Overview
- His family confirmed to People that James “Jimmy” Burrows died on Friday, June 19, 2026, and said he "passed away peacefully" surrounded by loved ones while offering no formal cause or place of death.
- Burrows directed more than 1,000 television episodes over five decades and co‑created Cheers, directing most of its run and routinely steering pilots that launched shows such as Frasier, Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory.
- He won major industry honors including 11 Emmy Awards, multiple Directors Guild of America awards and induction into the Television Hall of Fame, and he received a DGA lifetime achievement prize for television directing.
- Networks, the DGA and dozens of actors from shows he shaped posted tributes that praised his mentorship, comic timing and method of building strong ensemble casts on set.
- Burrows’ influence lives on in the multi‑camera sitcom form he refined — particularly in director‑led pilot work, actor‑writer collaboration and live‑audience staging — and his shows continue to reach new viewers on streaming services.