The 85-year-old, who began his career on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, passed away in his sleep this morning, June 19, after a brief illness, PEOPLE reports.
“Jimmy was the greatest comedic television director in the history of the medium,” Burrows’ agent Rick Rosen shared, per Deadline. “He directed the most iconic, defining shows of generations. Always a gentleman, it was an absolute honor to represent him.”
Burrows helped shape the language of television for decades. During his career, which spanned over 50 years, he co-created iconic shows such as Cheers, Taxi, Friends, Frasier, Will & Grace, Two and a Half Men, and The Big Bang Theory.
Burrows began his career in 1974 with The Mary Tyler Moore Show, going on to direct episodes of comedies like The Bob Newhart Show and Laverne & Shirley. He set the tone and helped assemble the casts for some of the biggest series of the 1970s, ’80s, ’90s, and 2000s by directing the pilots of Taxi, Cheers, Frasier, Friends, Will & Grace, 3rd Rock From the Sun, Two and a Half Men, Mike & Molly, and The Big Bang Theory.
Burrows’s TV directing career is unmatched. According to IMDb, he directed 246 episodes of Will & Grace, 236 episodes of Cheers, 75 episodes of Taxi, 49 episodes of Mike & Molly, 36 episodes of Frasier, and 15 episodes of Friends.
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