Mike Nichols, the Academy Award-winning director of The Graduate, has passed away aged 83.
Born in Berlin in 1931, Nichols began his career as a comedian in the 1950s and first gained fame as part of the comedy duo Nichols and May with Elaine May, winning a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album in 1962. Beginning his directing career in theatre in the 1960s, Nichols made his feature film debut with 1962’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, following this up with 1967’s The Graduate, which saw him receiving the Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Director.
Nichols would spend the rest of career alternating between stage and screen, winning a host of Tony Awards for his Broadway work, and directing films such as Catch-22, Working Girl, Postcards from the Edge, Wolf, The Birdcage, Primary Colors, Closer and Charlie Wilson’s War. He would also win Emmy Awards for Wit and Angels in America, making him one of only a handful of people to receive Grammy, Emmy, Tony and Academy Awards.
Originally published November 20, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
