Mike Nichols

Mike Nichols
Born	Michael Igorevitch Peschkowsky November 6, 1931 (1931-11-06) (age 80) Berlin, Germany
Ethnicity	Jewish
Occupation	Film director, Theatrical director, comedian
Spouse	Patricia Scott (1957–60) Margo Callas (1963–74) Annabel Davis-Goff (1975–86) Diane Sawyer (1988–present)

Mike Nichols (born 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

Mike Nichols was born Michael Igorevitch Peschkowsky in Berlin, Germany, the son of German Brigitte Landauer and Russian-born Igor Nicholaievitch Peschkowsky, a physician.^[2] His maternal grandparents were anarchist Gustav Landauer and author Hedwig Lachmann. He and his Jewish family moved to the United States to flee the Nazis in 1939.^[3] 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.^[4] He became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1944 and attended public elementary school in Manhattan (PS 87).^[5] 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.^[4]

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.^[4]

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

In 1955 Nichols was invited to join the Compass Players, which was predecessor to Chicago's Second City and whose member's included Elaine May, Shelley Berman, Paul Sills, Del Close, and Nancy Ponder.^[6][4]

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 Nochols 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. 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.^[7]

Career as a Director: Theater, Film and Television

1960s

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.^[4]

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.^[4] 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.^[4] Overall, Nichols has won eight Tony Awards: 6 for Best Director of either a play or a musical, 1 for Best Play ans 1 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."^[4] With no experience in filmmaking, Warner Brothers invited Nichols to direct a screen adaptation of Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? starred Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, George Segal and Sandy Dennis and was adapted for the screen by Ernest Lehman. Film critic Stanley Kauffmann described Nichols first filmmaking experience as having been given "two world shaking stars, the play of the decade and the auspices of a large looming studio. What more inhibiting conditions could be imagined for a first film?"^[4] 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."^[4]

In Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Burton and Taylor play George and Martha, a middle aged married couple at a New England college where George is a History teacher. On a long, drunken night George and Martha have the new biology teacher Nick (Segal) and his wife Honey (Dennis) over for drinks. The "nightcap" extends until dawn as power trips and mind games are played, secrets are slipped and illusions are shattered.

After his successful directorial debut, Nichols returned to Broadway to direct The Apple Tree before starting production on his second film,The Graduate. It was written by Buck Henry and Calder Willingham from a novel by Charles Webb and produced by Joseph E. Levine and Lawrence Turman. It stars Dustin Hoffman (in his first leading role), Anne Bancroft and Katharine Ross and includes a then unheard of rock and roll soundtrack by Simon & Garfunkel.

In the film, Hoffman plays Benjamin Braddock, a recent college graduate who is isolated and confused about what to do with his life. After a graduation party in his honor, he drives his parents middle aged friend Mrs. Robinson (Bancroft) home from the party, where she attempts to seduce Benjamin. After initial nervous and ethical reluctance, Benjamin begins a passionless affair with Mrs. Robinson, while still remaining aimless in life after college. When he is set up on a date with Mrs. Robinson's daughter Elaine (Ross), he both ends the affair with Mrs. Robinson and discovers that he and Elaine have a lot in common and actually relate to each other. Mrs. Robinson becomes enraged and reveals the affair to Elaine, after which Elaine returns to college at Berkeley. Benjamin then dispassionately decides to marry Elaine and moves to Berekeley to pursue her, somewhat succeeding. Elaine is already engaged to another boy whom her parents approve of and with her parents intervention prepares to do so. Benjamin rushes to the church to stop Elaine from getting married and manages to steal Elaine away from the ceremony. The two run away from the church together and get on a bus, where after the thrill of rebellion the two gaze at each other in ambiguous confusion.

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. The film has been called a "manifesto for a whole generation of young people" and the defining film of the Baby boomer Generation.^[4] 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

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. Catch-22 was adapted by Buck Henry and received Heller's approval. The films large cast includes Alan Arkin, Martin Balsam, Jon Voight, Orson Welles, Norman Fell, Charles Grodin, Jack Gilford, Buck Henry, Bob Newhart, Anthony Perkins, Richard Benjamin, Marcel Dalio, Art Garfunkel and Martin Sheen.

Catch-22 has an absurd and surreal plot which takes place at an American bomber base in Italy during World War II. Captain Yossarian (Arkin) spends most of the film attempting to get away from the insanity of war by attempting to convince his superiors that he should be discharged for insanity. Here Yossarian encounters the Catch-22, which Doctor Daneeka (Gilford) explains that an airman "would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane he'd have to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't, he was sane and had to." Through the course of the film Yossarian receives a medal from General Dreedle (Welles) in the nude, flies endless and unnecessary missions for for the publicity hungry Colonel Cathcart (Balsam), copes with the companies possessions being constantly stolen by Lt. Milo Minderbinder (Voight) to sell on the Black Market and flashbacks to finding the mutilated body of a gunner who he had attempted to help during an air raid.

