He who conceives that the object of his love is destroyed will feel pain; if he conceives that it is preserved he will feel pleasure.

Playwright                          

Selected Works:

Plays:

Come Blow Your Horn - 1961
Little Me - 1962
Barefoot in the Park - 1963
The Odd Couple - 1965
Sweet Charity - 1966
The Star-Spangled Girl - 1966
Plaza Suite - 1968
Promises, Promises - 1968
The Last of the Red Hot Lovers - 1969
The Gingerbread Lady - 1970
The Prisoner of Second Avenue - 1971
The Sunshine Boys - 1972
The Good Doctor - 1973
God's Favorite - 1974
California Suite - 1976
Chapter Two - 1977
They're Playing Our Song - 1979
I Ought to Be in Pictures - 1980
Fools - 1981
Brighton Beach Memoirs - 1983
Biloxi Blues - 1985
The Female Odd Couple - 1986
Broadway Bound - 1986
Rumors - 1988
Lost in Yonkers - 1991
Jake's Women - 1992
The Goodbye Girl - 1993
Laughter on the 23rd Floor - 1993
London Suite - 1995
Proposals - 1997
The Dinner Party - 2000
45 Seconds from Broadway - 2001
Rose's Dilemma - 2003
Oscar and Felix: A New Look at the Odd Couple - 2004

Screenplays:

1963: Come Blow Your Horn - Director: Bud Yorkin, screenplay by Norman Lear with Frank Sinatra and Lee J. Cobb
1966: After the Fox - Director: Vittorio DeSica with Peter Sellers and Victor Mature
1967: Barefoot in the Park - Director: Gene Saks with Robert Redford and Jane Fonda
1968: The Odd Couple - Director: Gene Saks with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau
1969: Sweet Charity - Director: Bob Fosse with Shirley MacLaine, Chita Rivera and Sammy Davis Jr.
1970: The Out-of-Towners - Director: Arthur Hiller with Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis
1971: Plaza Suite - Director: Arthur Hiller with Walter Matthau, Maureen Stapleton, Barbara Harris and Lee Grant
1972: The Last of the Red Hot Lovers - Director: Gene Saks with Alan Arkin
1972: The Heartbreak Kid - Director: Elaine May with Cybill Shepard and Charles Grodin
1975: The Prisoner of Second Avenue - Director: Melvin Frank with Jack Lemmon and Anne Bancroft
1975: The Sunshine Boys - Director: Herbert Ross with Walter Matthau and George Burns
1976: Murder by Death - Director: Robert Moore with Truman Capote, Peter Falk, Alec Guinness, David Niven, Maggie Smith, James Coco, Nancy Walker, Elsa Lanchester and Peter Sellers
1977: The Goodbye Girl - Director: Herbert Ross with Richard Dreyfuss and Marsha Mason
1978: The Cheap Detective - Director: Robert Moore with Peter Falk, Louise Fletcher, Stockard Channing, Madeline Kahn, John Houseman, Nicol Williamson and Eileen Brennan
1978: California Suite - Director: Herbert Ross with Jane Fonda, Alan Alda, Maggie Smith, Michael Caine, Walter Matthau, Elaine May, Richard Pryor and Bill Cosby
1978: The Good Doctor - PBS - Director: Jack O'Brien with Edward Asner, Richard Chamberlain, Bob Dishy, Gary Dontzig, Lee Grant, and Marsha Mason
1979: Chapter Two - Director: Robert Moore with James Caan and Marsha Mason
1980: Seems Like Old Times - Director: Jay Sandrich with Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase
1981: Only When I Laugh - Director: Glenn Jordan with Marsha Mason, Joan Hackett, James Coco and Kristy McNichol
1982: I Ought to Be in Pictures - Director: Herbert Ross with Walter Matthau, Ann-Margret and Dinah Manoff
1983: Max Dugan Returns - Director: Herbert Ross with Matthew Broderick, Marsha Mason, Jason Robards, Kiefer Sutherland and Donald Sutherland
1984: The Lonely Guy - Director: Arthur Hiller with Steve Martin
1985: The Slugger's Wife - Director: Hal Ashby with Michael O'Keefe and Rebecca De Mornay
1986: Brighton Beach Memoirs - Director: Gene Saks with Jonathan Silverman and David Margulies
1987: Plaza Suite - Director: Robert Beatty and Kenny Solms with Carol Burnett, Richard Crenna, Dabney Coleman, and Hal Holbrook for ABC
1988: Biloxi Blues - Director: Mike Nichols with Matthew Broderick and Christopher Walken
1991: The Marrying Man - Director: Jerry Rees with Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin
1993: Lost in Yonkers - Director: Martha Coolidge with Richard Dreyfuss
1995: The Sunshine Boys - Director: John Erman with Woody Allen and Peter Falk
1996: Jake's Women - Director: Glenn Jordan with Alan Alda, Anne Archer, Lolita Davidovich, Julie Kavner, Mira Sorvino, Joyce Van Patten, and Kimberly Williams-Paisley for CBS
1996: London Suite - Director: Jay Sandrich with Kelsey Grammer, Patricia Clarkson, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jonathan Silverman, Madeline Kahn, Michael Richards, Julie Hagerty, Richard Mulligan, Kristen Johnston, Jane Carr, Paxton Whitehead, and William Franklyn for NBC
1998: The Odd Couple II - Director: Howard Deutch with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau
2001: Laughter on the 23rd Floor - Director: Richard Benjamin with Nathan Lane, Mark Linn-Baker, Saul Rubinek, Dan Castellaneta, Richard Portnow, Kristi Angus, Ardon Bess, Victor Garber, Philip Craig, among many others for Showtime
2004: The Goodbye Girl with Patricia Heaton and Jeff Daniels for Turner Network Television.                          

The second son of Irving Simon, a travelling salesman, and his wife Mamie.

First wife Joan Baim - 1953–1973
Second wife Marsha Mason - 1973–1981
Third wife Diane Lander - 1990–1998 - 1987–1988
Fourth wife Elaine Joyce - 1999–present.                          

Awards:

Emmy Award - Your Show of Shows - 1957
Emmy Award - The Phil Silvers Show - 1959
Tony Award for Best Author - The Odd Couple - 1965
Evening Standard Award - Barefoot in the Park - 1967
Sam S. Shubert Award - Sweet Charity - 1968
Writers Guild of America Award The Odd Couple - 1969
Writers Guild of America Award The Last of the Red Hot Lovers - 1970
Writers Guild of America Award The Out-of-Towners - 1971
Writers Guild of America Award The Trouble With People - 1972
Cue Entertainer of the Year Award - 1972
Special Tony Award for Contribution to Theatre - 1975
Writers Guild of America Award The Goodbye Girl - 1975
Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay - The Goodbye Girl - 1978
Writers Guild of America Award Laurel Award - 1979
Doctor of Humane Letters from Hofstra University - 1981
American Theatre Hall of Fame - 1983
New York Drama Critics Circle Award - Brighton Beach Memoirs - 1983
Outer Critics Circle Award - Brighton Beach Memoirs - 1983
Tony Award for Best Play - Biloxi Blues - 1985
New York State Governor's Award - 1986
American Comedy Awards Lifetime Achievement - 1989
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play - Lost in Yonkers - 1991
Pulitzer Prize for Drama - Lost in Yonkers - 1991
Tony Award for Best Play - Lost in Yonkers - 1991
Kennedy Center Honoree - 1995
William Inge Theatre Festival Distinguished Achievement in the American Theater - 1996
Mark Twain Prize for American Humor - 2006