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"When I was a kid, I climbed up on a stone ledge to watch an outdoor movie of Charlie Chaplin.  I laughed to hard I fell off, cut my head open and was taken to the doctor, bleeding and laughing.  I was constantly being dragged out of movies for laughing too loud.  Now my idea of the ultimate achievement in an comedy is to make a whole audience fall onto the floor, writhing and laughing so hard that some of them pass out."  Neil Simon, Life, April 9, 1965

Chronology:

• 1927 — Born July 4 in Bronx, New York; son of Irving (a garment salesman) and Mamie Simon.
• 1944-45 — Attends New York University.
• 1945-46 — Attends University of Denver; serves as a corporal in the United States Air Force.
• 1948 — Comedy writer for "The Phil Silvers Arrow Show."
• 1951 — Comedy writer for "The Tallulah Bankhead Show."
• 1953 — Marries Joan Baim (a dancer).
• 1956-57 — Comedy writer for "The Sid Caesar Show," NBC Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Award (Emmy) for "The Sid Caesar Show"; first daughter, Ellen Marie, born.
• 1958-59 — Comedy writer for "The Phil Silvers Show," CBS.
• 1959 — Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Award (Emmy) for "The Phil Silvers Show."
• 1959-60 — Comedy writer for "The Garry Moore Show," CBS.
• 1961 — "Come Blow Your Horn."
• 1962 — "Little Me"; 2nd daughter, Nancy Elizabeth, born.
• 1965 — "The Odd Couple"; Antoinette Perry Award (Tony) for best playwright.
• 1966 — "Sweet Charity"; "The Star-Spangled Girl."
• 1968 — "Plaza Suite"; "Promises, Promises"; Sam Shubert Foundation Award.
• 1969 — "Last of the Red Hot Lovers"; Writers Guild Award for "The Odd Couple."
• 1970 — "The Gingerbread Lady"; Writers Guild Award for "Last of the Red Hot Lovers."
• 1971 — "The Prisoner of Second Avenue"; Writers Guild Award for "The Out-of-Towners."
• 1972 — "The Sunshine Boys"; Writers Guild Award for "The Trouble with People"; Entertainer of the Year, Cue magazine.
• 1973 — Wife, Joan dies; marries Marsha Mason; "The Good Doctor."
• 1974 — "God’s Favorite."
• 1975 — Antoinette Perry Award (Tony) for overall contribution to the theater.
• 1976 — "California Suite."
• 1977 — "Chapter Two."
• 1979 — "They’re Playing Our Song."
• 1980 — "I Ought To Be In Pictures."
• 1981 — "Fools."
• 1982 — "Little Me" (revised version); separates from wife, Marsha.
• 1983 — "Brighton Beach Memoirs"; New York Drama Critics Circle Award for "Brighton Beach Memoirs"; elected to the Theater Hall of Fame, Uris Theater.
• 1984 — "Lonely Guy" (adaptation).
• 1985 — "Biloxi Blues"; "The Odd Couple" (female version); Antoinette Perry Award (Tony) for "Biloxi Blues."
• 1986 — "Broadway Bound."
• 1987 — Marries Diane Lander.
• 1988 — "Rumours."
• 1989 — American Comedy Awards Lifetime Creative Achievement Award.
• 1991 — "Lost in Yonkers"; Antoinette Perry Award (Tony) and Pulitzer Prize for Drama for "Lost in Yonkers."
• 1992 — "Jake’s Woman."
• 1993 — "The Goodbye Girl" (musical); "Laughter on the 23rd Floor."
• 1994 — "London Suite"; Broadway’s Alvin Theater renamed Neil Simon.
• 1995 — Kennedy Center Honor for lifetime achievement.
• 1996 — "Rewrites: A Memoir" (autobiography); Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award