Mike Nichols

MIKE NICHOLS

Date of Birth: November 6, 1931

Birth name: Michael Igor Peschowsky

Born in Berlin to Jewish parents, Mike Nichols emigrated to the United States with his family just before WWII. He studied at the University of Chicago, where he met Elaine May, with whom he formed a highly successful comedy team. They wound up on Broadway in 1960 starring in An Evening With Mike Nichols and Elaine May, then went on to win a Grammy Award for Best Comedic Performance in 1961 for their comedy album based on the Broadway show. Nichols won a Tony Award when he made his Broadway directorial debut in 1963 with Neil Simon's hit comedy Barefoot in the Park.

His debut as a feature film director earned Nichols his first Oscar nomination for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), starring Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. His next film, The Graduate (1967), was also highly successful and this time, Nichols won the coveted Oscar statuette as Best Director as well as a Golden Globe award. He has received two more Oscar nominations for Best Director -- for Silkwood (1983) and Working Girl (1988). In 1994 he received yet another Oscar nomination, this time as producer of The Remains of the Day.

When Nichols won two Emmys in 2001 for the TV production Wit starring Emma Thompson, he became part of a small group of people who have won all of the major show business awards (Oscar, Emmy, Tony, Golden Globe and Grammy). Nichols has won four Tonys for directing and one for producing the musical Annie in 1997. He was one of five recipients of the 2003 Kennedy Center Honors and in 2004, received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Directors Guild of America.

Nichols continued to direct for both film and stage: recent productions include the feature film Closer (2004), starring Jude Law and Natalie Portman, and a Broadway musical version of the popular Monty Python movie, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, called Spamelot.

Divorced three times, Nichols married Diane Sawyer since 1988. Nichols died of a heart attack in Manhattan on November 19, 2014 at the age of 83. He leaves behind three children from his second and third marriages.

Filmography:

Closer (2004)
What Planet Are You From? (2000)
Primary Colors (1998)
The Birdcage (1996)
Wolf (1994)
Regarding Henry (1991)
Postcards from the Edge (1990)
Working Girl (1988)
Biloxi Blues (1988)
Heartburn (1986)
Silkwood (1983)
Gilda Live (1980)
The Fortune (1975)
The Day of the Dolphin (1973)
Carnal Knowledge (1971)
Catch-22 (1970)
Teach Me! (1968)
The Graduate (1967)
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)