Journalist Diane Sawyer and director Mike Nichols arrive at the AFI Lifetime Achievement Awards honoring Nichols on June 10, 2010, in Culver City, Calif. Nichols died Wednesday at the age of 83.; Credit: Chris Pizzello/AP
Mike Nichols, director of acclaimed films such as The Graduate, Catch-22, Carnal Knowledge, and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf, passed away last night at age 83. Having won an Oscar and multiple Tony and Emmy awards over his career, Nichols achieved tremendous success during his six decade career in cinema and theater. Two of his films, Working Girl (1988) and Silkwood (1983), are on the American Film Institute’s 100 Most Inspiring Movies of All Time at #87 and #66, respectively.
After fleeing from Germany with his family at the start of World War II, he became a naturalized US citizen in 1944, saying that upon his arrival he could only speak two sentences in English: “I do not speak English” and “Please, do not kiss me.” Nichols is survived by his wife of 26 years, Diane Sawyer, and his three children and four grandchildren.
Guest:
John Whitehead, author of the new book, “Mike Nichols and the Cinema of Transformation” (McFarland, 2014)