James Burrows
{{short description|American television director (born 1940)}}
{{about|the television director|the British actor|James Burrows (actor)|the New Zealand rugby player and soldier|Jim Burrows (soldier)|the Queensland politician|Jim Burrows (politician)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = James Burrows
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1940|12|30}}
| birth_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| education = Oberlin College {{small|(BA)}}
Yale University {{small|(MFA)}}
| occupation = Television director
| notable_works = Cheers
Friends
Will & Grace
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
Taxi
| father = Abe Burrows
| other_names = Jim Burrows
Jimmy Burrows
| years active = 1965–present
| spouse = {{Plain list |
- {{marriage|Linda Solomon|1981|1993|reason=divorced}}
- {{marriage|Debbie Easton
|1997}}
}}
| children = 4
}}
{{Infobox company
| name = 3 Sisters Entertainment
| type = Joint venture
| industry = Television production
| founded = 1995
| founder = James Burrows and NBC Productions
| divisions = 3 Princesses and a P
}}
James Burrows (born December 30, 1940),{{cite web | url=https://brooklyneagle.com/articles/2020/12/30/milestones-december-30-birthdays-for-lebron-james-eliza-dushku-sandy-koufax/ | title=MILESTONES: December 30 birthdays for LeBron James, Eliza Dushku, Sandy Koufax | date=30 December 2020 }} sometimes known as Jim "Jimmy" Burrows,{{cite web|title = Of course Matthew Perry can't go to the Friends reunion|url = http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2016-01-15/of-course-matthew-perry-cant-go-to-the-friends-reunion|website = RadioTimes|access-date = 2016-01-15}} is an American television director. He has received numerous accolades including 11 Primetime Emmy Awards and five Directors Guild of America Awards. He was honored with the Directors Guild of America Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015 and NBC special Must See TV: An All-Star Tribute to James Burrows in 2016.
Burrows started his career with The Mary Tyler Moore Show in 1974.Stated in interview on Inside the Actors Studio Burrows has directed over 50 television pilots and co-created the television series Cheers (1982–1993). He has also formed 3 Sisters Entertainment, a joint venture with NBC. He is known for directing numerous episodes of comedy shows such as The Bob Newhart Show, Taxi, Frasier, Friends, Will & Grace, and 3rd Rock from the Sun.
He executive produced the Emmy Award-winning ABC specials Live in Front of a Studio Audience including Norman Lear's "All in the Family" and "The Jeffersons" in 2019, "All in the Family" and "Good Times" in 2019, and "The Facts of Life" and "Diff'rent Strokes" in 2021. He directed episodes for the revivals of the NBC sitcom Will & Grace (2017–2020), and the Paramount+ Frasier (2023–2024),
Early life and education
Burrows was born to a Jewish family[http://www.interfaithfamily.com/arts_and_entertainment/popular_culture/Interfaith_Celebrities_Jennifer_Grey_Dances_Again_Stuff_His_Dad_Says.shtml.upl Interfaith Family: "Somebody Put Baby in a Dance Competition"] September 14, 2010[http://www.jewishjournal.com/arts/article/the_heroes_of_jewish_comedy_20030704 Jewish Journal: "The Heroes of Jewish Comedy" by Tom Teicholz] July 3, 2003 in Los Angeles, California, the son of Ruth (née Levinson) and Abe Burrows, a well-known composer, director and writer.[http://www.filmreference.com/film/71/James-Burrows.html James Burrows Biography (1940-)] James has one sister, Laurie Burrows Grad.{{cite news|last1=Rosemberg|first1=Jasmin|title=Stars Sing Broadway Tunes for Alzheimer's at Sardi's Benefit|url=https://variety.com/2015/scene/vpage/stars-sing-broadway-tunes-for-alzheimers-at-sardis-benefit-1201456284/|access-date=16 September 2015|publisher=Variety|date=19 March 2015|ref=Rosemberg, Stars Sing Broadway}} When James was still a young child, his family moved to New York where James attended New York's High School of Music & Art.{{cite news|title=James Burrows - Inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award in Television Direction|url=http://www.dga.org/News/Guild-News/2015/Jan2015/Awards-Jim-Burrows-LATV.aspx|access-date=16 September 2015|publisher=Directors Guild of America|date=23 December 2013|ref=DGA, Inaugural Lifetime Acheivement}}{{cite web|title=Notable Alumni|url=http://alumniandfriends.org/our-community/notable-alumni/|website=Alumni & Friends of LaGuardia High School|access-date=16 September 2015|ref=LaGuardia Alumni}} Burrows is a graduate of Oberlin College and the graduate program of the Yale School of Drama.
