Roy Somlyo was born on September 2, 1925 in Detroit, Michigan. He served in the Army during World War II. After the war, he attended Wayne State University. While studying economics he got involved in a college theatre group, the Actors Company, and after graduation, moved to New York to pursue a life in the theatre. Somlyo was soon working at a summer stock theatre, the Cape Cod Melody Tent, doing a variety of behind the scenes jobs, selling tickets, painting sets, moving scenery, and handing out flyers. His background in economics would prove to be an asset when he eventually became a producer.
Somlyo began his Broadway career as a production assistant on three plays produced by Richard Aldrich, Richard Meyers, and associated producers: Goodbye My Fancy (1948), Caesar and Cleopatra (1949), and The Devil's Disciple (1950). During the 1950s, Somlyo worked as assistant company manager on two David Merrick productions, Fanny (1954) and The Matchmaker (1955). Soon he was promoted to company manager for such shows as Patate (1958), Triple Play (1959), Gypsy (1959), and The Cool World (1960).
Over the next two decades Somlyo worked in close association with the producer Alexander Cohen, working as general manager on many Cohen productions, including Beyond the Fringe (1962), John Gielgud's Ages of Man (1963), Man and Boy (1963), Richard Burton's Hamlet (1964), Baker Street (1965), The Homecoming (1967), and Dear World (1969). Somlyo moved up to associate producer on the Cohen productions Fun City (1972), Ulysses in Nightgown (1974), and Who's Who in Hell (1974).
Cohen and Somlyo co-produced many more productions during the 1970s and 1980s, including Comedians (1976), Anna Christie (1977), I Remember Mama (1979), A Day in Hollywood / A Night in the Ukraine (1980), and La Tragedie de Carmen (1983). Somlyo also produced Kipling (1984) and Gypsy Passion (1992) and managed Uptown…It's Hot (1986), Sherlock's Last Case (1987), and Checkmates (1988).
In 1967, Alexander Cohen began producing the annual television broadcast of the Tony Awards, which he continued to do until 1987. Somlyo worked on the broadcast with Cohen for many years, as associate producer or co-producer, and took over as executive or supervising producer from 1987 to 1998, but continued be involved in the program until 2003. Somlyo and Cohen also co-produced the 1983 Emmy Award winning television special, Night of 100 Stars. Somlyo won Emmys for the 1987, 1998, and 1999 Tony Awards.
Somlyo served as President of the American Theatre Wing from 1998 to 2003. After retiring from the Tony Awards and the American Theatre Wing, Somlyo became an executive consultant for the Drama Desk Awards from 2004 to 2007.
In 1957, Roy Somlyo married Nancy Rifici, with whom he had two children, David Somlyo and Lauren McGowan. He died in Manhattan on January 29, 2009.