Biography
Though he began his career as in improvisational comedian and gained a degree of popularity with May, Nichols found his greatest success first on Broadway, where he collaborated extensively with Neil Simon to direct "Barefoot in the Park" (1963) and "The Odd Couple" (1965); both of which earned him Tony Awards for Best Director. He soon moved to Hollywood and directed the controversial "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (1966), which broke …
Latest Tv Credits
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Career Milestones
2007 | Helmed "Charlie Wilson's War" about Democratic Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson, played by Tom Hanks; re-teamed with Roberts | |
2005 | Produced "Whoopi, the 20th Anniversary Show," Whoopi Goldberg's return to the stage; earned a Tony nomination for Best Special Theatrical Event | |
2005 | Directed David Hyde Pierce, Tim Curry and Hank Azaria in the Broadway production of "Monty Python's Spamalot," a stage musical based on the British comedy troupe's 1975 movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail; received a Tony nomination for Best Direction of a Musical | |
2004 | Directed and produced Natalie Portman, Julia Roberts, Jude Law and Clive Owen in "Closer"; based on the play by British playwright Patrick Marber; film was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Picture (Drama) and Nichols was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Director | |
2003 | Directed the HBO adaptation of Tony Kushner's epic "Angels in America" | |
2001 | Returned to stage directing, helming "The Seagull" in NYC's Central Park | |
2001 | Helmed the HBO adaptation of the Pulitzer-winning play "Wit"; starring Emma Thompson, with whom he co-wrote the script; also executive produced | |
2000 | Produced and directed "What Planet Are You From?" | |
1999 | Honored with a tribute by the Film Society of Lincoln Center (May 3) | |
1998 | Again teamed with May, helming her script for the film version of the political satire "Primary Colors" | |
1997 | Film acting debut, reprised role in David Hare's film of "The Designated Mourner" | |
1996 | London stage acting debut, "The Designated Mourner" | |
1996 | First film collaboration with Elaine May, "The Birdcage," a loose remake of "La cage aux folles"; teaming Robin Williams and Nathan Lane | |
1994 | Reunited with Jack Nicholson for "Wolf" | |
1993 | As one of the producers, shared Best Picture Oscar nomination for "The Remains of the Day" | |
1992 | Directed "Death and the Maiden" on Broadway; starred Glenn Close, Gene Hackman and Richard Dreyfuss | |
1991 | Directed Harrison Ford in "Regarding Henry" | |
1990 | Third film with Streep, "Postcards From the Edge" | |
1988 | Staged a revival of Beckett's "Waiting for Godot" with Steve Martin, Robin Williams and Bill Irwin in leading roles | |
1988 | With Paul Sills and George Morrison, founded the New Actors Workshop | |
1988 | Received fourth Academy Award nomination for Best Director for the screen comedy "Working Girl" | |
1988 | Served as executive producer of the short-lived ABC sitcom "The Thorns" | |
1986 | Reteamed with Streep and Nicholson for "Heartburn"; adapted from Nora Ephron's novel | |
1986 | Executive produced "The Long Shot"; helmed by Paul Bartel | |
1984 | Produced and served as production supervisor on the one-person show "Whoopi Goldberg" | |
1984 | Staged Tom Stoppard's play "The Real Thing"; won Tony Award | |
1983 | Picked up third Best Director Oscar nomination for "Silkwood" starring Meryl Streep | |
1980 | Directed the concert film "Gilda Live" | |
1980 | Returned to stage acting as George in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" at the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, CT (opposite Elaine May as Martha) | |
1977 | Staged the Pulitzer-winning two-character comedy-drama "The Gin Game" starring Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn | |
1977 | Produced first stage musical, "Annie" | |
1976 | Executive produced the ABC drama series "Family" | |
1975 | Left film directing for a period after closing down the set of the Neil Simon-scripted "Bogart Slept Here" | |
1975 | Directed "The Fortune"; teaming Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty | |
1973 | Helmed "The Day of the Dolphin" | |
1972 | Was director of the Neil Simon play "The Prisoner of Second Avenue"; won Tony Award | |
1971 | Feature producing debut, "Carnal Knowledge"; also directed | |
1970 | Directed the screen adaptation of Joseph Heller's comic novel "Catch-22" | |
1968 | Reunited with Simon on "Plaza Suite"; picked up Tony Award | |
1967 | Earned Best Director Oscar for "The Graduate" | |
