Kirk Simon

{{short description|American film director}} {{Infobox person | image = | image_size = | name = Kirk Simon | birth_name = | other_names = | birth_date = {{birth date|1954|7|25}} | birth_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2018|4|14|1954|7|25}} | death_place = New York City, New York, U.S. | occupation = Film producer and director | years_active = 1984–2018 | spouse = Karen Goodman (1987–2011)<br>Mina Farbood | children = }}

'''Kirk Simon''' (July 25, 1954 – April 14, 2018) was an American filmmaker, best known for his work on various documentaries.

== Career == Simon received a nomination for an Academy Award four times, winning once. Simon produced three films nominated for the Best Documentary (Short Subject), including ''Chimps: So Like Us'' (1990), ''Rehearsing a Dream'' (2007), and ''Strangers No More'' (2010); he won the award for the latter film at the 83rd Academy Awards, and shared the win with Karen Goodman with whom he worked on all three films.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/206020/Kirk-Simon/filmography|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160217061510/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/206020/Kirk-Simon/filmography|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 17, 2016|department=Movies & TV Dept.|work=The New York Times|date=2016|title=Kirk Simon {{ndash}} Filmography {{ndash}} Movies & TV|accessdate=February 11, 2016}}</ref> Simon also received a nomination in the category of the Best Documentary Feature for producing ''Isaac in America: A Journey with Isaac Bashevis Singer'' (1986).<ref name="Oscars1987">{{Cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1987 |title=The 59th Academy Awards (1987) Nominees and Winners |accessdate=October 16, 2011|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences}}</ref> In 2016, he produced a documentary on the centenary of the Pulitzer prize called ''The Pulitzer at 100''.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Pulitzer at 100 Doc Soup screening |url=http://boxoffice.hotdocs.ca/websales/pages/info.aspx?evtinfo=44515~fff311b7-cdad-4e14-9ae4-a9905e1b9cb0 |accessdate=June 28, 2016 |website=Hot Docs}}</ref>

== Personal life == Simon married Karen Goodman, his longtime creative partner, in 1987. The couple had two children and divorced in 2011. Simon later married Mina Farbood, and the couple had one daughter. Simon had three grandchildren.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Slotnik|first=Daniel E.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/20/obituaries/kirk-simon-documentarian-who-delved-into-education-dies-at-63.html|title=Kirk Simon, 63, Oscar-Winning Documentarian, Dies|date=2018-04-20|work=The New York Times|access-date=2020-04-14|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Simon died on April 14, 2018, in New York City, from cardiac arrest.<ref name="death">{{cite news |last=Barnes |first=Mike |date=April 15, 2018 |title=Kirk Simon, Oscar-Winning Documentarian, Dies at 63 |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/kirk-simon-dead-oscar-winning-documentarian-was-63-1102856 |accessdate=April 16, 2018 |work=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en}}</ref>

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links == * [http://www.simongoodmanpictures.com/index.html Simon & Goodman Picture Company] * {{IMDb name|id=0800232}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simon, Kirk}} Category:1954 births Category:2018 deaths Category:Film directors from Pennsylvania Category:Film producers from Pennsylvania Category:American male screenwriters Category:Jewish American screenwriters Category:21st-century American Jews Category:Film people from Philadelphia Category:Primetime Emmy Award winners Category:Producers who won the Best Documentary Short Subject Academy Award Category:Directors of Best Documentary Short Subject Academy Award winners