Nichols, Mike (redirected from Michael Igor Peschkowsky)

Nichols, Mike, 1931–, American actor and director, b. Berlin, Germany, as Michael Igor Peschkowsky. He and his family emigrated to the United States in 1939, and he studied (1950–53) at the Univ. of Chicago. A founder of The Second City, the comedic and improvisational group, he and fellow member Elaine May formed a satiric duo (1957–61) and scored a Broadway hit in 1960. Nichols debuted as a director with the Broadway production of Barefoot in the Park (1963) and since then he has been a successful stage and screen director, renowned for his intelligence and his ability to draw the best from his actors. His early work concentrated on light comedy, often written by Neil Simon. Nichols won the Tony award for Barefoot and for Luv (1964), The Odd Couple (1965), Plaza Suite (1968), The Prisoner of Second Avenue (1971), and The Real Thing (1984). Later Broadway directorial credits include Hurlyburly (1984), Death and the Maiden (1992), and the musical Spamalot (2005). His films frequently portray dramatic human relationships and often cast a wry or sardonic cinematic eye on the tensions of modern American society. He began his movie career directing Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) and won an Academy Award for his next film, the now classic The Graduate (1967). Subsequent films include Catch-22 (1970), Carnal Knowledge (1971), Silkwood (1983), Working Girl (1988), The Birdcage (1996), Primary Colors (1998), and Closer (2004). Nichols, who has had occasional acting roles, is also an Emmy-winning television director and a successful screenwriter and producer.

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Nichols, Mike

 orig. Michael Igor Peschkowsky

(born Nov. 6, 1931, Berlin, Ger.) German-born U.S. stage and film director. He and his parents fled Germany for the U.S. in 1938. After studying at the University of Chicago and the Actors Studio, he formed a comic improvisational group in Chicago. He and Elaine May (b. 1932) toured with and recorded a set of brilliant social-satire routines. He later directed several Broadway hits, including Barefoot in the Park (1963), The Odd Couple (1965), and Plaza Suite (1968). His first film, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), was followed by The Graduate (1967, Academy Award); his later films include Catch-22 (1970), Silkwood (1983), Working Girl (1988), and Primary Colors (1998). His productions focused on the absurdities and horrors of modern life as revealed in personal relationships.

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Nichols, Mike (b. Michaael Igor Peschkowsky) (1931–  ) stage/film director, writer, comedian; born in Berlin, Germany. Brought to the U.S.A. as a child to escape the Nazis, he emerged out of the cross-fertilizing of the university and the improvised theater of Chicago in the 1950s; he first came to national attention with An Evening with Mike Nichols and Elaine May (1960), with its wry spoofs of everyday and unusual relationships. He went on to direct numerous stage plays—including Barefoot In the Park (1963), and The Odd Couple (1965)—and films, including The Graduate, which won an Oscar as the year's best in 1967. In later years he earned a reputation as a "doctor" who was often brought in to rescue stage or movie productions in trouble.