Career
=1967–1973: Early career =
After Yale, Burrows returned to California where he became employed as a dialogue coach on O.K. Crackerby!, a television series starring Burl Ives and created by Burrows' father, Abe.{{cite news|last1=The Deadline Team|title=James Burrows & Robert Butler To Receive DGA Lifetime Achievement Award For Television|url=https://deadline.com/2014/12/james-burrows-robert-butler-dga-lifetime-achievement-award-television-1201309178/|access-date=17 July 2015|publisher=Deadline|date=4 December 2014|ref=Deadline DGA acheivement}} Burrows then took a job as an assistant stage manager for the 1967 play Holly Golightly, an adaptation of the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's.{{cite news|last1=Rosenberg|first1=Howard|title=The Jimmy Show|url=http://www.dga.org/Craft/DGAQ/All-Articles/0702-Summer-2007/DGA-Interview-James-Burrows.aspx|access-date=2 August 2015|publisher=Directors Guild of America|date=Summer 2007|ref=Rosenberg, Jimmy Show}} The production was unsuccessful, but the job served as Burrows' introduction to its star, Mary Tyler Moore. Early on, Burrows also worked for the road company of Cactus Flower and the Broadway production of Forty Carats.{{cite news|last1=Du Brow|first1=Rick|title=He Pilots the Pilots : How to succeed in television without really trying? Call James Burrows. He's the sitcom director with the golden touch. (Say "Cheers.")|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-03-19-ca-44586-story.html|access-date=16 January 2016|work=Los Angeles Times|date=19 March 1995}} He also went to direct the short lived Broadway play The Castro Complex. Burrows continued working in theater as a stage manager and transitioned into directing plays.{{cite web|last1=Lembeck|first1=Michael|title=Visual History with James Burrows|url=http://www.dga.org/Craft/VisualHistory/Interviews/James-Burrows.aspx|website=Directors Guild of America|date=5 June 2013 |access-date=2 October 2015|ref=Lembeck, Visual History}} Burrows directed traveling plays and a production at a Jacksonville, Florida dinner theater.{{cite news|last1=Weber|first1=Bruce|title=ARTS IN AMERICA; A Winding Path of Laughter From Stage to TV and Back|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/04/28/theater/arts-in-america-a-winding-path-of-laughter-from-stage-to-tv-and-back.html?pagewanted=2|access-date=2 October 2015|work=The New York Times|date=28 April 1998|ref=Weber, Winding Path}}
=1974–1981: Television director=
While working in theater, Burrows wrote Moore and her then husband Grant Tinker seeking a job at their production company, MTM Enterprises. In 1974, Tinker hired Burrows as a director for MTM Enterprises where he directed episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Bob Newhart Show. Tinker asked director Jay Sandrich, known for his work directing The Mary Tyler Moore Show and later The Cosby Show and The Golden Girls, to serve as a mentor to Burrows.{{cite book|last1=Littlefield|first1=Warren|title=Top of the Rock, Inside the Rise and Fall of Must See TV|date=2012|publisher=Doubleday|location=New York, NY|isbn=978-0-385-53374-4|pages=[https://archive.org/details/topofrockrisefal00litt/page/21 21–22]|edition=1st|ref=Littlefield, Top of the Rock|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/topofrockrisefal00litt/page/21}}
Burrows is best known for his comic timing, complex blocking for actors, and incorporating more sophisticated lighting in television studio shoots. He is also credited as being one of the first sitcom directors to increase the typical multi-camera television shoot from three to four cameras. During this time Burrows directed for numerous shows such as Phyllis, Rhoda, Laverne & Shirley, Busting Loose, The Ted Knight Show, The Associates, and On Our Own.
