Odd Couple :: essays papers

Odd Couple Themes and characters are most often the key factors that influence a writer's work. Most of the time the author has no control over this influence. This is clearly shown in Neil Simon's play, The Odd Couple. Not only is Simon's own life depicted in his play, but also the lives of those close to him, can be parallel to his work. Neil Simon's life is depicted in his characters and themes of his play, The Odd Couple. Marvin Neil Simon was born in the Bronx on July 4, 1927. His father, Irving, was a salesman in Manhattan's garment district; his mother Mamie worked in Gimbel's department store. The family moved to Washington Heights, in northern Manhattan, when Simon was young. Irving was an errant husband who occasionally abandoned the family altogether, leaving Mamie, a frustrated and bitter women, alone to deal with Neil and his older brother Danny. Eventually, the parents were divorced, and Neil went to live with relatives in Queens. From an early age, he exhibited a quick wit and an active imagination. He loved films and was often asked to leave the theater for laughing to loud. In high school, Simon was sometimes ostracized as a Jew, an experience that would later inform his work. Meanwhile, he and his brother began collaborating on comedy material that they sold to stand-up comics and radio announcers. Simon graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School in 1944 at the age of sixteen(Magill2216). He entered New York University under the US Army Airforce Reserve Program. Throughout his military career, he wrote for many military newspapers. Discharged in 1946, Simon took a job in the mail room at Warner Brothers in New York, where Danny worked in the publicity department. The brothers were soon hired to write for Goodman Ace of CBS, and over the next decade they provided material for many popular comedians. During the summers of 1952 and 1953, they wrote sketches for a professional acting company at Camp Tamiment, in Pennsylvania. At Camp Tamiment, Simon fell in love with a young actress named Joan Baim, and the couple was married on September 30, 1953. Five years later, Joan gave birth to a daughter, Ellen; a second daughter, Nancy, was born in 1963(Magill2261). In 1956, when Danny Simon moved to California to be a television director, Neil stayed in New York and wrote for many popular television shows. He also adapted broadway plays for television. By the later 1950's, however, he wanted more independence