Nichols, Mike, 1931–2014,
American actor and director, b. Berlin, Germany, as Mikhail Igor
Peschkowsky. His family immigrated to the United States in 1939, and he
studied (1950–53) at the Univ. of Chicago. A founder of The Second
City, the comedic and improvisational group, he and fellow member Elaine May
formed a satiric duo (1957–61) and together scored a Broadway hit in
1960. Nichols debuted as a director with the Broadway production of
Barefoot in the Park (1963) and subsequently he was a
successful stage and screen director, noted for his intelligence and his
ability to draw the best from his actors. His early work concentrated on
light comedies, often written by Neil Simon. Nichols won Tony awards for
Barefoot and for Luv (1964),
The Odd Couple (1965), Plaza Suite
(1968), The Prisoner of Second Avenue (1971), and
The Real Thing (1984). Later Broadway directorial
credits included Hurlyburly (1984), Death and the
Maiden (1992), and the musical Spamalot
(2005). His films frequently portray dramatic human relationships and often
cast a wry or sardonic cinematic eye on the tensions of modern American
society. He began his movie career directing Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of
Virginia Woolf? (1966) and won an Academy Award for his next
film, The Graduate (1967). Subsequent films included
Catch-22 (1970), Carnal Knowledge
(1971), Silkwood (1983), Working Girl
(1988), The Birdcage (1996), Primary
Colors (1998), Closer (2004), and
Charlie Wilson's War (2007). Nichols, who had
occasional acting roles, was also an Emmy-winning television director and a
successful screenwriter and producer.
See A. Carter and S. Kashner, Life Isn't Everything (2019), M. Harris,
Mike Nichols: A Life (2021).
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