=1982–1997: ''Cheers'', ''Frasier'', and ''Friends'' =
Burrows co-created Cheers with brothers Glen and Les Charles. The Charles brothers were also former employees of MTM Enterprises and served as producers on the series Taxi where Burrows worked as in-house director for 76 episodes.{{cite news|last1=Raftery|first1=Brian|title=The Best TV Show That's Ever Been|url=https://www.gq.com/story/cheers-oral-history-extended|access-date=2 August 2015|publisher=GQ|date=2012|ref=Raftery, Best TV Show}} Burrows and the Charles brothers wanted to create a show where they could have more control. Cheers premiered on NBC on September 30, 1982. Although Cheers initially struggled in the ratings, the series became a hit, running 275 episodes over eleven seasons. Burrows directed all but 35 of those 275 episodes. During his time on Cheers Burrows also directed episodes for shows such as the NBC sitcoms The Hogan Family, Dear John, and Night Court.
Burrows then gained acclaim for directing the NBC sitcom Frasier. He won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series for the pilot, The Good Son in 1993. Burrows directed in total 32 episodes from 1993 to 1997. The series was a spinoff of Cheers focusing on the character of Dr. Frasier Crane portrayed by Kelsey Grammer. The series also starred David Hyde Pierce, John Mahoney, Peri Gilpin, and Jane Leeves. It received critical acclaim for its writing, directing and performances. It won five consecutive Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Comedy Series (for seasons 1–5). In 1998, Burrows directed a Chicago-based production of the 1939 comedy The Man Who Came to Dinner starring John Mahoney.
Burrows also directed 15 episodes of another NBC sitcom Friends starring Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, Courteney Cox, Matthew Perry, Matt LeBlanc, and Lisa Kudrow. The series follows six friends living in New York City. He received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series for the 1994 episode The One with the Blackout from Season 1. During this time he also received Emmy nominations for directing the pilot episodes of both the NBC sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun starring John Lithgow, Kristen Johnston, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Jane Curtin, and the ABC sitcom Dharma & Greg starring Jenna Elfman and Thomas Gibson. He also directed episodes of the NBC sitcoms Wings, NewsRadio, Caroline in the City, and the CBS sitcoms Pearl and George and Leo.
= 1998–2009: Established director =
From 1998 to 2006 Burrows directed every single episode of the NBC sitcom Will & Grace starring Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, Megan Mullally, and Sean Hayes. Burrows received twelve Primetime Emmy Award nominations for the series winning for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series in 2000. He was nominated for directing the episodes, "Pilot" (1998), "Homo for the Holidays" (2000), "Lows in the Mid-Eighties" (2001), "A Chorus Lie" (2002), "24" (2003), and "It's a Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad World" (2005). Burrows directed every episode of Will & Grace during its initial eight-year run.{{cite news|last1=Tepper|first1=Allegra|title=Director James Burrows Feted by TV Academy|url=https://variety.com/2013/tv/news/jennifer-aniston-tv-academy-celebrate-james-burrows-1200704682/|access-date=17 July 2015|publisher=Variety|date=8 October 2013|ref=Variety}}
In 2006 he directed the pilot of the Chuck Lorre created CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory starring Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, Simon Helberg, Kunal Nayyar, Sara Gilbert, and Mayim Bialik. In 2003 he directed the pilot of another Chuck Lorre created CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men starring Charlie Sheen and Jon Cryer. During this time he also directed episodes of shows such as the CBS sitcoms The Class, Courting Alex, and Gary Unmarried, the Fox sitcom Back to You, and the ABC sitcom Hank.
= 2010–present: Revivals and recognition =
Burrows directed high-profile sitcoms during the 2010s including the CBS sitcoms Mike & Molly (2010–2016) starring Billy Gardell, and Melissa McCarthy, and The Millers (2013–2015) starring Will Arnett, Margo Martindale, Beau Bridges. Burrows reunited with Matt LeBlanc with Man with a Plan (2016–2020). He also directed the sitcom B Positive (2020–2022) starring Annaleigh Ashford. Burrows directed episodes of numerous television series including the ABC sitcoms Romantically Challenged, Better with You, the CBS sitcoms $#*! My Dad Says, 2 Broke Girls, Partners, Friends with Better Lives, Superior Donuts, and The Neighborhood, the NBC sitcoms Sean Saves the World, Crowded, and the Netflix comedy series Disjointed.
