The bard of boulevard comedy, author of Brighton Beach Memoirs and The Odd Couple, Simon is one of the most prolific and celebrated playwrights in America.

Bronx-native Marvin Neil Simon started writing sketches with his older brother Danny, and eventually landed a job on Sid Caesar's Your Show of Shows, where the writing staff also included Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks and Woody Allen. Simon's Broadway debut came in 1961 with Come Blow Your Horn, and he became one of the brightest stars during the decade with a string of hits to his name. His 1963 Barefoot in the Park was an early favorite-and also marked the beginning of Mike Nichols' directorial career-and Simon's 1966 play The Odd Couple was a comedy classic that spawned a famous 1968 Jack Lemmon-Walter Matthau movie, two different sitcoms, and assorted other spinoffs. Though he made his name with comedies and musicals (he wrote the books for Sweet Charity and Promises, Promises), he's also showed a talent for darker material. His 1983 autobiographical coming-of-age tale, Brighton Beach Memoirs, cemented his place in the canon of American theater. In 1991 he won a Pulitzer for the play Lost in Yonkers.

Simon is an undisputed theater legend, with three Tonys, a Pulitzer, four Oscar nominations, and innumerable Broadway classics to his credit. But he's been in something of a slump in recent years; his latest works have garnered decidedly mixed reviews. 2001's 45 Seconds from Broadway prompted acerbic Post scribe Michael Riedel to remark that it "lasted about 45 seconds on Broadway." [Image via Getty]