Sunshine Boys, The

Sunshine Boys, The (1972), a comedy by Neil Simon. [Broadhurst Theatre, 538 perf.] Willie Clark ( Jack Albertson) and Al Lewis ( Sam Levene) were an old vaudeville team who fought and separated many years earlier. Willie now lives alone, largely in pajamas, in a small New York hotel. Al lives with his daughter in New Jersey. CBS wants to do a nostalgic program about the history of comedy and wants to reunite Lewis and Clark. It falls to Al's nephew, Ben Silverman ( Lewis J. Stadlen), to persuade the old men to forget their animosities and perform together again. This proves a hard task, but Ben finally succeeds. But during a rehearsal at the studio Willie has a heart attack. Recuperating back home, he finally agrees to move to the Actors' Home. Then Al pays him a visit and announces that he, too, must move to the Home. The quarreling can continue on. Hailed by T. E. Kalem of Time magazine as “a cripplingly funny show,” this affectionately savage comedy was Simon's tenth consecutive success. A 1997 revival with Tony Randall and Jack Klugman was also a hit.