Ron Simons Dead at 63

[snowc]

Another one from Law and Order has died!

Four-time Tony Award-winning producer Ron Simons has died at age 63. The news was revealed by his production company Simon Says Entertainment, who wrote: "It is with heavy hearts that we share the unexpected passing of our beloved, blessed, and highly favored friend, Ronald Keith Simons. Funeral details will be forthcoming." Mr. Simons died June 12. The cause of death is unknown.

Mr. Simons was born Ronald Keith Simons in Detroit, Michigan, November 30, 1960. He was an only child to a single mom, and was primarily raised by his grandparents. Mr. Simons did not set out to pursue theatre. He initially pursued business, graduating from Columbia Business School in 1989 with an MBA in marketing and international business. He was soon hired at Microsoft as a product manager in San Francisco, California. Then, when he was 39 years old, he decided to quit his tech job. He had gotten into tech in order to support his family, but in his heart, he wanted to be an actor.

After receiving an MFA in acting from the University of Washington, Mr. Simons moved from California to New York. There he became a company member of The Classical Theatre of Harlem. He also got an agent and started booking screen acting gigs (his screen credits include Marvel's The Defenders, Daredevil, and multiple episodes of Law & Order and its spinoffs). Then, in 2009, dissatisfied with the kind of work he was getting and seeing, he decided to expand into producing, founding his company Simon Says Entertainment. His first foray into producing was on the 2010 film Night Catches Us, starring Kerry Washington and Anthony Mackie. His first theatre producing credit was the 2012 revival of Porgy and Bess starring Audra McDonald and Norm Lewis. For the next decade, Mr. Simons would be a co-producer on numerous Broadway shows, and he would win Tony Awards as a producer for Porgy and Bess, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, and Jitney. His other credits include producing on Ain't Too Proud and the 2012 revival of A Streetcar Named Desire, which featured a majority-Black cast for the Tennessee Williams classic.

FULL ARTICLE HERE

[LM117]

I initially read the name as "Ron Simmons" (former WWE wrestler) and thought "Damn!".

[Alex]

I initially read the name as "Ron Simmons" (former WWE wrestler) and thought "Damn!".

I did as well