Matt Kryger / AP

In this 2004 photo, Mel Simon, right, looks towards his brother, Herb, during an interview in their office in Indianapolis.

Simon divorced his first wife, Bess Meshulam Simon, and has been married since 1972 to Bren Simon, a former member of the Democratic National Committee and a leader of numerous charitable and civic organizations. Bess Meshulam Simon died of cancer in 1977, and the Simons later gave $2.1 million toward an Indiana University music center that was named for her in 1995.

Simon had five children, including a son, Max, who died in 1999 at age 25.

The Indiana Pacers staged a great turnaround after the Simons bought the NBA franchise, even though they remained behind the scenes for most of their ownership.

The Pacers were coming off a 20-62 season and averaged home crowds of fewer than 5,000 fans when they bought the team in 1983. But with star players such as Reggie Miller and Jermaine O’Neal, the Pacers reached the Eastern Conference finals six times in 11 years and the NBA finals in 2000, losing in six games to the Los Angeles Lakers.

The team’s success led to the construction of Conseco Fieldhouse, which opened in 1999, replacing Market Square Arena.

A run of on- and off-court troubles with players — most prominently the 2004 brawl with Detroit Pistons fans — ended their playoff triumphs and led Herb Simon to take over day-to-day operations last year.

Simon’s time as a Hollywood movie producer was marred when his daughter, Deborah, was kidnapped in 1981 from outside her parents’ Beverly Hills mansion. The 25-year-old escaped unharmed the next day and police arrested the gunman who apparently picked her at random and then demanded a $500,000 ransom.

Simon said he was “absolutely flabbergasted” when “Porky’s” — with its scenes of teenage boys spying on girls in a locker room shower and visiting a brothel named Porky’s — became a big hit in 1982.

Melvin Simon Productions more frequently had flops, including “Zorro, The Gay Blade” with George Hamilton and Carol Burnett’s “Chu Chu and The Philly Flash.”

“I did about 25 movies and I got out of it, thank God — it didn’t cost me any money ultimately,” Simon told The Indianapolis Star in 2002. “It was a good lesson, and I wouldn’t do it again.”

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