Jonathan Burrows (producer)

Burrows served as assistant stage director at New York City Opera in 1966.[1] He produced Fire! (1969), a musical that was short-lived, with 6 performances at the Longacre Theatre.[1][2] He was a producer for the off-Broadway plays Athol Fugard's Hello & Goodbye (1969, starring Martin Sheen & Colleen Dewhurst and directed by George C. Scott) and Contributions by Ted Shine (1970, starring Claudia McNeil), as well as the national tour of The Mad Show in 1968.[1] In 1969 he produced Fire!, a musical that was short-lived, with 6 performances at the Longacre Theatre on Broadway.[1][2]

He started in the film industry as an assistant director for David Lean on Ryan's Daughter (1970) and soon joined Columbia Pictures' executive training program. Burrows next worked as a production executive on A Delicate Balance, The Iceman Cometh, The Homecoming (all in 1973), Eugene Ionesco's Rhinoceros (1974), and The Man in the Glass Booth (1975).[1]

Following the publication of Gregory Mcdonald's novel Fletch in 1974, multiple attempts by Columbia Pictures to produce a film adaptation stalled, and eventually Burrows acquired the novel's film rights in 1976.[3] After Columbia Pictures passed on the film, Burrows shopped it around to every major studio in Hollywood, and some minor ones.[4] In 1985, Universal finally produced the film, and Burrows served as a producer. He was an associate producer for Texasville (Columbia Pictures, 1990).[1]

In 2014, Burrows partnered in the revival of Cole Porter's 1953 musical Can-Can for the Paper Mill Playhouse in Milburn, New Jersey.[1]

Between 2000 and 2013, he owned Mr. Cecil's California Ribs, three BBQ restaurants in Los Angeles.[5][6][7] The Los Angeles Times called his food “plates of meat to dream about". The second Mr. Cecil’s opened in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, and the third in Manhattan Beach, California.[7]

During this period he cooked at events throughout the country, including NYC's Big Apple BBQ Block Party in 2008.[8]

Burrows is married to Annie Burrows. His father was Selig Burrows, on whose nickname "Cecil", Jonathan named his restaurant Cecil's California Ribs. Jonathan is a cousin of James Burrows and the nephew of Abe Burrows.[7][9]

Burrows is a polo enthusiast and owner of the Mr. Cecil’s California Ribs polo team. In 2005, the team won the Pope Challenge Finals, and in 2010, the 12-goal season in Santa Barbara, the Vic Graber Memorial and the USPA 12-goal Intercircuit tournaments.[10][11][12] In 1985, he arranged a charity match with the Maharajah of Patiala's team from Punjab, India at the East River Park, New York.[13] In 2016, he played in the host Santa Barbara team against the Maharaja of Jaipur's Royal Jaipur Team.[14]

• Texasville (Associate Producer, 1990)
• Fletch (Produced by Special Arrangement, 1985)
• The Rovers (Short United ArtistsMGM) (Writer/Producer, 1976 https://www.imdb.com/videoplayer/vi3495540249)
• The Man in the Glass Booth (Production Executive, 1975)
• Rhinoceros (Production Executive, 1974)
• A Delicate Balance (Production Executive, 1973)
• The Iceman Cometh (Production Executive, 1973)
• The Homecoming (Production Executive, 1973)
• Ryan's Daughter (Third Assistant Director, 1970)

• Jonathan Burrows at IMDb
• Jonathan Burrows at the Internet Broadway Database