NICHOLS, MIKE

NICHOLS, MIKE (Michael Igor Peschkowsky; 1931– ), U.S. comedian and director. Born in Berlin, Nichols and his family fled Germany in 1939. Educated at the University of Chicago, he studied for a time with Lee Strasberg in New York. Nichols was one of the founders of The Compass, an off-campus theater group, later forming the Second City Improvisational company in Chicago. He toured in cabaret with Elaine May (see theater ) from 1954, and in 1960 they presented An Evening with Mike Nichols and Elaine May on Broadway, for which they won a Grammy for Best Comedy Performance (1961). In 1961 Nichols turned to acting on his own, and then directed a series of successful plays on Broadway. Among them were Barefoot in the Park (Tony Award, 1963), The Knack (1964), Luv (Tony Award, 1964), The Odd Couple (Tony Award, 1965), The Apple Tree (1966), The Little Foxes (1967), Plaza Suite (Tony Award, 1968), The Prisoner of Second Avenue (Tony Award, 1971), Uncle Vanya (1973), Streamers (1976), Comedians (1976), Annie (producer, Tony Award, 1977), The Gin Game (1977), The Real Thing (two Tony Awards, 1984), Hurlyburly (1984), and Spamalot (Tony Award, 2005). Turning to movies, he directed the film version of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Oscar nomination for Best Director, 1966); The Graduate (Academy Award for Best Director, 1967); Catch-22 (1969); The Day of the Dolphin (1973); The Fortune (1975); Gilda Live (1980); Silkwood (Oscar nomination for Best Director, 1983); Heartburn (1986); Biloxi Blues (1988); Working Girl (Oscar nomination for Best Director, 1988); Postcards from the Edge (1990); Regarding Henry (1991); Wolf (1994); The Birdcage (plus screenplay, 1995); Primary Colors (1998); What Planet Are You From? (2000); the Emmy award-winning TV movie Wit (2001); the Emmy award-winning TV miniseries Angelsin America (2003); and Closer (2004). Nichols is one of a handful of celebrities to have garnered the coveted quartet of an Oscar, an Emmy, a Tony, and a Grammy. In 2003 he was one of the recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors. He is chairman emeritus of the non-profit organization Friends in Deed, founded in 1991 to provide support to those affected by life-threatening illness. After three divorces, Nichols has been married to news personality Diane Sawyer since 1988. Nichols wrote the books Life and Other Ways to Kill Time (1988); Real Men Belch Downwind (1993); and Women Are from Pluto, Men Are from Uranus (1996). -ADD. BIBLIOGRAPHY: H. Schuth, Mike Nichols (1977). (Lee Healey and Jonathan Licht / Ruth Beloff (2nd ed.)