According to TMZ, Simon died at 1 a.m. Sunday morning. His death was announced by his publicist, Bill Evans, The New York Times reported.
According to a statement,“Neil Simon the Pulitzer Prize-winning American playwright, died last night at New York-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. The cause was complications from pneumonia.
“His wife, Elaine Joyce Simon, was at his bedside along with Mr. Simon’s daughters, Ellen Simon and Nancy Simon.”
Simon died at a Manhattan hospital from complications from pneumonia https://t.co/faf6MPmivq
— Variety (@Variety) August 26, 2018
Simon, who was born in The Bronx, won a Pulitzer Prize, three Tony Awards, a Kennedy Center Honor and a Golden Globe Award, The New York Post reported. IKn 1983 a Broadway theater was named after him, making him the only living playwright to have such an honor, the newspaper reported.
Time magazine once called Simon the “patron saint of laughter.”
Simon wrote dozens of plays, the scripts for five musicals and more than 20 screenplays, the Washington Post reported.
In the late 1960s and in the mid-1980s, there were four Simon shows playing simultaneously on Broadway, according to the Washington Post. In 1966, those plays were "Sweet Charity," "The Star-Spangled Girl," "The Odd Couple" and "Barefoot in the Park," according to Variety.
“The Odd Couple” also had success as a film and as a television series, while “Barefoot in the Park” also had a memorable run as a film.
“There’s no more money anyone can pay me that I need. There are no awards they can give me that I haven’t won. I have no reason to write another play except that I am alive and I like to do it”-Neil Simon #RIP GIANT of the American Theatre #ThanksForTheLaughs pic.twitter.com/NZIVGPLdst
— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) August 26, 2018
"A writer without confidence is like a metaphor without something to compare itself to." We'll miss the wit and wisdom of Neil Simon, 1927-2018. pic.twitter.com/9FOT7dXs9t
— Barnes & Noble (@BNBuzz) August 26, 2018
Neil Simon brought a unique eye for life to stage and screen. Through sharp characters and dialogue, he prodded us - in laughter and tears - to contend with the traits that make us human. Another voice who understood the power of art in our American story now belongs to eternity.
— Dan Rather (@DanRather) August 26, 2018
Neil Simon a genius. Shot from THE ODD COUPLE a classic. pic.twitter.com/LKLLdCnP6A
— Vincent D'Onofrio (@vincentdonofrio) August 26, 2018
Neil Simon has died at 91. Had he written the phone book, that, too, would've been funny...
— Peter Vecsey (@PeterVecsey1) August 26, 2018
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