Deron Generally
Deron GenerallyThere are few names more synonymous with the words playwright and Broadway then Neil Simon and today the world of entertainment and fans mourn the loss of this prolific writer who was a master at exposing the human condition.
Neil Simon was born in The Bronx, New York in 1927 who started writing for shows like Sid Caesar’s Your Show of Shows alongside legends like Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner. He wrote his first play Come Blow Your Horn in 1961 and it was followed by two more successful plays Barefoot in the Park and The Odd Couple. Simon would receive his first Tony Award for The Odd Couple.
More plays followed including Plaza Suite, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, Broadway Bound, Sweet Charity and Lost in Yonkers.
Simon’s impressive career took him from Broadway to Hollywood where he wrote the screenplays to many of his films including The Odd Couple, Biloxi Blues and Lost in Yonkers. His original screenplays include some of the most beloved and lauded comedies in history including The Out-Of-Towners, The Heartbreak Kid, The Goodbye Girl, The Cheap Detective and Seems Like Old Times.
Hollywood is also acknowledging the huge career and talent of Neil Simon.
Broadway Veteran and Star Trek the Next Generation star Brent Spiner
Neil Simon. Comedy giant. RIP
— Brent Spiner (@BrentSpiner) August 26, 2018
Star Wars The Last Jedi star Mark Hamill
“There’s no more money anyone can pay me that I need. There are no awards they can give me that I haven’t won. I have no reason to write another play except that I am alive and I like to do it”-Neil Simon #RIP GIANT of the American Theatre #ThanksForTheLaughs pic.twitter.com/NZIVGPLdst
— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) August 26, 2018
The Wire and Jack Ryan star Wendell Pierce
Neil Simon, Broadway’s long-reigning king of comedy, dies at 91 https://t.co/uI1bXsKkEF
— Wendell Pierce (@WendellPierce) August 26, 2018
Simon has received four Tony’s for his work, a Pulitzer Prize, four Writer’s Guild Awards and the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Simon died last night at New York-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City from complications from pneumonia.
