Neil Simon.

Growing up in the Bronx, New York City, Neil Simon started writing for radio and television at 50 dollars a week. He soon earned 1,600 dollars a week writing for comedians like Sid Caesar, Red Buttons, and Jackie Gleason. His grandparents were Russian Jewish immigrants, and his father Irving was a garment salesman. Simon attended DeWitt Clinton High School and later studied at New York University and the University of Denver. By 1956 he turned to Broadway, and in 1961 he had his first major hit with Come Blow Your Horn.

Simon’s breakout came in 1961 with Come Blow Your Horn. The following year he produced Barefoot in the Park and Little Me. In 1966, four of his shows ran simultaneously on Broadway: Sweet Charity, The Star-Spangled Girl, The Odd Couple, and Barefoot in the Park. The Odd Couple, inspired by his brother Danny’s divorce, became one of his most famous works and was adapted into a film. Simon won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1991 for Lost in Yonkers, along with a Tony Award. He received 15 Tony Award nominations overall and was awarded a Golden Globe for Best Screenplay. His plays were frequently adapted into hit movies, often written by Simon himself.

Simon married four times: Joan Baim from 1953 until her death in 1973; actress Marsha Mason from 1973 to 1983; Diane Lander twice 1987–1988 and 1990–1998; and Elaine Joyce from 1999 until his death. He had two daughters, Ellen and Nancy, with Baim, and adopted a daughter, Bryn, with Lander. After losing his first wife, Simon married Marsha Mason just six months later after a 22-day courtship, an experience he turned into the play and film Chapter Two 1979. He practiced Shaolin Qi Gong and enjoyed playing tennis. In 2004, he received a kidney transplant from his publicist Bill Eveans.

Neil Simon’s more than 30 plays, nearly all adapted into films, make him one of Broadway’s most prolific playwrights. He holds the record for the most Oscar and Tony nominations received by any writer. In 1983, the Alvin Theater on Broadway was renamed the Neil Simon Theater in his honor. He received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2006 and the Kennedy Center Honors. His works continue to influence comedy and playwriting. Audiences most remember him for The Odd Couple, a classic story of mismatched roommates.