RIP Neil Simon ~ 1927 to 2018 

Lucille Ball consistently attributed her success to her writers at every opportunity, both in private and in public. Upon accepting the Emmy Award for best situation comedy in 1954 Lucy asked, “It wouldn’t be right to call our writers up here and give it to them, would it? But I wish we could.”  

Although Neil Simon never wrote for Lucille Ball, or even appeared on the same screen with her, they did share credits on two television shows. He was a staff writer on “The Garry Moore Show,” which Lucy appeared on in 1960. Simon and Ball were both featured on “Bob Hope’s World of Comedy” (1976), but were not onstage at the same time.  

It was Lucie Arnaz who worked closest with Simon. She starred on Broadway in “They’re Playing Our Song” (for which Simon wrote the libretto) in 1978. She took over the role of Bela in his Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Lost in Yonkers” in 1992. Lucie’s husband Laurence Luckinbill was seen in Simon’s “Chapter Two” on Broadway in 1978, prior to their marriage.