1966 | Feature film directing debut, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"; received first Academy Award nomination as Best Director | |
1965 | Enjoyed two stage successes with "Luv" and Simon's "The Odd Couple"; earned second Tony Award for direction of both | |
1963 | Directed first Broadway play, "Barefoot in the Park" (originally titled "Nobody Loves Me" during its tryout at the Bucks County Playhouse); won first Tony Award | |
1962 | Was one of the writers for the variety special "Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall" (CBS), featuring Julie Andrews and Carol Burnett | |
1962 | Staged "The World of Jules Feiffer" in New Jersey; Stephen Sondheim contributed the music | |
1962 | Had lead in May's stage play "A Matter of Position"; closed out of town in Philadelphia; following the failure of the production, the pair ended their professional and personal relationship for many years | |
1960 | Made Broadway debut in "An Evening with Mike Nichols and Elaine May"; reportedly the pair began to experience difficulties which occasionally spilled over into their performances | |
1959 | TV debut as panelist on "Laugh Line" | |
1958 | With May, began appearing in nightclubs in NYC; appeared on "The Steve Allen Show" and later "Omnibus" | |
1958 | Was fired from The Compass at May's insistance | |
| Formed a comedy trio with May and Shelley Berman | ||
1955 | With Elaine May, Alan Arkin, Barbara Harris and Paul Sills, formed improvisational group The Compass Players (later Second City) | |
1954 | After dropping out of college, moved to NYC to study acting with Lee Strasberg; returned to Chicago after just about a year | |
| While attending the University of Chicago, directed first stage play, a student production of "Purgatory"; starring Edward Asner | ||
1948 | Attended a performance of the Broadway play "A Streetcar Named Desire" and decided he had to "be around theatre" | |
1943 | Certified as a "genius" at age 12 | |
1939 | Placed by father with an English-speaking family | |
1939 | Sent with brother to USA to live with father who had arrived in NYC in 1938 | |
1936 | At age four, had a bad reaction to a defective whopping-cough vaccine that left him permanently denuded | |
| Born in Berlin | ||
Awards
2005 | Producers Guild of America Award for Long-Form Television in Angels in America |
2004 | Directors Guild of America Award for DGA Lifetime Achievement |
2004 | Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special in Angels in America |
2004 | Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries in Angels in America |
2004 | Golden Globe Award for Best Director - Motion Picture in Closer |
2003 | Directors Guild of America Award for Movies For Television and Mini-Series in Angels in America |
2001 | Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing For a Miniseries, Movie or a Special in Wit |
2001 | Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Made For Television Movie in Wit |
2001 | Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing For a Miniseries or a Movie in Wit |
1993 | Academy Award for Best Picture in The Remains of the Day |
1993 | BAFTA Award for Film in The Remains of the Day |
1988 | Golden Globe Award for Best Director - Motion Picture in Working Girl |
1988 | Academy Award for Directing in Working Girl |
1988 | Directors Guild of America Award for Feature Film in Working Girl |
1984 | Tony Award for Director (Play) |
1983 | Golden Globe Award for Best Director - Motion Picture in Silkwood |
1983 | Academy Award for Directing in Silkwood |
1977 | Tony Award for Musical |
1977 | Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series in Family |
1972 | Tony Award for Director (Dramatic) |
1968 | Tony Award for Director (Dramatic) |
1968 | BAFTA Award for Direction in The Graduate |
1968 | BAFTA Award for Film in The Graduate |
1967 | New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director in The Graduate |
1967 | Golden Globe Award for Best Director - Motion Picture in The Graduate |
1967 | Academy Award for Directing in The Graduate |
1967 | Directors Guild of America Award for Feature Film in The Graduate |
1966 | Golden Globe Award for Best Director - Motion Picture in Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? |
1966 | Academy Award for Directing in Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? |
1966 | Directors Guild of America Award for Feature Film in Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? |
1966 | BAFTA Award for Film in Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? |
1965 | Tony Award for Director (Dramatic) |
1964 | Tony Award for Director (Dramatic) |
1961 | Grammy Award for Best Comedy Performance |