Attorney by day, actor by night

Roger L. Simon – “Shorty” to his friends – was a softie of an attorney by day and a hardscrabble actor by night. Take, for example, the time he was hospitalized in the hours before a 2008 performance of “Twelve Angry Men.”

“We were going to cancel, but Roger insisted on doing the show,” said his director, Rick Bernstein. “He showed up to the theater with 30 minutes to spare and a catheter strapped to his leg.”

Simon, a giant of the local theater community who acted consistently on Denver-area stages for more than 50 years (and had stories for all of them), died of COVID on Jan. 10 at age 88. He was, in life, “the essence of joy,” said his brother, the Rabbi Howard Simon. He was, onstage, Bernstein clarified, more like “a joyful curmudgeon.”

After playing a curmudgeonly Jewish father in Miners Alley Playhouse’s award-winning 2008 comedy “Beau Jest,” Simon played a curmudgeonly Catholic-Italian grandfather in “Over the River and Through the Woods.” “The one thing both roles had in common was the curmudgeon,” Bernstein said with a laugh.

Simon was known for his wink and a mischievous smile. He was a golfer who enjoyed firebombs, poker and cigars. His acting dates back to the renowned Bonfils Theatre, now the flagship Tattered Cover bookstore on East Colfax Avenue, where his dozens of credits included “Born Yesterday,” “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie,” “The Typist and the Tiger” and even the occasional musical. Simon loved telling stories, and he loved to embellish them as well.

One of his favorite tales was about the Bonfils play where an actress would flash him onstage each night – but he was the only one who could see what he described as “the ample goods.” On the final night of the run, the woman attached notes to each bosom, one saying “LAST” and the other, “TIME.”

Simon was a staple everywhere from the Denver Civic (now Su Teatro) to the Vintage to the John Hand to the Shwayder at the Jewish Community Center, as well as long-gone stages such as The Old Guild Theatre, Rivertree, Theatre on Broadway and Colorado Music Hall. His TV credits included “The Father Dowling Mysteries” and “In Plain Sight.”

His two signature roles were playing the, yes, curmudgeonly sports writer Oscar Madison in Neil Simon’s “The Odd Couple” and the, yes, curmudgeonly old vaudevillian Willie Clark in Neil Simon’s “The Sunshine Boys.” He played Oscar in at least four productions – once opposite Tom Poston, best known as the bumbling handyman on “Newhart.” In a 1993 production of “The Sunshine Boys” opposite Pat Mahoney at Rivertree, Denver Post critic Sandra Dillard-Rosen wrote: “Simon, with his rubbery, expressive face, hangdog eyes and curly gray thatch, brings Willie Clark to vibrant life, endowing the character with a wonderful mix of courage and cantankerousness.”

Simon was nominated for a Henry Award for his performance as a dying professor in Miners Alley Playhouse’s 2007 production of “Tuesdays with Morrie.” Another favorite role was playing Jonathan Coffin in Miners Alley’s “The Night of the Iguana’’ because it allowed him to spread his dramatic wings as an addled, 98-year-old poet who traveled the globe with his spinster granddaughter. He also got to play against his comic type when he originated the role of the Mexican muralist Diego Rivera in Denver playwright Melissa McCarl’s celebrated play “Painted Bread” in 1997. “Roger was way too old and way too Jewish to play the role, but he just did the greatest job,” said McCarl. “He was just so grateful to be taken out of his comfort zone, and he put his whole self into it.”

Offstage, Simon was an attorney for 64 years specializing in business and real-estate law. He was a partner at Sterling, Simon & Rubner before running his own practice for 40 years. He developed a reputation for being a humble and modest lawyer – which didn’t always work to his professional advantage.

Actor Sue Leiser, who enjoyed a comfortable comedic rapport with Simon in about 15 plays over the decades, retained – and then fired – Simon as her attorney while her acrimonious real-life divorce was playing out in the mid-1970s. “Roger was not a bastard – and we needed a bastard,” Leiser said. “So I fired Roger and hired someone who was.”

Simon was known for offering pro-bono work to many members of the Denver arts community. He came to the rescue in 1991 when young actor Tamra Hayden faced an unconscionable burden while appearing in “It’s a Wonderful Life” at the Country Dinner Playhouse. Her husband of only three months, Ben Hayden, was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor and soon passed away. Because Ben was only 28, he had no advanced directives, so Simon drew up the papers for a revocable trust. “Roger held Ben’s hand so he could initial the papers,” said Leiser. “I’ll never forget watching Roger and his partner hugging and sobbing in the hallway of that apartment afterward. That’s who Roger was. He helped so many people who were in need, and he was often paid with a hug and a handshake.”

Tamra Hayden remembers having maybe $300 to her name after paying the medical bills, “so it was a huge gift to me at the time,” she said. “It gave me peace of mind in those hard days.”

Roger Lee Simon was born in Denver on June 15, 1932. He won a state championship in track as a senior at Denver East High School. “When he came around the last lap turning for home, he was in third place, and within 30 yards he was in first,” said his brother. “He started to trip as he crossed the finish line, so I reached out my arms to help him. I said, ‘You’re a state champ!’ And he responded, ‘Damn straight!’”

Simon earned both his undergrad and law degrees from the University of Colorado in Boulder. That’s where he met Beverly Joyce Wilson, who would become his wife of 63 years. “When they met, Roger asked Bevie for her phone number, and she said, ‘You can find it.’ … And he did!” said Howard Simon. They had three children: Chere, Michael and Mark, an ice-skater and model who died of AIDS in 1997. Simon was performing in “Beau Jest” at Miners Alley Playhouse at the time, and the production was shut down for a week. “We lost Mark much too early, but he left us with such a meaning of happiness,” Howard Simon said.

Despite that tragedy, Howard contends that his brother was “the most fortunate, the luckiest human being that has walked the face of the earth” – because of his wife. “Having Bevie by his side was the greatest gift that he could ever receive,” Howard said. “He would often say, ‘I am not only married to Bevie, she is my best friend.’ ”

Bevie died on Feb. 2, 2020. In the final year of Simon’s life, he struck up a romance with Leiser, his longtime friend, co-star and herself a recent widow. Ironically, Simon and Leiser had made a habit of performing together

in the A.R. Gurney play “Love Letters,” a series of correspondences between lifelong friends turned doomed lovers. It was a complicated acting challenge that fit both like an old shoe.

“We had been friends for 50 years, and now we were both widows,” said Leiser. “Roger was so lonely after Bev died, and that last year was very special for both of us.”

When Simon died, Bernstein said, “It hurt me as bad as when my own dad died. Even when we were fighting like hell, he was dad No. 2.”

Simon is survived by his daughter, Chere (Frank) Mequet and Michael Simon; and grandchildren Andrew Simon and Amanda (Taylor) Simon. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Denver Hospice or to another charity of choice. A life celebration will be announced at a later date.