Neil Simon
Marvin Neil Simon was born the fourth of July1927 in the Bronx, New York, the second son of Irving Simon, a Jewish traveling salesman and his wife Mamie. He grew up in Manhattan's Washington Heights neighborhood. He was not a very good student and was eager to leave his all-boys high school to fight World War II. While attending New York University as an engineering student, Simon served in the Air Force Reserve where he was the Sports Editor for the Rev-Meter from 1945-1946 until fulfillment of his obligation at which time he took a position with Warner Brothers as a mailroom clerk. Following his discharge in 1946, he began writing scripts with his brother, Danny, for radio and television personalities. The first of their jobs, paying fifty-dollars-a-week was writing for Goodman's CBS radio show. Their sketches for Phil Silvers, Gary Moore, Jerry Lewis and Broadway shows such as Catch a Star (1955) and New Faces of 1956 contributed to Neil's wide popularity. The siblings parted ways and Simon went solo. His early days as a playwright were filled with fears of failure. "In the beginning, it terrorized me, because I knew if my plays failed it meant going to California and making a living in television for the rest of my life
With The Gingerbread Lady (1970), Neil began dealing with more serious themes; Chapter Two (1977) was autobiographical and Brighton Beach Memoirs (1983) was the first in a series of dramas based on his youth. Not-So-Simple Neil Simon: A Critical Study. If a character says he's taking the dog for a walk, then he is actually taking the dog for a walk. Simon worries about getting old but not dying. htm] Part of the secret to Simon's success has been his ability to develop comedies out of his own life experiences, such as leaving home (Come Blow Your Horn), the beginnings of a first marriage (Barefoot in the Park), and the beginnings of another marriage (Chapter Two). He claims this to be learned not taught. "I don't know how much longer I will be doing it, but I still have the eagerness to do it. "The dying part doesn't bother me, it's just the getting old.
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