Show. He later worked for Broadway producers Lee Guber, Frank Ford, and Shelly Gross, and met Mary Tyler Moore while working on the stage production of Holly Golightly.

Burrows increased the standard multicamera sitcom shoot from three to four cameras. He directed more than 75 pilots that became series. In 2019 he served as executive producer on live versions of All in the Family and The Jeffersons.

His 2022 memoir is titled Directed by James Burrows. NBC said in a statement: “Jimmy Burrows was the man behind the curtain. ” Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman, who worked with Burrows for 16 seasons on Taxi and Cheers, said: “He was the very best at his craft.

Burrows was married to Debbie Easton since 1997. He had daughters Kat Schatzow, Ellie Gluck, and Maggie Burrows from his first marriage to Linda Solomon, who died in 2004, and a stepdaughter, Paris. He is survived by a sister, Laurie Burrows Grad, and seven grandchildren.