Mike Nichols Biography (1931-)

Original name, Michael Igor Peschkowsky; surname legally changed, 1939; bornNovember 6, 1931, in Berlin, Germany; naturalized U.S. citizen, 1944; son ofNicholaievitch (a physician) and Brigitte (maiden name, Landauer) Peschkowsky; married Patricia Scott (a singer), 1957 (divorced, 1960); married Margot Callas, 1963 (divorced, 1974); married Annabel Davis-Goff (a screenwriter; divorced); married Diane Sawyer (a television journalist), April 19, 1988; children: (first marriage) Daisy; (third marriage) Max, Jenny. Addresses: Agent: Creative Artists Agency, 9830 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90212.;Publicist: The Dart Group, 140 West 57th St., Suite 14B, New York, NY 10019.;Office: Icarus Productions, 200 West 57th St., #1304, New York, NY 10019-3211.

Nationality: American
Gender: Male
Occupation: Actor, director, producer, writer
Birth Details: November 6, 1931; Berlin, Germany

Famous Works

CREDITS
Stage Director
Barefoot in the Park, Biltmore Theatre, New York City, 1963
The Knack, New Theatre, New York City, 1964
Luv, Booth Theatre, New York City, 1964
The Odd Couple, Plymouth Theatre, New York City, 1965
The Apple Tree, Shubert Theatre, New York City, 1966
The Little Foxes, Vivian Beaumont Theatre, New York City, 1967
Plaza Suite, Plymouth Theatre, 1968
The Prisoner of Second Avenue, Eugene O'Neill Theatre, New York City, 1971
Uncle Vanya, Circle in the Square/Joseph E. Levine Theatre, New York City, 1973
Comedians, Music Box Theatre, New York City, 1976
Streamers, New York Shakespeare Festival, Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre, New York City, 1976
The Gin Game, Long Wharf Theatre, New Haven, CT, then John GoldenTheatre, New York City, both 1977, later Lyric Theatre, London, 1979
Drinks before Dinner, New York Shakespeare Festival, Public Theatre, New York City, 1978
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Long Wharf Theatre, 1980
Lunch Hour, Ethel Barrymore Theatre, New York City, 1980
Fools, Eugene O'Neill Theatre, 1981
The Real Thing, Plymouth Theatre, 1984
Hurlyburly, Goodman Theatre, Chicago, IL, then Promenade Theatre,New York City, later Ethel Barrymore Theatre, all 1984
Social Security, Ethel Barrymore Theatre, 1986
Standup Shakespeare, Theatre 890, New York City, 1987
Waiting for Godot, Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre, 1988
Elliot Loves, Goodman Theatre, then Promenade Theatre, both 1990
Death and the Maiden, Brooks Atkinson Theatre, New York City, 1992
James Naughton: Street of Dreams, Promenade Theatre, 1999
The Seagull, Delacorte Theatre, New York Shakespeare Festival, 2001
Spamalot (also known as Monty Python's "Spamalot"), Chicago, IL, 2004-2005, then Shubert Theatre, 2005
Also directed The Importance of Being Earnest, Vancouver, BritishColumbia, Canada.
Stage Producer
(With Hume Cronyn), The Gin Game, Long Wharf Theatre, New Haven, CT, then John Golden Theatre, New York City, both 1977, later Lyric Theatre, London, 1979
(With Lewis Allen, Irwin Meyer, and Stephen R. Friedman) Annie, Alvin Theatre, New York City, 1977
(With Allen) Billy Bishop Goes to War, Theatre de Lys, then Morosco Theatre, both New York City, 1980
(With Emanuel Azenberg) Grownups, Lyceum Theatre, New York City, 1981
(With Azenberg) Whoopi Goldberg, Lyceum Theatre, 1984
Word of Mouth, Promenade Theatre, New York City, 1995
James Naughton: Street of Dreams, Promenade Theatre, 1999
The Play What I Wrote, Lyceum Theatre, 2003
Whoppi (solo), Lyceum Theatre, 2004
Stage Production Supervisor
Whoopi Goldberg, Lyceum Theatre, 1984
Major Tours
Director, Barefoot in the Park, U.S. cities, 1964
Director, The Prisoner of Second Avenue, U.S. cities, 1972-73
Director and (with Hume Cronyn) producer, The Gin Game, U.S. cities, 1978
(With others) Producer, Annie, U.S. and Canadian cities, 1978-81
Stage Appearances
(Broadway debut) An Evening with Mike Nichols and Elaine May, JohnGolden Theatre, 1960
Howard Miller, A Matter of Position, Walnut Street Theatre, Philadelphia, PA, 1962
George, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Long Wharf Theatre, New Haven, CT, 1980
Jack, The Designated Mourner, National Theatre, London, 1996
Made stage debut with Playwrights Theatre Club, Chicago, IL; appeared inSaint Joan, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Film Work
Director, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Warner Bros., 1966
Director and producer, The Graduate, Embassy, 1967
Director, Catch-22, Filmways, 1970
Director and producer, Carnal Knowledge, Avco-Embassy, 1971
Director, The Day of the Dolphin, Avco-Embassy, 1973
Director and (with Don Devlin) producer, The Fortune (also known as Spite and Malice), Columbia, 1975

