{"id":2468952,"date":"2026-06-21T03:34:46","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T03:34:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2468952"},"modified":"2026-06-21T03:34:46","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T03:34:46","slug":"courteney-cox-honors-late-friends-director-james-burrows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/courteney-cox-honors-late-friends-director-james-burrows\/","title":{"rendered":"Courteney Cox Honors Late \u2018Friends\u2019 Director James Burrows"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/celebrities\/courteney-cox\/\"><strong>Courteney Cox<\/strong><\/a> shared a heartwarming tribute to late <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/shows\/friends\/\"><em>Friends<\/em><\/a> director <strong>James Burrows<\/strong> following <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/celebrity-news\/news\/james-burrows-dead-at-85-cheers-cocreator-dies-after-illness\/\">his death at age 85<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI will miss you so much Jimmy\u2026 the joy and laughter you brought to everyone who knew you. How much you cared\u2026 but I know your light will always be shining on us,\u201d Cox, 62, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DZ0oiHpHMrs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">wrote via Instagram<\/a> on Saturday, June 20.<\/p>\n<p>In her memorial post, Cox shared a humorous memory of Burrows, who directed 15 episodes of <em>Friends<\/em>, including the 1994 pilot, \u201cThe One Where It All Began.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJimmy B called me Cox-N-Hammer,\u201d she revealed. \u201cI have no idea why or what it means, but I just went with it \u2018cause he was Jimmy Burrows.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"wpcom-iframe-ad23eacc0a197cf90afe8ed4280b30c4\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" scrolling=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/embed.usmagazine.com\/protected-iframe\/ad23eacc0a197cf90afe8ed4280b30c4\" frameborder=\"0\" class=\"wpcom-protected-iframe\"><br \/>\n\t\t<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The Monica Geller actress recalled that Burrows was a crucial influence on the <em>Friends<\/em> cast early in the show\u2019s run, often dispensing advice and preparing them for superstardom.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe always referred to us as \u2018the kids\u2019\u2026 he took the cast under his wing and taught us everything we needed to know \u2014 whether through his direction, or telling us how things in our lives were gonna unfold \u2014 never sugar-coating anything and he was always right,\u201d she wrote on Saturday. \u201cI would beg him to make more time to direct us, but so did all of his other shows, because everything was better when he was around. You felt safe and confident and man, what a blast we had!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cox also touched on her relationship with Burrows away from the <em>Friends<\/em> set, explaining that she relished watching his courtship with second wife <strong>Debbie Easton<\/strong> before their 1997 wedding. (Burrows shared three daughters with his first wife, <strong>Linda Solomon<\/strong>, as well as a stepdaughter with Easton.)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not sure how someone with that much talent, wisdom, and adoration could be so egoless,\u201d she added. \u201cMaking anything the best it could be was all that mattered to Jimmy\u2026 well, that and his wonderful kids and his beautiful wife, Debbie. I so loved watching them fall in love.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Burrows\u2019 family announced on Friday, June 19, that the 11-time Emmy winner died at age 85 following a short illness.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBurrows understood that great comedy was never simply about laughter. It was about humanity, connection and truth,\u201d his family statement read. \u201cHis influence will continue to be felt for generations through the countless artists he inspired, the stories he helped tell and the millions of people whose lives were brightened by his work. \u2026 He will be profoundly missed and forever remembered.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Burrows directed for many of television\u2019s most famous sitcoms, including <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/celebrity-news\/news\/debra-messing-eric-mccormack-mourn-will-and-grace-director\/\"><em>Will &amp; Grace<\/em><\/a>, <em>Frasier<\/em>, <em>The Bob Newhart Show<\/em> and <em>The Mary Tyler Moore Show<\/em>. He cocreated <em>Cheers<\/em> with <strong>Glen<\/strong> and <strong>Les Charles<\/strong> in 1982.<\/p>\n<p>The director was inducted into the TV Hall of Fame in 2006 and received his own NBC career tribute in 2016, which featured a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/entertainment\/news\/friends-cast-reunites-for-james-burrows-special-w164924\/\">rare reunion with the cast of <em>Friends<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n<div id=\"news-block\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-form  \">\n\t<br \/>\n\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/themes\/us-weekly\/assets\/img\/newsletter-bg-wide.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"newsletter-form__background background-wide\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<div class=\"newsletter-signup__success\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<h3>Thank You!<\/h3>\n<p>You have successfully subscribed.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Following Burrows\u2019 death, Cox\u2019s <em>Friends<\/em> costar <strong>Jennifer Aniston<\/strong> <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/celebrity-news\/news\/jennifer-aniston-reacts-to-james-burrows-death-at-85\/\">remembered the TV director<\/a> as a \u201cfather figure\u201d early in her career.