Gene Saks

MINI BIO:

Gene Saks was trained as an actor and made his Broadway debut in 1949 in the original production of South Pacific (starring Mary Martin and Ezio Pinza). He began directing for Broadway in 1963, with Enter Laughing (which introduced actor Alan Arkin), followed by Nobody Loves an Albatross (Robert Preston); Half a Sixpence (Tommy Steele); Generation (Henry Fonda); Mame (Angela Lansbury); Same Time Next Year (Ellen Burstyn); How the Other Half Loves (Phil Silvers); Sheep on the Runway (by Art Buchwald) --  and eight Neil Simon plays, including Brighton Beach Memoirs and Biloxi Blues (both starring Matthew Broderick), California Suite and Lost in Yonkers.

Saks made his film directorial debut in 1967 with Barefoot in the Park (Jane Fonda and Robert Redford ), followed by The Odd Couple (Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau) and Cactus Flower (Ingrid Bergman, Walter Matthau and Goldie Hawn). Saks also appeared in various TV roles from 1951, and made his feature film debut in 1965 in A Thousand Clowns (reprising his Broadway role as Leo), followed by his role as Jack Lemmon's brother-in-law, Harry Edison, in The Prisoner of Second Avenue in 1975.  

Saks was married to actress Bea Arthur from 1950-1980 (divorced), whom he directed in the 1975 film version of Mame (Arthur played the role of Vera Charles opposite Lucille Ball who played Mame).