Catch-22 was not the only 1970 film that portrayed war as an insane and absurd event. Robert Altman's farcical film MASH was released six months earlier and was an enormous success, earning $81 million. Catch-22 was highly anticipated and promoted by Paramount Pictures, but only earned $25 million. It also received mediocre reviews compared to the rave reviews received by MASH and was considered a unsuccessful overall. It was the first major disappointment of Nichols career.^[4] Robert Altman is said to have hung a sign on his office wall that said "Caught-22" after the release of both films.^[8]

Nichols then directed the controversial film Carnal Knowledge in 1971. The film was written by cartoonist Jules Feiffer and starred Jack Nicholson, Art Garfunkel, Ann-Margret and Candice Bergen.^[4] Film director Billy Wilder had said that it was "a film about fucking."^[9]

The film chronicles the twenty-five year friendship of Jonathan (Nicholson) and Sandy (Garfunkel) from college in the late 1940s to middle age in the early 1970s and their sexual and romantic encounters through life. Jonathan is more of a cynical misogynist while Sandy is romantic, but equally cynical. In college Jonathan seduces Susan (Bergman), whom Sandy is in love with and eventually marries. Jonathan marries and has a child with the voluptuous but unstable Bobbie (Ann-Margaret), but eventually divorces her. Jonathan tries unsuccessfully to seduce Sandy's second wife, offering to swap Bobbie for a night. By the time the two friends reach middle age Sandy is in a relationship with a hippie half his age while Jonathan pays prostitutes to arouse him with theatrical ritualistic sex.^[4]

The film grossed $12.3 million but was highly controversial upon release because of the casual and blunt depiction of sexual intercourse. In 1972, a movie theater in Georgia that was screening the film was raided and the theater manager was convicted for distributing lewd material. The decision was later overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1974.^[10]

Nichols then returned to Broadway to direct Neil Simon's The Prisoner of Second Avenue in 1971. The play starred Peter Falk, Lee Grant and Vincent Gardenia and 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.^[4]

In 1973 Nichols directed The Day of the Dolphin, based on the novel A Sentient Animal) by Robert Merle and adapted by Buck Henry. It starred George C. Scott Trish Van Devere and Paul Sorvino. The film stars Scott as a marine biologist who teaches dolphins to communicate with humans and "speak" English. The dolphins are kidnapped and Scott learns that an institute is attempting to train the dolphins to assassinate the President. Scott manages to free the dolphins and instructs them to never speak again. The film was not successful financially and received mixed reviews from critics.^[4]

In 1975 Nichols directed The Fortune, which starred Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty and Stockard Channing and was written by Carole Eastman under the alias "Adrien Joyce". In the film Nicholson and Beatty play two inept con artists in the 1920s who both live with and are in a relationship with a teenaged heiress played by Channing. The two con men plot to murder their dual lover and steal her money.

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.^[4]

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 starred Jonathan Pryce and ran for 145 performances.

Also in 1976 Nichols worked as Executive Producer to create the television sitcom Family for ABC. The series starred Sada Thompson and James Broderick and ran until 1980.

In 1977 Nichols directed the original Broadway production of the hugely successful musical Annie, with music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and the book by Thomas Meehan. It starred starred Andrea McArdle as Annie, Reid Shelton as Daddy Warbucks, Dorothy Loudon as Miss Hannigan, and Sandy Faison as Grace Farrell and 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 starring Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn. The play ran for 517 performances and won Tandy a Tony Award for Best Actress.

1980s

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 Rools, 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 written by Nora Ephron and Alice Arlen and starred Meryl Streep, Kurt Russell, Cher, Craig T. Nelson and Fred Ward.

In the film, Karen Silkwood (Streep) works at the Kerr-McGee Cimarron Fuel Fabrication Site in Oklahoma. After working long hours, witnessing numerous safety violations and being exposed to radiation herself, Silkwood decides to launch her own investigation of the plant and expose her employer. She dies in a suspicious car accident and the incriminating documents that she claimed to have had were never recovered.

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."^[4] 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).^[11]

In 1984 Nichols directed the Broadway premiere of Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing, starring Glenn Close, Jeremy Irons, Christine Baranski and Peter Gallagher, . 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."^[12] 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. The play starred William Hurt, Ron Silver, Harvey Keitel, Jerry Stiller, Judith Ivey, Sigourney Weaver, and Cynthia Nixon. 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.^[4]

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 of 1984 and ran for 156 performances. It also lead to Goldberg's film career.

