{"id":6209,"date":"2026-06-20T13:45:33","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T13:45:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/matt-leblanc-lisa-kudrow-and-david-schwimmer-mourn-beloved-friends-director-james-burrows\/"},"modified":"2026-06-20T13:45:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T13:45:33","slug":"matt-leblanc-lisa-kudrow-and-david-schwimmer-mourn-beloved-friends-director-james-burrows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/matt-leblanc-lisa-kudrow-and-david-schwimmer-mourn-beloved-friends-director-james-burrows\/","title":{"rendered":"Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow and David Schwimmer mourn beloved &#8216;Friends&#8217; director James Burrows"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F3%2F2026%2F06%2F131639040.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>\u201cFriends\u201d stars Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer and Lisa Kudrow took to social media to mourn their late collaborator James Burrows following <a href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2026\/06\/19\/entertainment\/james-burrows-will-grace-director-and-cheers-co-creator-dead-at-85\/\">his heartbreaking death<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The iconic TV director, who was best known for his work on \u201cWill &amp; Grace,\u201d \u201cFrasier\u201d \u201cFriends\u201d and more, died at the age of 85 on Friday, his family confirmed to People. Afterward, LeBlanc shared a rare Instagram post paying tribute to Burrows.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJimmy, words cannot describe the impact and influence you had on us and everyone who was lucky enough to have known you,\u201d LeBlanc wrote, as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DZyfT-tFA6W\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">he shared a selfie<\/a> of himself and Burrows smiling at a sporting event. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>\u201cFriends\u201d stars Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer and Lisa Kudrow took to social media to mourn their late collaborator James Burrows.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>The iconic TV director, who was best known for his work on \u201cWill &amp; Grace,\u201d \u201cFrasier\u201d \u201cFriends\u201d and more, died at the age of 85 on Friday. <span class=\"credit\">WireImage<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cYou sir are a true icon on so many levels. Well wishes in your next act,\u201d the 58-year-old continued. \u201cYou will be missed. God Bless.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>LeBlanc also included a throwback photo from the 2016 NBC special \u201cMust See TV: An All-Star Tribute to James Burrows,\u201d featuring him and Schwimmer smiling while hugging a goofy-faced Burrows.<\/p>\n<p>Schwimmer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DZyol6JgJCA\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">posted the same photo<\/a> on Instagram and wrote, \u201cJimmy Burrows brought out the best in every actor he ever worked with, and elevated every show he directed, making it funnier and more moving than anyone expected.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHis warmth, humility and generosity made us feel safe, like family, and I\u2019m sure we weren\u2019t the only cast to feel that way. He looked out for us, on camera and off.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>\u201cJimmy, words cannot describe the impact and influence you had on us and everyone who was lucky enough to have known you,\u201d LeBlanc, seen here with the cast of \u201cFriends\u201d and Burrows, wrote on Instagram.  <span class=\"credit\">NBCU Photo Bank\/NBCUniversal via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>LeBlanc also included a throwback photo from the 2016 NBC special \u201cMust See TV: An All-Star Tribute to James Burrows,\u201d featuring him and Schwimmer smiling while hugging a goofy-faced Burrows, as seen above. <span class=\"credit\">NBCU Photo Bank\/NBCUniversal via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The 59-year-old actor also called Burrows \u201cloving, wise, encouraging, challenging, instructive, patient, inspiring, playful \u2014 and on my best days, I\u2019d like to think, even proud.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThousands of writers, actors, producers, crew members and network execs are forever blessed to have been on a sound stage with him, watching him work and learning from his incomparable talent,\u201d he continued, before concluding, \u201cJimmy, I miss you already and I\u2019m forever grateful to you. Thank you for being such a wonderful director, mentor and friend.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kudrow, meanwhile, posted a photo to her Instagram Stories of herself and the late director on the set of \u201cThe Comeback.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In Burrows\u2019 2022 memoir, \u201cDirected by James Burrows,\u201d he said he knew \u201cFriends\u201d was a show he wanted to work on. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Lisa Kudrow, meanwhile, posted a photo to her Instagram Stories of herself and the late director on the set of \u201cThe Comeback,\u201d as seen above. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Burrows directed 15 episodes of \u201cFriends\u201d over the course of its ten seasons. <span class=\"credit\">NBCU Photo Bank\/NBCUniversal via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cI had a good sense about\u00a0\u2018Friends\u2019\u00a0and knew two things immediately: one, I didn\u2019t have time to direct it, and two, I had to direct it. It became the last pilot shot that year,\u201d he wrote of his feelings in 1994. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI fell in love with these six kids on the page immediately. Ninety-five percent of the original pilot script made it to air.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI knew the show had a chance to really take off and told the kids, \u2018This is your last shot at anonymity. Once the show airs, you guys will never be able to go anywhere without being hounded.\u2019 None of them believed me,\u201d he continued. <\/p>\n<p>Burrows directed 15 episodes of \u201cFriends\u201d over the course of its ten seasons. He even earned an Emmy nomination for \u201cThe One with the Blackout.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2026\/06\/20\/entertainment\/matt-leblanc-lisa-kudrow-and-david-schwimmer-mourn-beloved-friends-director-james-burrows\/\" target=\"_blank\">Source link<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cFriends\u201d stars Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer and Lisa Kudrow took to social media to mourn<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6210,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/131639040.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6209\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}