Neil Simon Has Died

Neil Simon passed away today at 91.



Rest In Peace, sir.

Updated On: 8/26/18 at 11:20 AM

TMZ says yes.

http://www.tmz.com/2018/08/26/neil-simon-dead-dies/

Kad said: "It’s easy to forget that he remains the most successful American playwright, and is the only writer to have two works in the list of the top 10 longest running plays (Barefoot in the Park and Brighton Beach Memoirs).
He WAS American theatrical comedy. Most of his plays don’t hold up very well and he’s fallen out of favor, but his legacy is immense."

He wasn't just a successful playwright. TV, Film, even his autobiographies. It's hard to think of any other American author who has entertained - and will continue to entertain - more people. There may never be another American playwright like him, if only because American audiences just don't support non-musicals as they once did.

I will always love 'The Eugene Trilogy', Lost in Yonkers, and Barefoot in the Park. I recognize it is an American classic, but I never much liked The Odd Couple (and I saw it with Art Carney and Walter Matthau, among other casts). I just didn't think lines like 'its either new cheese or old meat' (close enough) were funny. So, just based on those works, his place in theatre history would be well assured and deserved.

That said, I am amazed how many of his hit plays are dated to the point of being unwatchable. I recently watched California Suite and Plaza Suite on TCM and -- although I stuck to the end -- they were both pretty much unwatchable. The humor is lame, the situations forced, etc. With the exception of Maggie Smith, Jane Fonda, Barbara Harris and Michael Caine, all of the acting was over the top in a bad way...and Fonda and Harris's vignettes themselves were positively awful.

Same thing IMO with Prisoner of Second Avenue and Last of the Red Hot Lovers, both big hits, when I saw them in Summer Stock (in solid productions, with Broadway veterans in key roles).

I imagine that he will always be respected for the first plays I mentioned above, for his ability to turn out hits in the period that was in retrospect the beginning of the end for comedy on Broadway, etc., but that he will be viewed as the successor to Philip Barry, most of whose plays are also terribly dated although Philadelphia Story and Holiday will always be classics.

I'm so sorry to hear this news.

I so loved Come Blow Your Horn, Barefoot in the Park and The Star-Spangled Girl. A treasure-trove of memories they hold for me.

Neil Simon never received enough credit as a book writer of musicals. His books for Little Me and Promises, Promises are two of the funniest and best ever.

What a loss for our theatre.

Don't forget his career as a show "doctor". ( Hence the nickname "Doc" Simon) His touch is present in so many shows/films it would be impossible to list.

I was always partial to The Gingerbread Lady and I Ought to Be In Pictures and the Fortune Cookie is still pretty funny. ( well at least ot me!) Although part of the credit must go to the stars who knew how to play it.

I was watching The Cheap Detective for the umpteenth time this morning and Murder by Death is one of my favourite flat-out comedies. Mr Simon gave a great deal of pleasure to this world.

Updated On: 8/26/18 at 03:55 PM

Thanks for the many happy memories! Rest in Peace, Neil Simon!

sabrelady said: "Don't forget his career as a show "doctor". ( Hence the nickname "Doc" Simon) His touch is present in so many shows/films it would be impossible to list.

I was always partial to The Gingerbread Lady and I Ought to Be In Pictures and the Fortune Cookie is still pretty funny. ( well at least ot me!) Although part of the credit must go to the stars who knew how to play it."

Neil Simon had nothing to do with The Fortune Cookie, although it's a personal favorite of mine as well. the script is by Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond.