Neil Simon Receives Kidney from Publicist Bill Evans in March 2 Operation

By Robert Simonson
March 3, 2004

Playwright Neil Simon, who has been suffering from kidney problems for some time, received a kidney from his longstanding publicist Bill Evans in a March 2 transplant operation at an undisclosed New York hospital, the New York Times reported.

The two men are reported to be in good condition.

Bill Evans, a well known Broadway press agent, has worked with Simon on The Goodbye Girl, The Dinner Party, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, Proposals, Jake's Women, Lost in Yonkers, Rumors, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, Broadway Bound, I Oughta Be in Pictures, Chapter Two and California Suite.

"We've been friends form 25 years," Simon, 76, told the Times. "It's wonderful of him to do this." The dramatist has been taking dialysis treatments three times a week for 18 months, it was reported. Evans first offered to donate a kidney in January. After that, the colleagues underwent a series of tests to ascertain compatibility.