Jennifer Aniston mourned the loss of late “Friends” director James Burrows on Saturday, referring to the 11-time Emmy winner as a “father figure.”
“Oh boy… Papa Burrows. The hardest thing about writing this is that you spent a lifetime making people feel loved, and now it feels impossible to put all of that love into a few paragraphs,” Aniston began her Instagram tribute. “He called us his ‘kids’ — ‘Where are the kids?’ ‘Let’s see if the kids can make the joke work.’ No pressure.”
“His own incredible children were generous enough to share him with all of us who were lucky enough to experience his unicorn presence. He 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,” she continued. “Most of all, he taught us — the kids — how important it is to love and respect one another. To take care of each other. To have each other’s backs and support each other, no matter what. And we did just that.”
“I miss your voice. I miss your laugh. I miss your brilliance,” she concluded. “Wherever you are, I hope someone is asking, ‘Where are the kids?’”
Burrows and Aniston worked together on 15 episodes of the hit NBC sitcom between 1994 and ’98. The television director’s family included “Friends” as one of his greatest hits in their announcement of his death at age 85 on Friday.
“Over the course of his unparalleled career, Burrows directed more than 1,000 episodes of television and was instrumental in creating some of the most iconic series ever produced,” his loved one shared, “including ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show,’ ‘Taxi,’ ‘Cheers,’ ‘Frasier,’ ‘Friends,’ ‘Will & Grace’ and ‘The Big Bang Theory,’ among many others.”
Aniston’s former co-stars Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer and Matt LeBlanc are also among the A-Listers who have shared messages in his honor. Courteney Cox then shared a similar statement of her own later on Saturday.
“Jimmy B called me Cox-N-Hammer. I have no idea why or what it means, but I just went with it ‘cause he was Jimmy Burrows. He always referred to us as ‘the kids’… he took the cast under his wing and taught us everything we needed to know — whether through his direction, or telling us how things in our lives were gonna unfold — never sugar-coating anything and he was always right,” she shared. “I 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!”
“I’m not sure how someone with that much talent, wisdom, and adoration could be so egoless. Making anything the best it could be was all that mattered to Jimmy… well, that and his wonderful kids and his beautiful wife, Debbie. I so loved watching them fall in love,” Cox added. “I will miss you so much Jimmy… the joy and laughter you brought to everyone who knew you. How much you cared… but I know your light will always be shining on us.”
Burrows is survived by four daughters, seven grandchildren and his wife Debbie.
