Neil Simon, Pulitzer- and Tony-winning author, passes away at 91

Commander Wallace · 08-27-18, 07:27 PM

Quote: Neil Simon, the Pulitzer- and Tony-winning author of such plays as “The Odd Couple,” “Barefoot in the Park” and “Lost in Yonkers,” who died Aug. 26 at 91, was often called the world’s most popular playwright after Shakespeare.

Time magazine proclaimed him the “patron saint of laughter.” His shows, with an arsenal of sarcastic wit, became highly entertaining staples of high school and community theaters, and they popped up on stages as far away as Beijing and Moscow. But mostly, he dominated Broadway like no other playwright of the past half-century.

In the late 1960s and again in the mid-1980s Mr. Simon had four shows on Broadway simultaneously, the only times since Avery Hopwood in the 1920s that a playwright had achieved such a feat. His mind was a ceaselessly creative engine, turning out original movie scripts and screen adaptations of his own plays at a fantastic clip. “And I work at the post office during Christmas,” he quipped.

His crowning early comic achievement was “The Odd Couple” (1965), which became a hit film and TV sitcom and introduced two characters now embedded in pop culture: the sloppy, fun-loving Oscar Madison and the fussy neatnik Felix Ungar. The friends — one divorced, the other about to be — share a New York apartment and bicker like spouses.

and

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local...=.2befe43149b7

Rest in peace and thanks for all the laughs.

08-27-18, 07:27 PM	#1
Commander Wallace Navy Seal Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Under the sea in an Octupus garden in the shade Posts: 5,294 Downloads: 366 Uploads: 0	Neil Simon, Pulitzer- and Tony-winning author, passes away at 91 Quote: Neil Simon, the Pulitzer- and Tony-winning author of such plays as “The Odd Couple,” “Barefoot in the Park” and “Lost in Yonkers,” who died Aug. 26 at 91, was often called the world’s most popular playwright after Shakespeare. Time magazine proclaimed him the “patron saint of laughter.” His shows, with an arsenal of sarcastic wit, became highly entertaining staples of high school and community theaters, and they popped up on stages as far away as Beijing and Moscow. But mostly, he dominated Broadway like no other playwright of the past half-century. In the late 1960s and again in the mid-1980s Mr. Simon had four shows on Broadway simultaneously, the only times since Avery Hopwood in the 1920s that a playwright had achieved such a feat. His mind was a ceaselessly creative engine, turning out original movie scripts and screen adaptations of his own plays at a fantastic clip. “And I work at the post office during Christmas,” he quipped. His crowning early comic achievement was “The Odd Couple” (1965), which became a hit film and TV sitcom and introduced two characters now embedded in pop culture: the sloppy, fun-loving Oscar Madison and the fussy neatnik Felix Ungar. The friends — one divorced, the other about to be — share a New York apartment and bicker like spouses. and https://www.washingtonpost.com/local...=.2befe43149b7 Rest in peace and thanks for all the laughs. Last edited by Commander Wallace; 08-27-18 at 10:51 PM.