Mike Nichols

Few people know that this Hollywood director actually had a German origin. The truth is that Michael Igor Peschkowsky – his real name – was born in Berlin on November 6, 1931, into a German-Russian Jewish family. With the rise of the Nazis to power in Germany, they had no choice but to flee to the United States in 1939. Shortly after, young Michael became a US citizen.

His artistic vocation stemmed from his student days at the University of Chicago, when he founded the company “The Compass Players”, with Elaine May , Alan Arkin and Barbara Harris . With them she dedicated herself to humorous improvisations. One of the members of the group, Elaine May, ended up forming an artistic couple with Nichols that succeeded in nightclubs, on the radio, and finally in a Broadway show directed by Arthur Penn . The duo eventually broke up due to internal tensions, although after many years, both reconciled and came to work together again, as May was a screenwriter for a couple of Nichols’ films.

In 1963, Mike Nichols was chosen to direct the stage production of Barefoot in the Park , by Neil Simon . The play was a huge success and Nichols discovered that directing was his thing, and that he wanted to spend the rest of his life doing it. On Broadway he returned to direct numerous times and received the Tony for Best Director seven times. He made his film debut adapting Edward Albee ‘s play Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf ? , starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton . The following year he directed the biggest American movie hit of that year, The Graduate ., with which he won the Oscar for best director – the film received another six unsuccessful nominations. Trap 22 , an adaptation of an antimilitarist novel by Joseph Heller , and Carnal Knowledge , also had a great impact . But The Day of the Dolphin and Two Rascals and an Inheritance completely failed, so he decided to retire temporarily from cinema and concentrate on television and theater.

He returned to the movies in the 1980s, with titles like Silkwood , Ran Out of Cake , and Misadventures of an Innocent Recruit . His two films with Harrison Ford , Women’s Arms and About Henry form a kind of trilogy – at least on a thematic level – along with Lobo – starring Jack Nicholson – about the lack of scruples in business. He also dissected the world of politics in Primary Colors , with John Travolta . In the 21st century, he dedicated himself to producing and directing the Angels in America series , and the films Closer andCharlie Wilson’s war –obviously much less interesting than his film works of previous decades–.

As for Nichols’ personal life, it is worth mentioning that he was divorced three times, although he was with his fourth partner, the famous television journalist Diane Sawyer, since 1988. He had three children from his previous partners.