Mike Nichols Biography
Summary
"Mike Nichols" (born November 6 1931) is an Academy Award winning American film director, writer, and producer.
Born Michael Igor Peschkowsky in Berlin, Germany, he and his German-Russian Jewish family moved to the United States to flee the Nazis in 1939. He became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1944. While attending the University of Chicago in the 1950s, he began work in improvisational comedy with the Compass Players, a precursor to The Second City, and later started the long-running Midnight Special folk music program on radio station WFMT.
Nichols formed a comedy team with Elaine May, with whom he appeared in nightclubs, on radio, released best-selling records, guested on several television programs and had their own show on Broadway, directed by Arthur Penn. They were accompanied by Chicago pianist Marty Rubenstein, host of the television show "Marty's Place". Personal idiosyncrasies and tensions (the latter culminating in the out-of-town closing of "A Matter of Position", a play written by May and starring Nichols) eventually drove the duo apart to pursue other projects in 1961. They later reconciled and worked together many times, with May scripting his 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.
Nichols has been married four times, most notably to TV journalist Diane Sawyer, whom he wed on April 29 1988. He has three children, Daisy (born 1964), Max (born 1974) and Jenny (born 1977). His daughter-in-law is ESPN reporter Rachel Nichols.
Nichols is a contributing blogger at "The Huffington Post". He also is a founder of The New Actor's Workshop in New York City, where he occasionally teaches.
Selected Broadway directing credits
"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)
"The Real Thing" (1984)
"Hurlyburly" (1984)
"Whoopi Goldberg" (1984)
"Social Security" (1986)
"Death and the Maiden" (1992)
"Spamalot" (2005)
Selected films
1966: "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (director)
1967: "The Graduate" (director)
1970: "Catch-22" (director)
1971: "Carnal Knowledge" (director, producer)
1973: "The Day of the Dolphin" (director)
1983: "Silkwood" (director, producer)
1986: "Heartburn" (director, producer)
1988: "Working Girl"; "Biloxi Blues" (director)
1990: "Postcards from the Edge" (director, producer)
1991: "Regarding Henry" (director, producer)
1993: "The Remains of the Day" (producer)
1994: "Wolf" (director)
1996: "The Birdcage" (director, producer)
1998: "Primary Colors" (director, producer)
2001: "Wit" (writer, director, producer)
2003: "Angels in America" (director, producer)
2004: "Closer" (director, producer)
2007: "Charlie Wilson's War" (director)
Awards and nominations
1961 Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album ("winner")
1964 Tony Award for Best Director of a Play ("Barefoot in the Park", "winner")
1965 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play ("Luv" and "The Odd Couple", "winner")
1967 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical ("The Apple Tree", nominee)
1967 Academy Award for Best Director ("Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?", nominee)
1968 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play ("Plaza Suite", "winner")
1968 Academy Award for Best Director ("The Graduate", "winner")
1972 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play ("The Prisoner of Second Avenue", "winner")
1974 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play ("Uncle Vanya", nominee)
1976 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play ("Streamers", nominee)
1977 Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series ("Family", nominee)
1977 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play ("Comedians", nominee)
1977 Tony Award for Best Musical ("Annie", "winner")
1977 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play ("Comedians", "winner")
1977 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical ("Annie", "winner")
1978 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play ("The Gin Game", nominee)
1978 Tony Award for Best Play ("The Gin Game", nominee)
1978 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play ("The Gin Game", nominee)
1978 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play ("The Gin Game", nominee)
1982 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play ("Grown Ups", nominee)
1984 Academy Award for Best Director ("Silkwood", nominee)
1984 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play ("The Real Thing", "winner")
1984 Tony Award for Best Play ("The Real Thing", "winner")
1984 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play ("The Real Thing", nominee)
1984 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play ("The Real Thing", "winner")
1985 Tony Award for Best Play ("Hurlyburly", nominee)
1989 Academy Award for Best Director ("Working Girl", nominee)
1994 Academy Award for Best Picture ("The Remains of the Day", nominee with John Calley and Ismail Merchant)
2001 Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special ("Wit", "winner")
2001 Emmy Award for Outstanding Made for Television Movie ("Wit", "winner")
2001 Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries or a Movie ("Wit", nominee)
2003 Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event ("The Play What I Wrote", nominee)
2003 Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience ("The Play What I Wrote", nominee)
2003 Kennedy Center Honors ("winner")
2004 Emmy Award for Direction of a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special ("Angels in America", "winner"
2004 Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries ("Angels in America", "winner")
2005 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical ("Spamalot", "winner")
2005 Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event ("Whoopi", nominee)
2005 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical ("Spamalot", nominee)
External links
(Senses of Cinema: Great Directors Critical Database)
Credit
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article about Mike Nichols.
