Gene Saks was born Jean Michael Saks in New York City, the son of Beatrix (née Lewkowitz) and Morris J. Saks. He studied at Cornell University and trained for acting at the Dramatic Workshop of The New School in New York with the German director Erwin Piscator. Gene Saks made his acting debut on Broadway in South Pacific in 1949. On stage he also appeared in A Shot in the Dark, The Tenth Man and A Thousand Clowns, in the role of Leo “Chuckles The Chipmunk” Herman, which he reprised in the film version. He portrayed Jack Lemmon’s brother in the screen adaptation of Simon’s The Prisoner of Second Avenue, and also appeared in Nobody’s Fool starring Paul Newman. Saks shared a long-term professional association with playwright/comedy writer Neil Simon, directing Simon’s plays Biloxi Blues, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Jake’s Women, Rumors, Lost in Yonkers, Broadway Bound, The Odd Couple and California Suite. His additional Broadway credits included Enter Laughing; Half a Sixpence; Nobody Loves an Albatross; Mame; I Love My Wife; Same Time, Next Year and Rags. Among Saks’ film directing credits were Barefoot in the Park, The Odd Couple, Cactus Flower (which won Goldie Hawn the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress), Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Mame, Brighton Beach Memoirs, A Fine Romance, and the 1995 television production of Bye Bye Birdie. Saks was married to fellow Actors Studio member actress Bea Arthur, from 1950 until 1980. The couple had two sons, by adoption: Matthew (born in 1961), an actor, and Daniel (born in 1964), a set designer. He also had a daughter by his second wife Keren Saks. Gene Saks succumbed to pneumonia at East Hampton residence on March 28, 2015 aged 93.