Mike Nichols (born Michael Igor Peschkowsky; November 6, 1931 – November 19, 2014) was an American film and theater director, producer, actor, and comedian. He was noted for his ability to work across a range of genres and for his aptitude for getting the best out of actors regardless of their experience. He is one of 18 people to have won all four of the major American entertainment awards: Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony (EGOT). His other honors included three BAFTA Awards, 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. His films received a total of 42 Academy Award nominations, and 7 wins.
Nichols was married four times; the first three ended in divorce, the last upon his death.[71]
Nichols's first marriage was to Patricia Scot; they were married from 1957 to 1960. His second was to Margot Callas, a former "muse" of the poet Robert Graves, from 1963 to 1974.[72][73] The couple had a daughter together, Daisy Nichols. His third marriage, in 1975, to Annabel Davis-Goff, produced two children, Max Nichols and Jenny Nichols; it ended in divorce in 1986.[74] His fourth was to former Good Morning America and ABC World News anchor Diane Sawyer, whom he married on April 29, 1988.[75]
According to Norma Stevens, Richard
Avedon's longtime studio director, Avedon confided in her about his
homosexual relationships, including a decade-long affair with director Mike
Nichols.
Nichols began his career in the 1950s with the comedy improvisational troupe The Compass Players, predecessor of The Second City, in Chicago. He then teamed up with his improv partner, Elaine May, to form the comedy duo Nichols and May. Their live improv act was a hit on Broadway, and each of their three albums was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album; their second album, An Evening with Mike Nichols and Elaine May, won the award in 1962. After Nichols and May disbanded in 1961, he began directing plays, and quickly became known for his innovative productions and ability to elicit polished performances. His Broadway directing debut was Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park in 1963, with Robert Redford and Elizabeth Ashley. He continued to direct plays on Broadway, including Luv (1964), and The Odd Couple (1965) for each of which he received Tony Awards. In 2012, he won his sixth Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play with a revival of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman starring Philip Seymour Hoffman. Nichols directed and/or produced more than 25 Broadway plays throughout his prolific career.
In 1966, Warner Brothers invited Nichols to direct his first film, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
by Edward Albee, starring
Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. It won five Academy Awards and was the top-grossing film of 1966. His next film, The Graduate (1967,
adapted from the Charles Webb's novel by
Calder Willingham), starred then unknown actor Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft. It was another critical and financial success and received seven Academy Award nominations, winning Nichols the Academy Award for Best Director. Among the other films Nichols directed were Catch-22 (1970), Carnal Knowledge (1971),
Dreamers (1976, with Peter Evans), Silkwood (1983, which detailed the life of
Karen Silkwood), Working Girl (1988), Postcards from the Edge (1990), The Birdcage (1996), Primary Colors (1998), Closer (2004), and Charlie Wilson's War (2007). Nichols also was known for work on television, directing HBO's Wit (2001) with Emma Thompson and Angels in America (2003) by
Tony Kushner, starring Meryl Streep.
My published books:
BACK TO HOME PAGE
