Neil Simon, one of the most influential American playwrights of all time, has died at the age of 91. TMZ was the first to report the news, writing that Simon’s family took him off life support on Sunday morning following his long battle with kidney disease, dementia, and Alzheimer’s. With a prolific knack for translating his signature wisecracking humor to scripts, Simon is perhaps best known for his plays The Odd Couple, Barefoot in the Park, Lost in Yonkers, Sweet Charity, and Biloxi Blues, eventually writing more than 30 plays for Broadway and beyond — netting three Tonys, a Pulitzer, and the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in the process. Simon’s creative output and decades-long dominance in his industry often has him considered as the most commercially successful playwright of all time, on top of being an unparalleled figure in the development of modern American comedy.