By 2012, Burrows had directed over 50 pilots for television series.{{cite news|last1=Ulaby|first1=Neda|title=Making A Comedy Pilot? You Might Want To Call James Burrows|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/monkeysee/2012/09/25/161680089/making-a-comedy-pilot-you-might-want-to-call-james-burrows|access-date=17 July 2015|publisher=NPR|date=4 September 2012|ref=NPR}} Burrows has directed over 1,000 episodes of television, a milestone he achieved in November 2015 with the NBC sitcom Crowded.{{cite news|last1=Andreeva|first1=Nellie|title=Veteran Sitcom Director James Burrows Hits 1,000 TV Episodes Mark|url=https://deadline.com/2015/11/james-burrows-1000-tv-episodes-directed-1201627814/|access-date=10 January 2016|publisher=Deadline|date=17 November 2015|ref=Andreeva, 1000 episode}} To celebrate Burrows' achievement, NBC aired a special tribute on February 21, 2016, titled Must See TV: An All-Star Tribute to James Burrows featuring cast reunions from many of the series Burrows has directed such as Cheers, Taxi, Friends, Frasier, The Big Bang Theory, Will & Grace and Mike & Molly.{{cite news|last1=Eng|first1=Joyce|title=NBC Plans Friends Reunion and Hairspray Musical, Defends Donald Trump Appearances|url=https://www.tvguide.com/news/friends-reunion-nbc-hairspray-musical-donald-trump-appearances/|access-date=13 January 2016|work=TV Guide|date=13 January 2016}} In January 2020, Andy Fisher and Burrows won the Directors Guild of America Award for Variety/Talk/News/Sports – Specials for Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear's All in the Family and The Jeffersons.{{cite web
|url=https://patch.com/california/los-angeles/1917-director-takes-home-top-prize-dga-awards
|title='1917' Director Takes Home Top Prize At DGA Awards
|date=January 26, 2020
|website=www.patch.com
|publisher=Patch
|access-date=February 4, 2020
}}
In 2016, Burrows directed his 1,000th TV episode, on NBC's Crowded.{{cite magazine|first=Brian|last=Lowry|title =James Burrows Marks Directing Milestone as Sitcoms Lose 'Must See' Label|url = https://variety.com/2016/voices/columns/director-james-burrows-1000-episodes-multicamera-sitcoms-1201706645/|magazine = Variety|date=February 16, 2016|access-date = April 7, 2017}} Burrows took part in two revivals, Will & Grace (2017–2020) with the original cast reunited. He received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series for the episode, "We Love Lucy". In 2023, he directed the first two episodes of the revival of Frasier on Paramount+.
In front of the camera
Burrows has had cameo appearances in several of the shows for which he has directed. In the first season of Friends, Burrows appeared in the episode "The One with the Butt" as the director of the film in which the character Joey Tribbiani is cast as Al Pacino's "butt double".{{cite magazine|title=Friends|url=https://www.ew.com/article/2001/09/15/friends-5|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|access-date=10 October 2015|ref=EW, Friends|archive-date=7 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151007225427/http://www.ew.com/article/2001/09/15/friends-5|url-status=dead}} He also appears as a television director named Jimmy in the 2005 HBO series The Comeback.{{cite news|last1=Martel|first1=Ned|title=Time to Pause the Laugh Track|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/29/arts/television/time-to-pause-the-laugh-track.html?_r=0|access-date=17 July 2015|work=The New York Times|date=29 September 2005|ref=NYT Pause the Laugh Track}} Burrows played himself on the series. An episode of Scrubs, "My Life in Four Cameras", had a character named Charles James in honor of Cheers creators Burrows and Glen and Les Charles. It was previously asserted in Sitcoms: the 101 Greatest TV Comedies of All Time (2007) that Burrows served as the silhouette of the customer who knocks on the door in the final scene of Cheers,{{cite book|last1=Bloom|first1=Ken|last2=Blastnik|first2=Frank|title=Sitcoms: the 101 Greatest TV Comedies of All Time|date=2007|publisher=Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, Inc.|location=New York, NY|isbn=978-1-57912-752-7|page=63|ref=Bloom 101 Greatest Sitcoms}} but Burrows himself refuted this claim on episode 9 of the NewsRadio-themed podcast Dispatches from Fort Awesome, revealing that the actual "Man Who Knocks" was agent Bob Broder.{{cite podcast|url=http://www.stolendress.com/wp/dispatches-from-fort-awesome-episode-9-james-burrows|title=Dispatches From Fort Awesome: A NewsRadio Podcast|website=stolendress.com|publisher=StolenDress Entertainment|host=Jason Klamm and Allen Rueckert|date=30 August 2016|time=47:25|access-date=31 August 2016}}
Personal life
Burrows is married to celebrity hairstylist Debbie Easton; the couple lives in Manhattan.{{cite web|url=http://www.6sqft.com/james-burrows-go-to-90s-sitcom-director-buys-handsome-greenwich-village-apartment-for-4-2m/|title=James Burrows, Go-To '90s Sitcom Director, Buys Handsome Greenwich Village Apartment for $4.2M|last=Doge|first=Annie|date=5 March 2015|publisher=6sqft.com}} Burrows was previously married to Linda Solomon.{{cite web|title=James Burrows|url=http://celebrityimages.org/celebrity/123273/376533|archive-url=https://archive.today/20160121110435/http://celebrityimages.org/celebrity/123273/376533|url-status=usurped|archive-date=January 21, 2016|website=Celebrity Images|access-date=10 January 2016}}{{cite web|title=Burrows, James 1940- (Jim Burrows, Jimmy Burrows)|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3055500040.html|website=Encyclopedia.com|access-date=10 January 2016}} He has three daughters and one stepdaughter.
