Neil Simon, Broadway's master of comedy, dies at 91

ABC ^ | Aug 26, 2018 | Mark Kennedy

[headstamp 2]

[I think Mel Brooks told that story,]

That’s who it was! It was a riot hearing him tell it.

[jmacusa]

LOL!

[John S Mosby]

Hilarious movie, and the female lead...marvelous.

The central park encounter with the flasher... “Oh myyyyyy Gooo-d” was the earliest use of the overused OMB today. Her tone and delivery priceless.

The remake, with Steve Martin— a waste of time, and I like Steve. No where near the edge of this guy’s trip to NY to interview for a job. The olde days.

And the ending—— won’t give it away. Great.

[frogjerk]

The Odd Couple Movie can’t hold a candle to the TV Show. Not even close.

[John S Mosby]

Not to be confused with the continual pain in the a...

Norman Lear and his “protege” Reiner... a meathead in real life and fortunately falling apart.

[the OlLine Rebel]

You chased a dog and you beat a horse; you’re stronger than you think!

[Myrddin]

A more significant loss than a certain Senator.

[Sirius Lee]

It’s Simon who should be the subject of 24/7 coverage/tribute. He actually gave something worthwhile and lasting to the world. The traitorous dope from AZ, not so much.

[vladimir998]

And she was a widow herself (although she married after that and before marrying Simon). Her first husband was Bobby Van - who died way too young of brain cancer if I recall correctly.

[TBP]

Even before he launched his theater career, he made history as one of the famed stable of writers for comedian Sid Caesar that also included Woody Allen, Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner.

That experience led Reiner to create a TV show based on it. The Petries are loosely based on the Reiners, and Alan Brady is based on Sid Caesar.

[TBP]

My mother was an extra on the film version of The Odd Couple. You can see her over Jack Lemmon's shoulder in the scene in the supermarket.

[TBP]

Hey, he and I share a birthday!

[TBP]

A friend of my mother’s had unknowing input into that movie.

My mother did some acting, and she did a fair amount of work as an extra. You can see her in the movie version of The Odd Couple over Jack Lemmon’s shoulder in the supermarket.

A number of her friends acted as well. One such was her friend Vanda. Vanda was a New Yorker through and through and even had the accent. (You might have seen her on The Lucy Show — her husband was a cousin of Lucy’s second husband.)

Vanda’s favorite expression, in her Noo Yawk accent, was “Oh my Gawd.” She said it a lot. Vanda was doing summer stock and the director was Danny Simon, Neil’s brother. Neil was working the room when he got to Vanda. Her eyes widened and she said, “Oh my Gawd, you’re Neil Simon!” he looked at her and said, “I’m gonna use that.”

About a year later, “Te Out of Towners” came out, starring Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis. All through the movie, Sandy Dennis can be heard saying “Oh my Gawd” just like Vanda.

[TBP]

I have a few Neil Simon stories. When the late Marvin Hamlisch and Carole Bayer Sager were "in a relationship", Neil Simon was at their place one day and said kind of offhandedly, "Your relationship would make a great musical." Before they could say no, he added, "I'll write the book" (the non-musical script.) That musical was They're Playing Our Song. It had a modestly successful Broadway run.

[TBP]

For a time, Simon lived in LA because several of his plays were being made into movies. Like most dyed-in-the-wool New Yorkers, he found LA, shall we say, a bit boring. “There are no people on the streets”, he once complained. He also is quoted as saying that “there are 87 interesting people in Los Angeles.”

Simon said he used to go over to Westwood, where UCLA is located, to stand in the movie lines — not to see the movies, but to feel the press of people around him. It made a New Yorker feel more at home.

[redinIllinois]

I’e always thought the movie is one of the best ever :)

[Dr. Sivana]

The Odd Couple Movie can’t hold a candle to the TV Show. Not even close.

I agree, mainly because Tony Randall was not merely neurotic, but the tidiness emanated from him, and Jack Lemmon still had a city not-quite-so-tidy aura about him. Klugman was also more likeable than Walter Matthau, so you can really root for him even though he was a natural slob. Finally, the chemistry over five years between Randall and Klugman made you really believe that they had a genuine affection for each other, while not being able to stand each other.