James Burrows, the television director who co-created ‘Cheers’ and shaped five decades of American sitcoms, has died at the age of 85, with the news confirmed on Friday, 19 June 2026.
Burrows died peacefully on Friday while surrounded by his family, as reported by the Hollywood Reporter.
He was 85. Across a career that ran from the late 1970s, he became the most prolific and decorated comedy director in the medium, the steady hand behind some of the most-watched sitcoms ever made.
What James Burrows built on television
Burrows co-created Cheers in 1982 with brothers Glen and Les Charles, then directed every one of its episodes across 11 seasons. He went on to helm all 246 episodes of Will and Grace, and his fingerprints are on Taxi, Frasier, Friends and The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
Cheers alone reshaped the sitcom, turning a Boston bar and its barflies into appointment television and launching the careers of Ted Danson, Kirstie Alley and Woody Harrelson.
The finale in 1993 drew one of the biggest audiences in American television history, and the show still anchors his reputation.
His specialty was the multi-camera sitcom filmed in front of a live studio audience, a format he treated like theatre.
He had a gift for blocking actors and timing a laugh, and showrunners across the industry called him in to direct pilots because a Burrows pilot so often turned into a hit.
The work brought him a wall of awards, including multiple Emmy wins and a reputation as the director other directors studied.
He kept working deep into his seventies and eighties, mentoring younger filmmakers and remaining a fixture on sets long after many of his peers had stepped back.
Tributes pour in for James Burrows
The reaction from the people who worked with him was immediate. Will and Grace star Eric McCormack led the tributes with a heartfelt Instagram post that captured how the industry felt about losing its quiet architect of comedy.
“We lost a giant today, a mentor to me and a dear friend,” McCormack wrote.
“The 800 lb gorilla of television comedy for fifty years, he was beloved by everyone.”
The sentiment was echoed by casts and crews who built their careers on shows he steered.
For viewers, his legacy is on permanent rotation, because the shows he made still run daily on streaming platforms and cable around the world, including in South Africa.
The tributes are expected to continue through the weekend as the television world marks the loss of the man who, more than anyone, taught it how to land a joke.
