A very neat man, shortly after his divorce Danny Simon moved in with
two friends who drove him crazy with their slovenly lifestyle. This, of
course, was the inspiration for his brother's play The Odd
Couple.
Father of Michael Simon and Valerie Simon. Had two
grandchildren.
Comedy writing mentor of Neil Simon and Woody Allen.
Older brother characters in Neil Simon plays and screenplays are always based on Danny.
Retired from the high stress of weekly TV writing, after the fatal heart attack of his friend Stan Dreben in 1980.
Danny became a writing teacher because of an encounter in 1981. He ran across some writers of the unsuccessful "Tim Conway Show." Danny told them that comedy arises from a character's frustration, which leads to conflict. One of the writers said, "Where were you when we needed you? We were just trying to make it funny.".