James Burrows Quotes

There was never any pressure on me to go into the business, but I was always aware of it. I'd go on the set with my father and he and my mother would always be singing.

I don't think any of us would be who we are if our parents weren't who they were. People that are in show business, and their parents are not in show business, their parents probably motivated them to get in show business.

I went into the family business. To me, it was the norm and not the exception.

The way it works in our family is, it's the family business. Much like in the Mafia. Every child is given the opportunity to act at a young age and to learn what it's like to be in the business. But I didn't really know I wanted to act when I was a child.

If my father's business hadn't gone broke, I'd be exporting nuts, bolts and sugar machinery right now. What an awful thought!

I didn't know anybody in show business, and I never thought it was the path I'd go down. I was hoping it was sports, like so many kids.

My mother always wanted to be an actress. She was an extra in movies and stuff. I have a feeling this is the classic story: The mother wants to be an actress, and the child ends up doing it. But it was never a jealousy thing between us. It was like - well, I was making my mom happy.

By the time I was ready for college, I didn't know what I wanted to do. I think I secretly wanted a show business career, but I was suppressing it.

Playing music has always felt very natural. You know, you do try to do other things, and you do learn lessons that way, but, eventually - well... if your dad is a plumber, you become a plumber. It's the family business, and I felt like I was taking over the family business.

I never thought I was going to go to work for my father's company.

I always saw myself working for the family business.

All of us kids ended up 'doing Mom.' There are four of us who've tried show business. Five if you insist on counting my sister the nun, who does liturgical dance.

My dad's a photographer. So I suppose he named me Ansel just in case I would take over the family business. I guess I failed him.

No one in my family had ever done anything acting-wise or entertainment industry-wise.

Well, acting was just in me and I tried to avoid it. I didn't want to do what my parents did, you know?

If my mother hadn't been trying to be a writer, I don't know if I would have thought of it myself.

My father was placid and easygoing. He owned a small shoe store where I helped out on Saturdays. I think he'd have been pleased if I'd made a career of working in the shoe store. But my mother was ambitious. She encouraged us to read books, and she pushed us toward a musical education.

I never considered the clothing business in college. But my father was a manufacturer of men's wear in the Northeast and wanted to investigate manufacturing in Asia. In 1972 he sent me to Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong for four months. I'm convinced it was his way of getting me into business, rather than letting me be a hippie.

I'd been very certain about not wanting to do the acting thing because of my father. I thought I'd always have the father-son thing of 'He got you the part.'

My father wasn't absolutely delighted. He wanted me to become a lawyer. I studied law, but I thought the shoe business was more exciting.

I wasn't looking to get into TV. My family was in the movie business, so I was never interested in that world.

I didn't really start performing until high school. My whole family is actually in the business, and started in the business in Chicago, so I was going to shows when I was a teeny-tiny kid, but I didn't really start performing until high school.

I come from a family of business people, but I had the idea I wanted to become an artist.

I'm the fourth generation to be in show business. It's pretty neat; it's nice to have that family history.

I was just born into a business family. It is really a destiny.