NEIL SIMON Biography - Writers

 
 

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NEIL SIMON

Name: Neil Simon                                                                   
Born: July 4, 1927                                                                 
                                                                                   
Neil Simon (born Marvin Neil Simon July 4, 1927 in The Bronx, New York City), is   
an American playwright and screenwriter. He is one of the most reliable             
hitmakers in Broadway history, as well as one of the most performed playwrights     
in the world. From the mid sixties to the mid Eighties, Simon's name became a       
synonym for popular and financial success, like Spielberg's later. Though           
primarily a comic writer, some of his plays, particularly the Eugene Trilogy and   
The Sunshine Boys, reflect on the 20th century Jewish-American experience.         
                                                                                   
Simon has been married five times, to dancer Joan Baim (1953-1973), actress         
Marsha Mason (1973-1981), twice to Diane Lander (1987-1988 and 1990-1998), and     
currently actress Elaine Joyce. He is the father of Nancy and Ellen, from his       
first marriage, and Bryn, whom he adopted with Lander.                             
                                                                                   
Simon has an honorary L.H.D. degree from Hofstra University and an honorary D.H.C. 
degree from Williams College. He is the namesake of the former Alvin Theatre, (now 
the Neil Simon Theatre) a legitimate Broadway theater, and an honorary member of   
the Walnut Street Theatre's board of trustees.