Horse and buggy plunged over cliff in Mill Creek Park
LOS ANGELES (AP) — James Burrows, who helped create volumes of laughter as director of more than a thousand episodes of such classic television comedies as “Cheers,” “Taxi,” “Friends” and “Will and Grace,” died Friday. He was 85.
His family confirmed his death in a statement to People, saying he “passed away peacefully today surrounded by his family.” No location or cause of death was provided.
Burrows spent his career behind the camera specializing in situation comedies. Few viewers recognized him or knew his name, other than to see it flash quickly on the screen in the opening credits. But they knew his work.
Burrows got his start in television relatively late at age 35 in 1974, directing episodes of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “The Bob Newhart Show,” and “Laverne & Shirley.”
He co-created “Cheers,” directing 243 of the 273 episodes, as well as all 246 episodes of “Will and Grace.”
He also helmed multiple episodes of such hits as “Frasier,” “Friends” and “Mike & Molly,” and the pilots of “Two and a Half Men” and “The Big Bang Theory.”
“When I direct a television show, I try to reach that sweet spot where the best script meets the best performance and the best chemistry between performers,” Burrows wrote in his 2022 memoir “Directed by James Burrows.” “Hitting that exact moment, where these factors land in combination, results in the sweetest and most enduring laugh.”
His family said, “Burrows understood that great comedy was never simply about laughter. It was about humanity, connection, and truth. That understanding became the foundation of a career that forever changed television.
“But beyond his remarkable achievements, Burrows will be remembered for something even greater: his kindness, generosity, and unwavering belief in the people around him. He possessed a rare ability to make everyone better and was known for remembering every person he met by name, making colleagues at every level feel seen, valued, and appreciated,” the family statement said.
Born James Edward Burrows on Dec. 30, 1940, in Los Angeles, he moved to New York when he was 5 years old. He spent five years in the Metropolitan Opera Children’s Chorus until his voice started to change. He attended LaGuardia High School of Music & Art.
Horse and buggy plunged over cliff in Mill Creek Park
115 Years Ago, 1911 transcribed as originally published in the Youngstown Vindicator:
“Accident in Mill Creek Park attracts crowds of curious drivers and two other occupants of the ill-fated rig had a miraculous escape from death – horse killed when it landed on the rocky pathway fifty feet below – animal blinded by Idora Park lights.”
“Crowds of curious people visited Mill Creek Park Sunday to view the scene of Saturday night’s accident when a horse and buggy with three people went over the steep cliff near Lanterman’s Falls. How the rig in which (they) were riding Miss Massingham, her brother, Edward Massingham, and 14-year-old Harold Cochran, happened to go over the steep precipice is a matter of conjecture. The occupants of the ill-fated buggy are unable to give any definite reason for the near fatal accident.
“Harold Cochran who was driving Saturday evening had been over the road where the accident occurred hundreds of times and was familiar with the danger of driving too close to the edge of the cliff. When the three people started from Idora Park Saturday evening the front apron of the buggy was up, as the occupants feared rain. The supposition is that the horse temporarily blinded by being driven from brilliantly lighted Idora Park into the darkness of Mill Creek Park, lost its way, got off the park road at the turn near the bridge and stumbled over the cliff. Young Cochran it is thought was engaged in talking with the other occupants and failed to notice where the horse was going.
“From the center of the road along which the rig was traveling to the edge of the rocky hillside is fully fifty feet. There is no guard railing along the top of the cliff, however. When the horse and buggy plunged down the first incline the top of the vehicle was ripped off by the overhanging branches of the trees. About 15 feet below the road is a narrow ledge of rock. When the buggy landed on this ledge the occupants managed to get of the vehicle, just how they can’t tell distinctly. The horse… rolled over the ledge to the second level about 50 feet below, pulling the buggy with it. The animal struck on the rocks and was fatally injured, dying in a short time. Had the people gone down with the horse and buggy they in all probability would have met a frightful death.
“The dead horse and the wrecked vehicle were still in the gorge Sunday morning, but were removed later in the day. The Cochran lad was extremely fond of the horse which was a family pet. He was deeply grieved as were the other members of the family over the equine’s violent death.
“The story of the accident was published in Sunday’s Vindicator. Miss Massingham, her brother Edward Massingham came here from Pittsburg to visit relatives near Canfield. They were being driven to the country by Harold Cochran. The young people stopped at Idora Park and had several dances. They were driving from the park along the park along the upper road when the horse, as stated, stumbled over one of the cliffs near Lanterman’s bridge.”
— Compiled by Dante Bernard, museum educator at the Mahoning Valley Historical Society.
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