Volker Schlöndorff of Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman", starring Dustin Hoffman as Willy Loman and John Malkovich as Biff. Both actors won Emmys for their performances and Schlöndorff was nominated for an Emmy for his direction. The film premiered on television in 1985 and was released theatrically throughout Europe over the following years. Schlöndorff followed this with another TV movie in the US, "A Gathering of Old Men", based on the novel of the same name by Ernest J. Gaines. The film stars Richard Widmark, Holly Hunter and Lou Gossett Jr. and concerns racial discrimination in 1970s Louisiana. Schlöndorff returned to
Robert F. Simon Studio, through which he became an understudy to Lee J. Cobb for the lead in Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman". Simon had two daughters, Barbara Ann Simon Callet (born 1941) and Susan Simon Thompson, and two sons, Robert Louis Simon (born 1950) and James A. Simon (born 1951). Simon's webpage does not include the name of his spouse(s). Simon appeared on Broadway in Clifford Odets's play, "Clash by Night". In 1949, he succeeded Lee J. Cobb as Willy Loman in "Death of a Salesman". His first film appearances were as Inspector Foley in "Where the Sidewalk Ends" (1950) and