In 1986 Nichols directed the Broadway premiere of Andrew Bergman's Social Security, starring Marlo Thomas, Ron Silver, Joanna Gleason and Olympia Dukakis. The show ran for 188 performances.

That same year Nichols made the film Heartburn. The screenplay was by Nora Ephron, based on her semi-autobiographical novel of the same name, and inspired by her marriage to journalist Carl Bernstein. The film stars Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson as Rachel Samstat and Mark Forman (Ephron and Bernstein), along with Jeff Daniels, Stockard Channing and Miloš Forman.

In the film Rachel and Mark meet at a mutual friends wedding and begin dating. They eventually get married, buy a fixer upper in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington D.C. and have a child. But Rachel soon discovers that Mark is cheating on her with an English socialite and leaves him. Mark gets Rachel to briefly come back and try to make the marriage work, but he cannot handle fidelity and Rachel leaves him for good.

The film earned $25 million at the box office and got mixed reviews. Although Streep and Nicholson's performances were praised, critics generally thought the film itself was too episodic and lightweight. Film critic Richard Corliss said the film "doesn't seem to be about anything [and is] less a slice of life than a slice of lifestyle"^[4]

In 1988 Nichols completed two feature films. The first was an adaptation of Neil Simon's autobiographical stage play Biloxi Blues, starring Matthew Broderick, Christopher Walken, Penelope Ann Miller and Corey Parker. The film stars Broderick as Eugene Morris Jerome, a 20 year old Brooklyn Jew who goes though basic Army training in Biloxi, Mississippi before being sent to fight in World War II. During training Eugene befriends that idiosyncratic but ultimately brave Wykowski (Parker), fights with the bewildered and frustrated Drill Sergeant Toomey (Walkin), loses his virginity to a local prostitute and falls in love at a local dance hall with Daisy (Miller). The film received mixed critical reviews, but earned over $51 million worldwide.

Later in 1988 Nichols directed one of his most successful film, Working Girl. The film was written by Kevin Wade and starred Melanie Griffith, Harrison Ford, Sigourney Weaver, Alec Baldwin and Joan Cusack. It also featured songs written by Carly Simon, including "Let the River Run" as its main title song.

In the film, Griffith plays working-class secretary Tess McGill. Tess gets a job as secretary for the very successful financial executive Katherine Parker (Weaver), who seems to take Tess under her wing but is actually connivingly stealing Tess's idea to invest in radio. At a party Tess meets executive Jack Trainer (Ford) and drunkenly pretends to be Katherine and Jack becomes interested in both Tess's ideas to invest in radio and in Tess herself. But Jack also happens to be Katherine's long time boyfriend. Now trapped in a web of lies and in love with jack, Tess attempts to make good with the situation while advancing her career and love life in the process.

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 Simon's "Let the River Run".

1990s

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.

2000s

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).^[13]

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.^[14]

Personal life

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.^[15]

Among Nichols' personal pursuits is a lifelong interest in Arabian horses.^[16][17] From 1968-2004, he owned a farm in Connecticut and was a noted horse breeder.^[18] Over the years, he also imported quality Arabian horses from Poland, some of which later resold for record-setting prices, and so helped raise the image of the breed.^[19]

Work

Broadway Stage Productions

• Barefoot in the Park (1963)
• Luv (1964)
• The Odd Couple (1965)
• The Apple Tree (1966)
• The Little Foxes (1967)
• Plaza Suite (1968)
• The Prisoner of Second Avenue (1971)
• Uncle Vanya (1973)
• Streamers (1976)
• Comedians (1976)
• Annie (1977)
• Billy Bishop Goes to War (1980)
• Fools (1981)
• The Real Thing (1984)
• Hurlyburly (1984)
• Whoopi Goldberg (1984)
• Social Security (1986)
• Death and the Maiden (1992)
• The Seagull (2001)
• Spamalot (2005)
• Country Girl (2008)

Filmography

See also: Category:Films directed by Mike Nichols

Year	Film	Oscar nominations	Oscar wins
1966	Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?	13	5
1967	The Graduate	7	1
1968	Teach Me!
1970	Catch-22
1971	Carnal Knowledge	1
1973	The Day of the Dolphin	2
1975	The Fortune
1980	Gilda Live
1983	Silkwood	5
1986	Heartburn
1988	Biloxi Blues
	Working Girl	6	1
1990	Postcards from the Edge	2
1991	Regarding Henry
1994	Wolf
1996	The Birdcage	1
1998	Primary Colors	2
2000	What Planet Are You From?
2001	Wit
2003	Angels in America
2004	Closer	2
2007	Charlie Wilson's War	1