<\/p>\n<div class=\"link-related article link-related__with-thumb\">\n\t\t\t<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"article__thumbnail related-ab-test\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/celebrity-news\/news\/jennifer-aniston-and-courteney-cox-celebrate-friendsgiving\/\" target=\"\" data-source=\"01\"><\/p>\n<figure class=\"article__figure\">\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:56.25%;\" class=\"ratio-based-placeholder\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Jennifer-Aniston-Offers-a-Glimpse-at-Her-Sweet-Friendsgiving-Celebration-With-Courteney-Cox-1.jpg?crop=0px%2C0px%2C1998px%2C1131px&amp;resize=400%2C225&amp;quality=40&amp;strip=all\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Jennifer-Aniston-Offers-a-Glimpse-at-Her-Sweet-Friendsgiving-Celebration-With-Courteney-Cox-1.jpg?crop=0px%2C0px%2C1998px%2C1131px&amp;resize=200%2C113&amp;quality=55&amp;strip=all 200w, https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Jennifer-Aniston-Offers-a-Glimpse-at-Her-Sweet-Friendsgiving-Celebration-With-Courteney-Cox-1.jpg?crop=0px%2C0px%2C1998px%2C1131px&amp;resize=300%2C169&amp;quality=70&amp;strip=all 300w, https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Jennifer-Aniston-Offers-a-Glimpse-at-Her-Sweet-Friendsgiving-Celebration-With-Courteney-Cox-1.jpg?crop=0px%2C0px%2C1998px%2C1131px&amp;resize=400%2C225&amp;quality=40&amp;strip=all 400w, https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Jennifer-Aniston-Offers-a-Glimpse-at-Her-Sweet-Friendsgiving-Celebration-With-Courteney-Cox-1.jpg?crop=0px%2C0px%2C1998px%2C1131px&amp;resize=600%2C338&amp;quality=40&amp;strip=all 600w, https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Jennifer-Aniston-Offers-a-Glimpse-at-Her-Sweet-Friendsgiving-Celebration-With-Courteney-Cox-1.jpg?crop=0px%2C0px%2C1998px%2C1131px&amp;resize=800%2C450&amp;quality=40&amp;strip=all 800w, https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Jennifer-Aniston-Offers-a-Glimpse-at-Her-Sweet-Friendsgiving-Celebration-With-Courteney-Cox-1.jpg?crop=0px%2C0px%2C1998px%2C1131px&amp;resize=900%2C506&amp;quality=40&amp;strip=all 900w, https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Jennifer-Aniston-Offers-a-Glimpse-at-Her-Sweet-Friendsgiving-Celebration-With-Courteney-Cox-1.jpg?crop=0px%2C0px%2C1998px%2C1131px&amp;resize=1000%2C563&amp;quality=40&amp;strip=all 1000w, https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Jennifer-Aniston-Offers-a-Glimpse-at-Her-Sweet-Friendsgiving-Celebration-With-Courteney-Cox-1.jpg?crop=0px%2C0px%2C1998px%2C1131px&amp;resize=1200%2C675&amp;quality=40&amp;strip=all 1200w, https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Jennifer-Aniston-Offers-a-Glimpse-at-Her-Sweet-Friendsgiving-Celebration-With-Courteney-Cox-1.jpg?crop=0px%2C0px%2C1998px%2C1131px&amp;resize=1600%2C900&amp;quality=40&amp;strip=all 1600w, https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Jennifer-Aniston-Offers-a-Glimpse-at-Her-Sweet-Friendsgiving-Celebration-With-Courteney-Cox-1.jpg?crop=0px%2C0px%2C1998px%2C1131px&amp;resize=1800%2C1012&amp;quality=86&amp;strip=all 1800w, https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Jennifer-Aniston-Offers-a-Glimpse-at-Her-Sweet-Friendsgiving-Celebration-With-Courteney-Cox-1.jpg?crop=0px%2C0px%2C1998px%2C1131px&amp;resize=1920%2C1080&amp;quality=86&amp;strip=all 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 400px, (max-width: 770px) calc(100vw - 6em), 200px\" alt=\"Jennifer Aniston Offers a Glimpse at Her Sweet Friendsgiving Celebration With Courteney Cox\" width=\"400\" height=\"225\"\/><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"article__content\">\n<h3 class=\"article__title\">\n\t\t\t<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"article__title-link related-ab-test\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/celebrity-news\/news\/jennifer-aniston-and-courteney-cox-celebrate-friendsgiving\/\" target=\"\" data-source=\"01\"><br \/>\n    <span class=\"related-badge\">Related: <\/span><span class=\"related-title\">Jennifer Aniston Shares Sweet Photos From Friendsgiving With Courteney Cox<\/span><\/a><br \/>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\n\t\t\tJennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox got Us in the holiday spirit by kicking off Thanksgiving early. \u201cA few scenes from Friendsgiving,\u201d Aniston, 55, wrote via Instagram on Monday, November 25, alongside Polaroids of the pair all smiles at the party. Aniston and Cox, 60, formed a friendship after starring on Friends from 1994 to 2004. [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cHis own incredible children were generous enough to share him with all of us who were lucky enough to experience his unicorn presence,\u201d Aniston wrote via Instagram on Saturday. \u201cHe was a father figure to me. He always checked in on me. He worried about me, celebrated me, taught me, guided me and held me through the hardest times and the best of times. He spoiled us rotten.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She went on, \u201cMost of all, he taught us \u2014 the kids \u2014 how important it is to love and respect one another. To take care of each other. To have each other\u2019s backs and support each other, no matter what. And we did just that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.usmagazine.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Courteney Cox shared a heartwarming tribute to late Friends director James Burrows following his death at age 85. \u201cI will miss you so much Jimmy\u2026 the joy and laughter you brought to everyone who knew you. How much you cared\u2026 but I know your light will always be shining on us,\u201d Cox, 62, wrote via [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2354101,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25177],"tags":[22062,24003,21913],"class_list":["post-2468952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrities","tag-celebrity-deaths","tag-celebrity-news","tag-tv"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/The-Valleys-Zack-Warns-Theres-More-Amanda-West-Drama.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2468952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2468952"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2468952\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2468953,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2468952\/revisions\/2468953"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2354101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2468952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2468952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2468952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}