Director, Gilda Live, Warner Bros., 1980
Director and (with Michael Hausman) producer, Silkwood, TwentiethCentury-Fox, 1983
Director and (with Robert Greenhut) producer, Heartburn, Paramount, 1986
Executive producer, The Longshot, Orion, 1986
Director, Biloxi Blues (also known as Neil Simon's "Biloxi Blues"), Universal, 1988
Director, Working Girl, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1988
Director and (with John Calley) producer, Postcards from the Edge,Columbia, 1990
Director and (with Scott Rudin) producer, Regarding Henry, Paramount, 1991
(With Calley and Ismail Merchant) Producer, The Remains of the Day, Columbia, 1993
Director, Wolf, Columbia, 1994
Director and producer, The Birdcage (also known as Birds of a Feather and La cage aux folles), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/United Artists, 1996
Director and producer, Primary Colors (also known as Perfect Couple and Mit aller Macht), Universal, 1997
Producer, The Designated Mourner, First Look Pictures, 1997
Director and producer, What Planet Are You From?, Sony Pictures Entertainment, 2000
Producer and director, Closer, Sony Pictures Entertainment, 2004
Also worked on Bonnie and Clyde.
Film Appearances
A man, Bach to Bach, 1967
Jack, The Designated Mourner, 1997
Protestor, Instant Dread, 1998
Television Work
Series
(With Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg) Executive producer, Family, ABC, 1976-80
Miniseries
Executive producer and director, Angels in America, HBO, 2003
Movies
Director, The Gin Game, 1981
Specials
Executive producer, Broadway: An Evening with Mike Nichols and ElaineMay, c. 1960
Executive producer and director, Wit, HBO, 2001
Television Appearances
Series
Panelist, Laugh Line, NBC, 1959
Himself, That Was the Week That Was, NBC, 1964
Himself, In the Life, PBS, 1992
Miniseries
(Uncredited; in archive footage) Himself, The Fifties (documentary), History Channel, 1997
Specials
Accent on Love, NBC, 1959
The Fabulous '50s, CBS, 1960
Jack Paar Presents, NBC, 1960
The Jack Paar Special, NBC, 1960
Himself, The 40th Annual Academy Awards, ABC, 1968
Himself, The 42nd Annual Academy Awards, ABC, 1970
A Last Laugh at the '60s, ABC, 1970
Himself, The Great Standups, 1984
The 39th Annual Tony Awards, CBS, 1985
Bugs Bunny/Looney Tunes All-Star 50th Anniversary, 1986
"Richard Burton: In from the Cold," Great Performances, PBS, 1989
"Neil Simon: Not Just for Laughs" (also known as "Simply Simon: A Neil Simon Retrospective"), American Masters, PBS, 1989
The 14th Annual Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the PerformingArts, CBS, 1991
"Paul Simon: Born at the Right Time," American Masters, PBS, 1993
The American Film Institute Salute to Jack Nicholson, CBS, 1994
Presenter, The 8th Annual American Comedy Awards, ABC, 1994
Himself, Richard Avedon: Darkness and Light, 1995
Interviewee, Nichols and May--Take Two, PBS, 1996
Interviewee, Catch-22, 1996
Himself, What Makes You Laugh?, 1997
Academy of Television Arts & Sciences 13th Annual Hall of Fame, Showtime, 1998
Intimate Portrait: Diane von Furstenberg (documentary), Lifetime,2000
The American Film Institute Salute to Harrison Ford, CBS, 2000
The Kennedy Center: Mark Twain Prize--Celebrating Whoopie Goldberg, PBS, 2001
Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch, The WB, 2002
Honoree, The 26th Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts, CBS, 2003
Presenter, AFI Lifetime Achievement Award: A Tribute to Meryl Streep, USA, 2004
Himself, The 56th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, ABC, 2004
Presenter, The 62nd Annual Golden Globe Awards, NBC, 2005
Episodic
The Jack Paar Show, NBC, 1957
Rod Carter, "The Red Mill," The DuPont Show of the Month, 1958
"The Suburban Review," Omnibus, 1958
Himself, The Dinah Shore Chevy Show, 1958, 1959
Laugh Line, NBC, 1959
Arthur Millman, "Journey to the Day," Playhouse 90, CBS, 1960
Inside the Actors Studio, 1995
Also appeared in The Today Show, NBC; The Perry Como Show,NBC.
RECORDINGS
Albums
An Evening with Mike Nichols and Elaine May, 1961
WRITINGS
For Stage
Special material, The Carol Burnett Show, produced at Greek Theatre, Los Angeles, 1966
(With Albert Todd) Adapter, Uncle Vanya, produced at Circle in theSquare/Joseph E. Levine Theatre, 1973
Television Specials
(With Ken Welch) Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall, CBS, 1962
(With Emma Thompson) Wit (adapted from the play of the same title), HBO, 2001

Further Reference

OTHER SOURCES

Books

Encyclopedia of World Biography Supplement, Volume 20, Gale Group,2000
International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, Volume 2: Directors, 4th ed., St. James Press, 2000

Periodicals

Film Comment, May/June, 1991, p. 27; May, 1999, p. 10
Interview, April, 1998, p. 102
Newsweek, May 6, 1996, pp. 84-85
Variety, May 10, 1999, p. 4

User Contributions:

Comment about this article, ask questions, or add new information about this topic:

forum