Discography

• 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 nominations

Awards 1961 Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album 1964 Tony Award for Best Director of a Play – Barefoot in the Park 1965 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play – Luv and The Odd Couple 1968 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play – Plaza Suite 1968 BAFTA Award for Best Director – The Graduate 1968 Academy Award for Best Director – The Graduate 1968 Golden Globe Award for Best Director – The Graduate 1972 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play – The Prisoner of Second Avenue 1977 Tony Award for Best Musical – Annie 1977 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play – Comedians 1977 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical – Annie 1984 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play – The Real Thing 1984 Tony Award for Best Play – The Real Thing 1984 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play – The Real Thing 1999 Film Society of Lincoln Center Gala tribute 2001 Emmy Award for Direction for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special – Wit 2001 Emmy Award for Outstanding Made for Television Movie – Wit 2003 Kennedy Center Honors 2004 Emmy Award for Direction - Miniseries/Movie – Angels in America 2004 Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries – Angels in America 2005 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical – Spamalot 2010 American Film Institute Lifetime Achievement Award

Nominations 1967 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical – The Apple Tree 1967 Academy Award for Best Director – Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? 1967 Golden Globe Award for Best Director – Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? 1974 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play – Uncle Vanya 1976 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play – Streamers 1977 Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series – Family 1977 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play – Comedians 1978 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play – The Gin Game 1978 Tony Award for Best Play – The Gin Game 1978 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play – The Gin Game 1978 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play – The Gin Game 1982 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play – Grown Ups 1984 Academy Award for Best Director – Silkwood 1984 Golden Globe Award for Best Director – Silkwood" 1984 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play – The Real Thing 1985 Tony Award for Best Play – Hurlyburly 1989 Academy Award for Best Director – Working Girl" 1989 Golden Globe Award for Best Director – Working Girl 1994 Academy Award for Best Picture – The Remains of the Day 2001 Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing - Miniseries/Movie – Wit 2003 Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event – The Play What I Wrote 2003 Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience – The Play What I Wrote 2005 Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event – Whoopi 2005 Golden Globe Award for Best Director – Closer" 2005 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical – Spamalot

References

1. ^ Lifetime Honors - National Medal of Arts
2. ^ "Mike Nichols - Films as Director". filmreference. 2008. http://www.filmreference.com/Directors-Mi-Pe/Nichols-Mike.html. Retrieved 2008-09-01. 
3. ^ Mike Nichols’ life in the trenches By Glenn Kenny, LA Times, December 16, 2007, in print edition E-31.
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t} Wakeman, John. World Film Directors, Volume 2. The H. W. Wilson Company. 1988. 704-710.
5. ^ Stated on a episode of Faces of America, in 2010
6. ^ Coleman, Janet (1991). The Compass: The Improvisational Theatre That Revolutionized American Comedy. University Of Chicago Press, ISBN 9780226113456
7. ^ Lee Hill (June 2003). "Great Directors Critical Database: Mike Nichols". Senses of Cinema:. http://www.sensesofcinema.com/2003/great-directors/nichols/. Retrieved 2008-10-12. 
8. ^ Peter Biskind, Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, New York: Touchstone Books, 1998
9. ^ Crowe, Cameron, Conversations with Wilder. New York: Knopf. 2001.
10. ^ Censored Films and Television at University of Virginia online
11. ^ Caggiano, Chris (May 22, 2011). "Review - My One and Only at the Goodspeed Opera House - Everything I Know I Learned From Musicals". everythingmusicals.com. http://everythingmusicals.com/everything_i_know_i_learn/2011/05/review-my-one-and-only-at-the-goodspeed-opera-house.html. Retrieved October 19, 2011. 
12. ^ Rich, Frank (January 6, 1984). "Tom Stoppard's Real Thing". The New York Times. http://theater.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?res=9407E7D81338F935A35752C0A962948260. Retrieved March 15, 2011. 
13. ^ "Mike Nichols Biography". filmreference. 2008. http://www.filmreference.com/film/11/Mike-Nichols.html. Retrieved 2008-09-01. 
14. ^ "The Founders". The New Actors Workshop. 2009. http://www.newactorsworkshop.com. Retrieved 2009-02-03. 
15. ^ "Faces of America: Mike Nichols", PBS, Faces of America series, with Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., 2010.
16. ^ "Nichols and Dimes"
17. ^ Flatley, Guy. "A DAY IN THE COUNTRY WITH MIKE NICHOLS"
18. ^ "About Us-Trowbridge’s Ltd."
19. ^ Cochran, Marsha. "They Sell Horses, Don't They? Not the Spectacular Way Mike Nichols Does It" People Magazine June 7, 1976

Further reading

• Schuth, H. Wayne. Mike Nichols, Twayne Publishers, 1978. ISBN 0805792554.

External links

• 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

Persondata
Name	Nichols, Mike
Alternative names
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Date of birth	November 6, 1931
Place of birth	Berlin, Germany
Date of death
Place of death