Mike Nichols

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Mike Nichols
Born	Michael Igor Peschkowsky 6 November 1931 (1931-11-06) (age 77) Berlin, Germany
Spouse(s)	Patricia Scott (1957-1960) Margo Callas (1963-1974) Annabel Davis-Goff (1975-1986) Diane Sawyer (1988-present)

Mike Nichols (born 6 November 1931) is an American television, stage and film director, writer, and producer. Nichols is one of the 9 people to have won all the major American entertainment awards: an Oscar, Grammy, Emmy and Tony Award.

Contents 1 Early years 2 Career 3 Personal life 4 Work 4.1 Stage productions 4.2 Filmography 5 Awards and nominations 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Early years

Nichols was born Michael Igor Peschkowsky in Berlin, Germany, the son of Brigitte Landauer and Igor Nicholaievitch Peschkowsky, a physician.^[1] He and his German-Russian Jewish family moved to the United States to flee the Nazis in 1939 ^[2]. 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.

[edit] Career

Nichols formed a comedy team with Elaine May, with whom he appeared in nightclubs, on radio, released best-selling records, made guest appearances 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.^[3]

Nichols was chosen to direct Neil Simon's Barefoot In The Park in 1963. He realized almost at once that directing was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. Nichols's production of Simon's play was a blockbuster hit, running for 1530 performances. He went on to direct (and occasionally produce) many other Broadway hits, including several more by Simon. He has won numerous theatre awards, including the Tony Award for Best Direction for seven different productions.

Nichols' career as a film director began with Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in 1966 for which he received an Oscar nomination, and The Graduate--the biggest hit film released in 1967--for which he won the Best Director Oscar. He's also won Emmy Awards for his direction of Wit (2001) and Angels in America (2003).^[4]

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.^[5]

[edit] Personal life

Nichols has been married four times. His first wife was Patricia Scott; they were married from 1957 to 1960. He then married Margo Callas in 1963, and they had a daughter, Daisy Nichols. His marriage to Callas ended in 1974. Annabel Davis-Goff, with whom he has two children, Max Nichols and Jenny Nichols, was his third wife. They were divorced in 1986. He has been married to his fourth and current wife, Good Morning America anchor Diane Sawyer since April 29, 1988.

[edit] Work

[edit] 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)
• 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)

[edit] Filmography

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

[edit] 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 Academy 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 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

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? 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 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" 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 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical – Spamalot

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Mike Nichols at the Internet Broadway Database
• Mike Nichols at the Internet Movie Database

v • d • e Academy Award for Best Director Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise (1961) · David Lean (1962) · Tony Richardson (1963) · George Cukor (1964) · Robert Wise (1965) · Fred Zinnemann (1966) · Mike Nichols (1967) · Carol Reed (1968) · John Schlesinger (1969) · Franklin Schaffner (1970) · William Friedkin (1971) · Bob Fosse (1972) · George Roy Hill (1973) · Francis Ford Coppola (1974) · Miloš Forman (1975) · John G. Avildsen (1976) · Woody Allen (1977) · Michael Cimino (1978) · Robert Benton (1979) · Robert Redford (1980) Complete List · (1927–1940) · (1941–1960) · (1961–1980) · (1981–2000) · (2001-present)

v • d • e Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play John Dexter (1975) · Ellis Rabb (1976) · Mike Nichols / Alan Schneider (1977) · Melvin Bernhardt (1978) · Jack Hofsiss (1979) · Vivian Matalon (1980) · Peter Hall (1981) · Tommy Tune (1982) · Trevor Nunn (1983) · Michael Blakemore (1984) · John Malkovich (1985) · Jerry Zaks (1986) · Howard Davies (1987) · John Dexter (1988) · Jerry Zaks (1989) · Frank Galati (1990) · Jerry Zaks (1991) · Patrick Mason (1992) · George C. Wolfe (1993) · Stephen Daldry (1994) · Gerald Gutierrez (1995) · Gerald Gutierrez (1996) · Trevor Nunn (1999) · Michael Blakemore (2000) · Jack O'Brien (2001) · Mary Zimmerman (2002) · Robert Falls (2003) · Jack O'Brien (2004) · Doug Hughes (2005) · Nicholas Hytner (2006) · Jack O'Brien (2007) · Anna D. Shapiro (2008) · Matthew Warchus (2009)

v • d • e Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special Mike Nichols (2001) · Phil Alden Robinson / David Frankel / Tom Hanks / David Leland / Richard Loncraine / David Nutter / Mikael Salomon / Tony To (2002) · Steven Schachter (2003) · Mike Nichols (2004) · Stephen Hopkins (2005) · Tom Hooper (2006) Philip Martin (2007) Complete list: (1975-2000) · (2001-present)

v • d • e Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play Elia Kazan (1947) · Joshua Logan (1948) · Elia Kazan (1949) · José Ferrer (1952) · Joshua Logan (1953) · Alfred Lunt (1954) · Robert Montgomery (1955) · Tyrone Guthrie (1956) · Vincent J. Donehue (1958) · Elia Kazan (1959) · Arthur Penn (1960) · John Gielgud (1961) · Noel Willman (1962) · Alan Schneider (1963) · Mike Nichols (1964) · Mike Nichols (1965) · Peter Brook (1966) · Peter Hall (1967) · Mike Nichols (1968) · Peter Dews (1969) · Joseph Hardy (1970) · Peter Brook (1971) · Mike Nichols (1972) · A. J. Antoon (1973) · José Quintero (1974) · John Dexter (1975) Complete list: (1947-1975) · (1976-2000) · (2001-present)

v • d • e Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play Ellis Rabb (1976) · Gordon Davidson (1977) · Melvin Bernhardt (1978) · Jack Hofsiss (1979) · Vivian Matalon (1980) · Peter Hall (1981) · Trevor Nunn / John Caird (1982) · Gene Saks (1983) · Mike Nichols (1984) · Gene Saks (1985) · Jerry Zaks (1986) · Lloyd Richards (1987) · John Dexter (1988) · Jerry Zaks (1989) · Frank Galati (1990) · Jerry Zaks (1991) · Patrick Mason (1992) · George C. Wolfe (1993) · Stephen Daldry (1994) · Gerald Gutierrez (1995) · Gerald Gutierrez (1996) · Anthony Page (1997) · Garry Hynes (1998) · Robert Falls (1999) · Michael Blakemore (2000) Complete list: (1947-1975) · (1976-2000) · (2001-present)

v • d • e Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical Susan Stroman (2001) · John Rando (2002) · Jack O'Brien (2003) · Joe Mantello (2004) · Mike Nichols (2005) · John Doyle (2006) · Michael Mayer (2007) · Bartlett Sher (2008) · Stephen Daldry (2009) Complete list: (1947-1975) · (1976-2000) · (2001-present)

v • d • e Films directed by Mike Nichols 1960s Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) • The Graduate (1967) 1970s Catch-22 (1970) • Carnal Knowledge (1971) • The Day of the Dolphin (1973) • The Fortune (1975) 1980s Gilda Live (1980) • Silkwood (1983) • Heartburn (1986) • Biloxi Blues (1988) • Working Girl (1988) 1990s Postcards from the Edge (1990) • Regarding Henry (1991) • Wolf (1994) • The Birdcage (1996) • Primary Colors (1998) 2000s What Planet Are You From? (2000) • Wit (2001) • Angels in America (2003) • Closer (2004) • Charlie Wilson's War (2007)