Originally conceived by Neil Simon, who based the play on his brother Danny's true-life experience, The Odd Couple is best described in the one-sentence treatment Simon submitted to Paramount, who financed the stage play sight-unseen. "Two men - one divorced and one estranged and neither quite sure why their marriages fell apart - move in together to save money for alimony and suddenly discover they're having the same conflicts and fights they had in their marriages." The successful Broadway run was followed by the hit film, released in 1968, starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau.