Pulitzer winner Playwright Neil Simon dies at 91

American late 20th-century playwright, Neil Simon died on Sunday at the age of 91.

"Neil Simon, the Pulitzer Prize-winning American playwright, died at New York-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. The cause was complications from pneumonia," Variety quoted Simon's Reps as saying.

Simon had over 30 plays mounted on Broadway including "Sweet Charity," "The Star-Spangled Girl," "The Odd Couple" and "Barefoot in the Park." He was one of those writers who could guarantee good Broadway advance sales.

Even his comedy works like "The Odd Couple" and "Barefoot in the Park" did good business and were also critically well received.

Simon also won awards for his autobiographical plays like "Brighton Beach Memoirs" and the Tony and Pulitzer winner "Lost in Yonkers."

Adding another feather to his already loaded hat, Simon served as one of the Writers on the 1950 ' Your Show of Shows'.

He had also written the feature comedy "After the Fox" in 1966, long before he actually began adapting his plays to the screen. His first hit big screen comedy was Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis starrer "The Out-of-Towners".

Born on July 4, 1927, Simon was called doc as he had the habit of imitating the family doctor.
While several of his works had been Tony-nominated, Simon won his first Tony award for the 1965 'The Odd Couple'. His 1991 play 'Lost in Yonkers' brought him a Pulitzer Prize for drama and a third Tony award.

(ANI)