Mike Nichols (born Michael Igor Peschkowsky; November 6, 1931) is a German-born American television, stage and film director, writer, producer and comedian. He began his career in the 1950s as one half of the comedy duo Nichols and May, along with Elaine May. In 1968 he won the Academy Award for Best Director for the film The Graduate. His other noteworthy films include Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Carnal Knowledge, Working Girl, Closer and the TV mini-series Angels in America. He also staged the original theatrical productions of Barefoot in the Park, Luv, The Odd Couple and Spamalot.

Nichols is one of a small group of people who have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award. His other honors include the Lincoln Center Gala Tribute in 1999, the National Medal of Arts in 2001,^[1] the Kennedy Center Honors in 2003 and the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2010.

Early life and education[link]

Mike Nichols was born Michael Igor Peschkowsky^[2] in Berlin, Germany, the son of Brigitte (née Landauer) and Paul Peschkowsky, a physician.^[2][3] His father was born in Vienna, Austria, to a Russian Jewish immigrant family that had been wealthy and lived in Siberia, leaving after the Russian Revolution and settling in Germany around 1920.^[2] His mother's family were German Jews.^[2] His maternal grandparents were anarchist Gustav Landauer and author Hedwig Lachmann. Nichols is a third cousin twice removed of scientist Albert Einstein, through Nichols' mother.^[2] He moved to the United States to flee the Nazis on April 28, 1939.^[2][4][5] His father, who had changed his name to Paul Nichols, had successfully set up a medical practice in Manhattan and the family lived near Central Park.^[6] He became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1944 and attended public elementary school in Manhattan (PS 87).^[7] After graduating from Walden High School, Nichols briefly attended New York University before dropping out. In 1950, he enrolled in the pre-med program at the University of Chicago.^[6]

While attending the University of Chicago in the 1950s, Nichols began skipping class to attend theatrical activities. Nichols first met Elaine May at this time when she criticized his acting in a performance of August Strindberg's Miss Julie. At the University, Nichols made his theatrical debut as a director with a performance of William Butler Yeats' Purgatory.^[6]

In 1954, Nichols dropped out of the University of Chicago and moved back to New York City, where he was accepted into the Actor's Studio and studied under Lee Strasberg.

Nichols and May[link]

In 1955 Nichols was invited to join the Compass Players, which was predecessor to Chicago's Second City and whose members included Elaine May, Shelley Berman, Paul Sills, Del Close, and Nancy Ponder.^[6][8]

Nichols moved back to Chicago to perform comedy with Compass and starting doing improvisational routines with Elaine May, which led to the formation of the comedy duo Nichols and May in 1958. They gradually gained popularity, appearing in nightclubs, and on radio. They released three best-selling records, made guest appearances on several television programs and won the 1962 Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album. In 1960 Nichols and May opened the Broadway show An Evening With Mike Nichols and Elaine May, directed by Arthur Penn. In the show they were accompanied by Chicago pianist Marty Rubenstein, host of the television show Marty's Place and the musical director at Mister Kelly's. . Personal idiosyncrasies and tensions eventually drove the duo apart to pursue other projects in 1961. They later reconciled and worked together many times, such as the unsuccessful A Matter of Position, a play written by May and starring Nichols. May scripted Nichols films The Birdcage and Primary Colors. They appeared together at President Jimmy Carter's inaugural gala and in a 1980 New Haven stage revival of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? with Swoosie Kurtz and James Naughton.^[9]

Career as a director[link]

1960s[link]

After the professional split with May, Nichols went to Vancouver, B.C. to pursue his theatrical directing career. He directed a production of The Importance of Being Ernest and acted in a production of George Bernard Shaw's St. Joan.^[6]

In 1963, Nichols was chosen to direct Neil Simon's Barefoot In The Park. He realized almost at once that directing was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. Barefoot in the Park was a blockbuster hit, running for 1530 performances and earning Nichols a Tony Award for his direction.^[6] This began a series of highly successful plays on Broadway (often from works by Simon) that would establish his reputation. After an off-Broadway production of Ann Jellicoe's The Knack, Nichols directed Murray Schisgal's play Luv in 1964. Again the show was a hit and Nichols won a Tony Award (shared with The Odd Couple). In 1965 he directed another play by Neil Simon, The Odd Couple. The original production starred Art Carney as Fexlin Ungar and Walter Matthau as Oscar Madison. The play ran for 966 performances and won Tony Awards for Nichols, Simon and Matthau.^[6] Overall, Nichols has won eight Tony Awards: six for Best Director of either a play or a musical, one for Best Play and one for Best Musical.

By 1966, Nichols was a star director and Time Magazine called him a superstar and "the most in-demand director in the American theatre."^[6] With no experience in filmmaking, Warner Brothers invited Nichols to direct a screen adaptation of Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? The film was a huge success, grossing $14.5 million, winning five Academy Awards with thirteen nominations (including Nichols first nomination for Best Director), three BAFTA Awards, and was critically acclaimed, with critics calling Nichols "the new Orson Welles."^[6]

After his successful directorial debut, Nichols returned to Broadway to direct The Apple Tree before starting production on his second film,The Graduate. On its initial release The Graduate grossed $50 million, making it both the highest grossing film of 1967 and one of the highest grossing films in history up to that date. It was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Cinematography. Mike Nichols won the Academy Award for Best Director.

Nichols then returned to the Broadway stage with a revival of Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes in 1967, which ran for 100 performances. He then directed Neil Simon's Plaza Suite in 1968, earning him another Tony Award for Best Director. He also directed the short film Teach Me! in 1968, which starred actress Sandy Dennis

1970s[link]

At the height of his success and fame, Mike Nichols next film was a big-budget adaptation of Joseph Heller's famous novel Catch-22, released in 1970. Nichols then directed the controversial film Carnal Knowledge in 1971. The film grossed $12.3 million but was highly controversial upon release because of the casual and blunt depiction of sexual intercourse.

Nichols then returned to Broadway to direct Neil Simon's The Prisoner of Second Avenue in 1971. The play won Nichols another Tony Award for Best Director. In 1973 Nichols directed a revival of Anton Chekhov's Uncle Vanya on Broadway starring George C. Scott and with a new translation written by himself and Albert Todd.^[6]

In 1973 Nichols directed The Day of the Dolphin, based on the novel A Sentient Animal) by Robert Merle and adapted by Buck Henry. The film was not successful financially and received mixed reviews from critics.^[6]

In 1975 Nichols directed The Fortune. The film was a financial failure and received mostly negative reviews. Nichols has described it as "a leap into extremes of behavior and last resorts. It's about people so innocent that they don't know when you kill someone she dies. It's like kids playing bang-bang." It was Nichols last feature narrative film for eight years.^[6]

Nichols then returned to the stage with two moderately successful production in 1976. David Rabe's Streamers opened in April and ran for 478 performances. Trevor Griffiths's Comedians ran for 145 performances.

Also in 1976 Nichols worked as Executive Producer to create the television sitcom Family for ABC. The series ran until 1980.

In 1977 Nichols produced the original Broadway production of the hugely successful musical Annie, it ran for 2,377 performances in 1983. Nichols won the Tony Award for Best Musical.

Later in 1977, Nichols directed D.L. Coburn's The Gin Game. The play ran for 517 performances and won a Tony Award for Best Actress for Jessica Tandy.

1980s[link]

In 1980 Nichols directed the documentary Gilda Live, a filmed performance of comedian Gilda Radner's one-woman show Gilda Radner Live on Broadway. It was released at the same time as the album of the show, both of which were successful.

Nichols then returned to the Broadway stage with two unsuccessful shows. Billy Bishop Goes to War opened in 1980 and closed after only twelve performances. In 1981 Nichols directed Neil Simon's Fools, which closed after forty performances.

Nichols career seemed to rebound in 1983 with the film Silkwood, based on the life of whistleblower Karen Silkwood. The film was a financial and critical success, earning $35 million at the box office. Film critic Vincent Canby called it "the most serious work Mike Nichols has yet done."^[6] The film received five Academy Award nominations, including Best Director for Nichols.

Later that year Nichols and Peter Stone helped to fix up and rewrite the musical My One and Only just days before its Boston premiere. The show eventually went to Broadway and ran for 767 performances, winning Tony Awards for Best Actor, Best Choreography (both for Tommy Tune) and best Supporting Actor (Charles "Honi" Coles).^[10]

In 1984 Nichols directed the Broadway premiere of Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing. The New York Times critic Frank Rich wrote that "The Broadway version of The Real Thing - a substantial revision of the original London production - is not only Mr. Stoppard's most moving play, but also the most bracing play that anyone has written about love and marriage in years."^[11] The play was nominated for seven Tony Awards and won five, including a Best Director Tony for Nichols.

Nichols quickly followed this success with the Broadway premiere of David Rabe's Hurlyburly, also in 1984. It was performed just two block away from the theater showing The Real Thing. It was nominated for three Tony Awards and won Best Actress for Judith Ivey.^[6]

In 1983 Nichols had seen comedian Whoopi Goldberg's one woman show The Spook Show and decided to help Goldberg expand it. Goldberg's self titled Broadway show opened in October 1984 and ran for 156 performances. It also led to Goldberg's film career.

In 1986 Nichols directed the Broadway premiere of Andrew Bergman's Social Security. The show ran for 188 performances. That same year Nichols made the film Heartburn. The film earned $25 million at the box office and got mixed reviews.

In 1988 Nichols completed two feature films. The first was an adaptation of Neil Simon's autobiographical stage play Biloxi Blues. The film received mixed critical reviews, but earned over $51 million worldwide.

Later in 1988 Nichols directed one of his most successful films, Working Girl. Working Girl was a huge hit upon its release, earning $103 million worldwide. It also received mostly positive reviews from critics with an 84% rating at Rotten Tomatoes and a 73 metascore at Metacritic. It was nominated for six Academy Awards (including Best Director for Nichols) and won the Academy Award for Best Song for Carly Simon's "Let the River Run".

1990s[link]

Nichols' other films include Wolf, Regarding Henry, Postcards from the Edge, and Primary Colors. He also directed The Birdcage, a remake of the French film La Cage aux Folles. Both The Birdcage and Primary Colors were written by Nichols's stand-up partner May.

2000s[link]

In the 2000s Nichols directed the theatrical films What Planet Are You From?, Closer and Charlie Wilson's War. He directed Wit and Angels in America for television.

He's also won Emmy Awards for his direction of Wit (2001) and Angels in America (2003).^[12]

Nichols is a contributing blogger at The Huffington Post. He's also a co-founder of The New Actors Workshop in New York City, where he occasionally teaches.^[13]

Personal life[link]

Nichols has been married four times. His first wife was Patricia Scott; they were married from 1957 to 1960. He was married to Margo Callas from 1963 to 1974, producing a daughter, Daisy Nichols. His third marriage, to Annabel Davis-Goff, produced two children, Max Nichols and Jenny Nichols. They were divorced in 1986. He married ABC World News anchor Diane Sawyer, on April 29, 1988.

According to research done by Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., of Harvard University, in 2010 for the PBS series Faces of America, Nichols' grandfather was a leading theorist on anarchism in the early 20th century and Nichols is related to Albert Einstein who was a cousin on his mother’s side.^[14]

Among Nichols' personal pursuits is a lifelong interest in Arabian horses.^[15][16] From 1968-2004, he owned a farm in Connecticut and was a noted horse breeder.^[17] Over the years, he also imported quality Arabian horses from Poland, some of which later resold for record-setting prices.^[18]

Work[link]

Broadway stage productions[link]

Filmography[link]

Discography[link]

• Nichols and May- Improvisations to Music (1959) Mercury
• Nichols and May- An Evening with Mike Nichols and Elaine May (1960) Mercury
• Nichols and May- Mike Nichols & Elaine May Examine Doctors (1962) Mercury MG 20680/SR 60680
• Nichols and May- In Retrospect (1982) Polygram, re-released as compact disc in 1996

Awards and honors[link]

References[link]

Notes

Further reading

• Schuth, H. Wayne. Mike Nichols, Twayne Publishers, 1978. ISBN 0-8057-9255-4.

External links[link]

• Mike Nichols at the Internet Broadway Database
• Mike Nichols at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Mike Nichols at the Internet Movie Database
• Mike Nichols (Inside Actors Studio Interview) on YouTube