Director of Neil Simon Stage/Screen Works, Gene Saks, Dead at 93

Noted stage and screen director, Gene Saks, who helmed several Neil Simon plays on Broadway and

won three Tonys, for the Cy Coleman-Michael Stewart musical “I Love My Wife” along with Simon’s “Brighton Beach Memoirs” and “Biloxi Blues”, died Saturday at 93.  His wife, Keren, told the New York Times that he died from pneumonia in his East Hampton, NY home.  Saks directed seven feature films, all of them based on theatre works. The films included Simon adaptations “The Odd Couple,” “Barefoot in the Park,” “Last of the Red Hot Lovers” and “Brighton Beach Memoirs.” He also directed the 1969 “Cactus Flower,” which earned Goldie Hawn an Oscar for supporting actress. And, after directing the hit Broadway musical “Mame,” Saks did the big screen version in 1974. For the film, Lucille Ball played the title character, with many critics complaining that Angela Lansbury could repeat her Broadway triumph. Both the stage and screen versions of “Mame” co-starred Saks’ wife at the time,  Bea Arthur.

Saks started as a stage and TV actor and later did occasional roles in films and on TV, most memorable in his film bow with the 1965 film “A Thousand Clowns.” Later screen credits include the 1994 Paul Newman vehicle “Nobody’s Fool.”

He will always be associated with the works of Mr Simon. Saks also directed his plays “Jake’s Women,” “Rumors,” “Lost in Yonkers” (Saks picked up a Tony nom), “Broadway Bound” (the last of Simon’s autobiographical trilogy), “The Odd Couple” (in a 1986 revival) and “California Suite.”

At a New York Times interview in 1987, Saks said, “Aside from Neil’s wit, his brightness and his ability to characterize, he writes about things I know about and care about. We both come from middle-class, first-generation Jewish families, and our humor springs from the same roots.’’
“Gene’s direction of comedy is grounded in human behavior rather than jokes,’’

Philip Sterling, who played the father in ‘’Broadway Bound,’’ told the Times. “Neil wants the more serious aspects of his work to emerge now, and Gene’s work and style is in tune with that because he has an organic sense of character and works with the development of the entire play. He doesn’t work just for the laughs.’’

Other plays Saks helmed on Broadway include “Enter Laughing” (Carl Reiner directed the film adaptation of his autobiographical novel and play), the Tommy Steele musical “Half a Sixpence” (Saks received a Tony nomination; George Sidney directed the Brit film), “Same Time, Next Year” (another Tony nom for Saks; Robert Mulligan directed the film) and “Rags.”
Saks was born in New York City, attended Cornell University and trained at the Dramatic Workshop of the New School for Social Research.

He made his debut as a Broadway actor in “South Pacific” in 1949. He also appeared in “A Shot in the Dark,” Paddy Chayefsky’s “The Tenth Man” and Herb Gardner’s “A Thousand Clowns.”
Saks had made his TV acting debut in 1951 on an episode of “Out There” and subsequently appeared on the likes of “Omnibus,” “Producer’s Showcase,” “Kraft Theatre” and “The United States Steel Hour.”

Later acting credits include the big screen adaptation of Simon’s “The Prisoner of Second Avenue,” Reiner’s “The One and Only,” Marshall Brickman’s “Lovesick,” Gardner’s adaptation of his play “The Goodbye People,” and Woody Allen’s “Deconstructing Harry” in 1997. He made his final screen appearance as a judge on a 1998 episode of “Law and Order.”

His final big screen directing work was in 1992 with “A Fine Romance”.  It starred Julie Andrews and Marcello Mastroianni. Three years later, he directed ABC’s adaptation of “Bye Bye Birdie” that starred Jason Alexander and Vanessa Williams.

Saks and Arthur divorced in 1978, and she died in 2009. He married Keren Saks in 1980. He is survived by her; two sons,  TV set designer Daniel Saks and actor Matthew Saks; and daughter Annabelle.