“Did I relax and watch my boyhood ambitions being fulfilled before my eyes? Not if you were born in the Bronx, in the Depression and Jewish, you don’t.”
Emmy, Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winner Neil Simon
When I heard that playwright/screenwriter Neal Simon died over the weekend I thought back to when I read that back in the ’60s he once had three plays he’d written being performed on Broadway at the same time. I though that was remarkable.
Then I read in the New York Times today that he actually had four plays on Broadway at the same time:
For seven months in 1967, he had four productions running at the same time on Broadway: “Barefoot in the Park,” ”The Odd Couple,” ”Sweet Charity,” and “The Star-Spangled Girl.”
He started out writing in television in the late 40s and in the 50s with legends Sid Caesar, Carl Reiner, Larry Gelbart, and Mel Brooks. He followed his TV success as a Tony award-winning playwright and a four-time Oscar-nominated screenwriter.
I thought I’d put up links to posts that feature his work and quotes:
Writing ‘The Odd Couple’
Two People, One Confrontation
Neil Simon on Conflict
Neil Simon on Critics
The Odd Couple vs. The Odd Couple
Can Screenwriting Be Taught? (Simon claimed he learned to write from his brother Danny)