Neil Simon
Neil Simon was born as Marvin Neil Simon in 1927 to a Jewish family. He was raised in the Bronx of New York. He attended New York University as well as Denver University. He began writing scripts for television with his brother in 1948. He later went out on his own and began writing for the New York theatre. Today he is well known for his contribution to the arts including screenplays, collections of writings, television shows, and television series.
Simon was nominated for an Emmy in 1956 for the best writing in a comedy. He was again nominated in 1959. He was nominated for a Writers Guild Award in 1967 for the screen play ‘Barefoot in the Park’. He received a second Writers Guild nomination in 1968, this time for ‘The Odd Couple’. 1973, 1975, and 1978 found him with nominations, yet winning the Writers Guild Award continued to elude him. He excelled in 1989 when he was awarded the Lifetime Creative Achievement Award at the American Comedy Awards. He also won a Pulitzer Prize in 1991 for the drama, ‘Lost in Yonkers’.
Simon has completed 40 plays, the most famous being ‘Barefoot in the Park’. His plays are known for their family based plots, with plenty of humorous one liners thrown in. Simon was married to his first wife for 20 years. The marriage ended because she died. He has written about how that loss devastated him. He has had three failed marriages since then.
Simon continues to write today, but has moved on from plays to the big screen. His newest film, the Heartbreak Kid in 2006. It is a hilarious comedy about a young man who meets a girl and marries her immediately. On their honeymoon, he realizes life with her is going to be a complete nightmare. To add to the mix, he meets the girl he has always dreamed of while they are on their honeymoon.
