A talent agent and manager, Gerber worked with such clients as Sid Caesar, Diahann Carroll, Vic Damone, George Gobel, Arsenio Hall, Jack and Shirley Jones, and Jerry Lewis. After separating from his wife, Gerber’s also recently separated friend Danny Simon (brother of playwright Neil Simon) moved in with him — and The Odd Couple was born.
Gerber’s son Bill says his father “was sloppy, he was a womanizer, he was the life of the party” (“Oscar Madison”) while “Danny was literally anal-retentive, he did the cooking, the cleaning” (Felix Unger). The resulting Neil Simon play won four Tony Awards and was adapted to a long-running TV series. Walter Matthau, who played Oscar Madison on Broadway, knew Roy Gerber, making the part easy to portray. “I just did Roy, and it worked out great,” he once said. Gerber died at home August 21 from a brain tumor. He was 82.