Kirk Simon

Kirk Simon was an American filmmaker.

Born in Philadelphia, Simon studied at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, alongside fellow students Ken Burns, Buddy Squires and Roger Sherman, all of whom went on to make their mark in the documentary arena. Simon and Burns made their first documentary working together on a 1974 film about Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts.

Simon, a four-time Academy Award nominee, won an Oscar (shared with frequent collaborator Karen Goodman) in the "Best Documentary, Short Subjects" category for Strangers No More (2010), about the children of immigrant workers struggling to make a new life in Tel Aviv.

He also oversaw the 14-part HBO Family series Kindergarten, and produced and directed the HBO series Masterclass in which artists like Placido Domingo, Edward Albee and Frank Gehry mentor high school students. Simon won an Emmy Award in 2015 for the latter.

At the time of his death, Simon was working on a film about conductor Michael Tilson Thomas for the American Masters series and raising funds for a film about actor-director Alan Alda.

Simon died April 14, 2018, in New York City, New York. He was 63.