Gene Saks was a director and actor who was best known as a theater director — especially his frequent collaborations with Neil Simon. He won three Tony Awards: for the Cy Coleman-Michael Stewart musical I Love My Wife and Simon’s Brighton Beach Memoirs and Biloxi Blues. His final Broadway production, Barrymore, won a Tony for Christopher Plummer in 1997.
Saks directed the film versions of several of Simon’s plays, including Barefoot in the Park, The Odd Couple, Last of the Red Hot Lovers and Brighton Beach Memoirs. In addition, he directed Julie Andrews and Marcello Mastroianni in A Fine Romance and Goldie Hawn in Cactus Flower, for which she earned the Oscar for best supporting actress. And in 1974 he directed Lucille Ball in the film adaptation of Mame, after helming the Broadway musical version starring Angela Lansbury. His final directing credit came in 1995, with the television movie version of Bye Bye Birdie, starring Jason Alexander and Vanessa Williams.
Born in New York City, Saks attended Cornell University and served in the Navy during World War II — including participation in the Normandy Invasion. After his discharge from the military, he studied acting at the New School for Social Research and the Actors Studio in Manhattan.
Before his transition to directing in the early 1960s, he worked as an actor, primarily on stage and on television. His TV resume included roles in such series as Kraft Theatre, Bachelor Father, The United States Steel Hour and Law & Order. He also appeared in the feature films Nobody’s Fool and Woody Allen’s Deconstructing Harry, in which he played the father of Allen’s title character.
Gene Saks was a director and actor who was best known as a theater director — especially his frequent collaborations with Neil Simon. He won three Tony Awards: for the Cy Coleman-Michael Stewart musical I Love My Wife and Simon’s Brighton Beach Memoirs and Biloxi Blues. His final Broadway production, Barrymore, won a Tony for Christopher Plummer in 1997.
Saks directed the film versions of several of Simon’s plays, including Barefoot in the Park, The Odd Couple, Last of the Red Hot Lovers and Brighton Beach Memoirs. In addition, he directed Julie Andrews and Marcello Mastroianni in A Fine Romance and Goldie Hawn in Cactus Flower, for which she earned the Oscar for best supporting actress. And in 1974 he directed Lucille Ball in the film adaptation of Mame, after helming the Broadway musical version starring Angela Lansbury. His final directing credit came in 1995, with the television movie version of Bye Bye Birdie, starring Jason Alexander and Vanessa Williams.
Born in New York City, Saks attended Cornell University and served in the Navy during World War II — including participation in the Normandy Invasion. After his discharge from the military, he studied acting at the New School for Social Research and the Actors Studio in Manhattan.
Before his transition to directing in the early 1960s, he worked as an actor, primarily on stage and on television. His TV resume included roles in such series as Kraft Theatre, Bachelor Father, The United States Steel Hour and Law & Order. He also appeared in the feature films Nobody’s Fool and Woody Allen’s Deconstructing Harry, in which he played the father of Allen’s title character.
Saks died March 28, 2015, in East Hampton, New York. He was 93.
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