Neil Simon - the US playwright behind The Odd Couple - has died in hospital suffering with kidney failure at the age of 91.
It's been reported that Simon passed away on Sunday morning at New York Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan, after being on life support. He was suffering with a failing kidney, Alzheimer's and dementia.
During his long career Simon wrote more than 30 plays and earned 17 Tony nominations. Several of his plays - such as The Odd Couple and Barefoot in the Park - were adapted for the big screen.
The Odd Couple also became a hugely successful TV show that ran for five seasons in the 1970s, and enjoyed countless re-runs over the decades on both sides of the Atlantic.
During one season, Simon had four plays running simultaneously on Broadway, and he was also the first playwright to have a Broadway theatre named after him.
In a 1997 interview with The Washington Post, Simon noted: "I know that I have reached the pinnacle of rewards. There's no more money anyone can pay me that I need.
"There are no awards they can give me that I haven't won. I have no reason to write another play except that I am alive and I like to do it."
