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I don't want to restrict the life of a play to a particular production. The original actors might leave after the first six months, and I want the play to last 30 or 40 years. You write for the character, not the actor on the stage.

Neil Simon

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Neil Simon
Age: 91 †
Born: 1927
Born: July 4
Died: 2018
Died: August 26
Entrepreneur
Film Producer
Librettist
Lyricist
Playwright
Screenwriter
New York City
New York
Marvin Neil Simon
Life
Write
Actor
Character
Months
Might
Leave
Restrict
Firsts
Particular
Production
Play
Stage
Productions
First
Lasts
Originals
Writing
Last
Original
Years
Actors
Six

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If you can go through life without experiencing pain you probably haven't been born yet.
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Talent is the gift plus the passion - a desire to succeed so intense that no force on earth can stop it.
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Once you've opened yourself up, it's best to go all the way.
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Rewriting is when writing really gets to be fun. . . . In baseball you only get three swings and you're out. In rewriting, you get almost as many swings as you want and you know, sooner or later, you'll hit the ball.
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I much prefer writing an original movie with the screen in mind to transferring a play to the screen.
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I don't use computers... I'm someone who needs to see the page right away in my hand.
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He's too nervous to kill himself. He wears his seat belt in a drive-in movie.
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I was constantly being dragged out of movies for laughing too loud.
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I never write a play with an eye to film.
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Evan Handler's new book is simply wonderful. He pulls you inside his life, and you come out his very close friend.
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