Spielberg, Streep lead tributes after death of acclaimed film director Mike Nichols
Death of Oscar-winning filmmaker, aged 83, who won a best director Oscar for the film, The Graduate, "is a seismic loss", says Spielberg, while Streep hails him as "an inspiration".
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Filmmaker Steven Spielberg and actress Meryl Streep have led the many tributes to Oscar-winning director Mike Nichols, the creative force behind many classic American films and plays, including The Graduate, following his death aged 83.
“This is a seismic loss,” Spielberg said.
“Mike was a friend, a muse, a mentor, one of America’s all-time greatest film and stage directors, and one of the most generous people I have ever known.”
The Oscar-winning actress Streep, who worked with Nichols several times, called him “an inspiration and joy to know, a director who cried when he laughed, a friend without whom, well, we can’t imagine our world, an indelible irreplaceable man”.
Mike was a friend, a muse, a mentor, one of America’s all-time greatest film and stage directors, and one of the most generous people I have ever known
Nichols had been working on an HBO film adaptation of Master Class – the Terrence McNally play about opera star Maria Callas – starring Streep in the leading role.
The filmmaker, who died of a heart attack on Wednesday, directed nearly two dozen movies in all and won the Oscar for best director in 1968 for The Graduate, starring Dustin Hoffman.
He also directed timeless classics such 1966’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, and lighter films with a contemporary edge such as 1988’s Working Girl, starring Harrison Ford and Melanie Griffith.
An inspiration and joy to know... a friend without whom, well, we can’t imagine our world, an indelible irreplaceable man
Paul Simon, who wrote the song Mrs Robinson for The Graduate, said simply: “My dear friend of 47 years. I love and admire Mike Nichols.”
Art Garfunkel, who, as part of the duo Simon and Garfunkel, sang the song alongside Simon, said: “To act for him on camera was to glide on a liquid film of intelligence.”
Tom Hanks, who played the title role in Nichol’s final film in 2007, Charlie Wilson’s War, cited one of the director’s own sayings in paying tribute to him.
“Forward. We must always move forward. Otherwise what will become of us?” Hanks said.
Nichols was one of the rare figures in American entertainment to have earned an “EGOT” – having been honoured with at least one Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award.
He was a member of American entertainment royalty, being married for many years to celebrated ABC television news presenter Diane Sawyer.
A small, private service will be held for him later this week, and a memorial service at a later date.
His work featured incisive takes on American society over several decades – was awarded seven Tony Awards, two Emmy Awards, and a Grammy in 1961 for Best Comedic Performance with his longtime artistic partner, Elaine May.
Nichols started life as Michael Igor Peschkowsky – the son of a Russian doctor who escaped to Germany after the Russian revolution.
His family was forced to flee Nazi Germany for the United States in 1939 and settled in New York City when Nichol was only seven years old.
Nichol’s early life of hardship – his father died when he was just 12 – led him to seek solace in cinemas, and to pursue a career in the world of entertainment, eventually becoming one of its leading lights.
He first made his name in comedy, teaming up for four years with May to create imaginative two-person skits that inspired generations of improvisational actors who followed them.
Nichols and May also helped co-found the Compass Players, a Chicago-based improvisational acting troupe that became the forerunner to the renowned Second City group – which helped launch some of America’s most famous comedians, including John Belushi, Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert.
However, as gifted as he was in comedy, it was in directing that Nichols found his true calling.
In addition to his Oscar win for The Graduate, he was also nominated for 1983’s Silkwood, starring Streep, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Working Girl.
His last Oscar nomination was as the producer of the 1993 film, The Remains of the Day – nominated for best picture – starring Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson.
Some of his other films include 1970’s Catch-22 – co-starring Garfunkel – Carnal Knowledge, in 1971, with Jack Nicholson, Heartburn (1986) – with Nicholson and Streep – Postcards from the Edge (1990), again starring Streep, Wolf (1994), with Nicholson and Michelle Pfeiffer, and Primary Colours (1998), starring John Travolta.
Nichols’ work on Broadway was just as successful, with his first Tony coming in 1964 for directing Neil Simon’s Barefoot in the Park in 1963, starring Robert Redford – and the last coming nearly 50 years later, in 2012, for the revival of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, starring the late Philip Seymour Hoffman and Spider-Man star Andrew Garfield.
His vast range included directing the original 2005 Broadway production of the Monty Python stage show Spamalot, which won three Tonys.
On television, he won his first Emmy award for the 2001 TV film Wit, which starred Thompson; a second came in 2003 for the HBO miniseries, Angels in America, about the Aids crisis, which starred Streep, Thompson and Al Pacino
The Directors Guild of America earlier this year bestowed upon Nichols its highest honour – its Lifetime Achievement Award. He is one of only 30 directors to have been so honoured.
“Mike Nichols was a cinematic legend and a one-of-a-kind storyteller,” said Paris Barclay, head of the guild.
Nichols, who married four times, and had been married to Sawyer for the past 26 years, is survived by three children and four grandchildren.
