Improv comedy pioneer turned acclaimed director

Mike Nichols, the former comedian who went on to direct acclaimed movies including The Graduate, Catch-22 and Postcards From The Edge, has died at the age of 83.

Nichols was one of the founders of the acclaimed Second City improv troupe in Chicago, whose alumni include John Belushi, John Candy and Bill Murray.

And he went on to become one of the few people to win an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony award.

Born Michael Igor Peschkowsky in Berlin in 1931, Nichols arrived in America knowing only two phrases: ‘I don't speak English’ and ‘Please, don't kiss me.’

In Chicago, where he started up a comedy troupe and met Elaine May where they formed an improv double act that released three Top 40 comedy albums between 1959 and 1962.

‘I liked doing the stand-up.’ Nichols told The Hollywood Reporter in 2012. "I only stopped because Elaine wanted to stop. I've never understood it. I thought: "Why? It's not a very long show. It doesn't cost us anything emotionally.’"

But he then moved behind the scenes, first directing Robert Redford and Elizabeth Ashley in Barefoot in the Park on Broadway. In 1965 he directed the original version of Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple with Art Carney and Walter Matthau.

He then moved into cinema, starting with Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in 1966. His later comedy movie credits include directing Working Girl, The Birdcage and a film film version of Gilda Radner’s Broadway show

Four times married, Nichols leaves a widow – TV news presenter Diane Sawyer – and four children.

Published: 20 Nov 2014