Filmography
=Acting=
Television
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable"|Notes |
|---|
| 1974
| Rhoda | Agent | Episode: "The Lady in Red" |
| 1975
| Phyllis | Telephone Man | Episode: "Up for Grabs" |
| 1977
| Maintenance Man | Episode: "Halls of Hartley" |
| 1989
| Cheers | Man Standing in the Bar | {{Plain list |
}} |
| 1994
| Friends | Director | {{Plain list |
}} |
| 2005, 2014
| Himself | {{Plain list |
}} |
| 2020
| Himself | Episode: “Filthy Phil, Part II” |
= As a director =
Film
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable"|Notes |
|---|
| 1978
| More Than Friends | rowspan="2" | Director | Comedy film{{cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/474111/more-than-friends|title=More Than Friends|work=Turner Classic Movies|access-date=April 22, 2016}} |
| 1982
| Partners | Gay-themed buddy comedy film{{cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/86295/partners#credits|title=Partners|work=Turner Classic Movies|access-date=April 22, 2016}} |
Television
Awards and nominations
{{main|List of awards and nominations received by James Burrows}}
Over the course of his career, Burrows has been nominated for fifteen Directors Guild of America awards, and for an Emmy Award every year between 1980 and 2005, excluding 1997.{{cite news|last1=Tepper|first1=Allegra|title=Director James Burrows Feted by TV Academy|url=http://variety.com/2013/tv/news/jennifer-aniston-tv-academy-celebrate-james-burrows-1200704682/|access-date=17 July 2015|publisher=Variety|date=8 October 2013|ref=Variety}} Burrows has won eleven Emmy Awards and five Directors Guild of America Awards.{{cite web|url=https://www.emmys.com/bios/james-burrows|title=James Burrows on Emmys.com}} The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences celebrated Burrows' forty-year career by hosting a panel in his honor on October 7, 2013.
Further reading
- Burrows, James with Eddy Friedland (2022). Directed by James Burrows: Five Decades of Stories from the Legendary Director of Taxi, Cheers, Frasier, Friends, Will & Grace, and More. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 9780593358269.
- Darowski, Joseph J.; Darowski, Kate (2017). Frasier: A Cultural History. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781538113875.
- Darowski, Joseph J.; Darowski, Kate (2017). Cheers: A Cultural History. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781442277960.
- Littlefield, Warren with T.R. Pearson (2012). Top of the Rock: Inside the Rise and Fall of Must-See TV. New York: Doubleday. ISBN 9780385533744.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0123273}}
- {{emmytvlegends name|james-burrows}}
{{Navboxes
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|list =
{{DirectorsGuildofAmericaOutstandingDirectingComedySeries}}
{{DirectorsGuildofAmericaAwardVarietySpecials}}
{{DirectorsGuildofAmericaAwardLifetimeTelevision}}
{{EmmyAward ComedyDirector}}
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{{2006 Television Hall of Fame}}
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Category:20th-century American Jews
Category:21st-century American Jews
Category:American male television writers
Category:Television writers from California
Category:American television directors
Category:American television producers
Category:David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University alumni
Category:Directors Guild of America Award winners
Category:Film directors from Los Angeles
Category:Film directors from New York City
Category:Oberlin College alumni
Category:Primetime Emmy Award winners
Category:Screenwriters from New York (state)