Lincoln Center to Pay Tribute to Mike Nichols on 65th Street Tonight

With the sad news of the passing of stage and screen director Mike Nichols, the distinctive digital signage (known as Blades) along West 65th Street at Lincoln Center will be lit tonight from 7:45 to 8:00 PM with a special message in his honor.

Nichols was honored by the Film Society of Lincoln Center at its annual gala in 1999. In 1976 he directed the premiere of David Rabe's Streamers at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater. In 1987 he directed a special invitational production of Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes at the Vivian Beaumont Theater. The all-star cast included Anne Bancroft, E. G. Marshall, George C. Scott, Margaret Leighton, Maria Tucci, Austin Pendleton, and Richard A. Dysart. In 1988 he returned to Lincoln Center Theater to direct Beckett's Waiting for Godot with Robin Williams and Steve Martin.

Nichols was among the most celebrated people in the history of show business, one of only a handful of people to win an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award. Mike Nicholshas won more Tony Awards for Best Direction of a Play than any other individual. His six nods were for Barefoot in the Park (1964), Luv and The Odd Couple (1965), Plaza Suite (1968), The Prisoner of Second Avenue (1972), The Real Thing (1984), and Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman (2012). He has also won in other categories for directing the musical Monty Python's Spamalot (2005), and for producing Annie (1977) and The Real Thing (1984) under the company he founded, Icarus Productions, making it a total of nine Tony Award wins. He also received eight additional nominations.

Nichols started out on Broadway as a performer in An Evening With Mike Nichols and Elaine May, which he co-wrote with May. The show premiered in 1960 and ran for 306 performances.

He made his cinematic directorial debut directing Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" and later won the Academy Award for his direction of "The Graduate."

Among his upcoming projects, Nichols was slated to helm a screen adaptation of Terrence McNally's Master Class starring Meryl Streep as Maria Callas.

Nichols was born in Germany in 1931. He is survived by his wife, Diane Sawyer; his three children Daisy, Max and Jenny; and four grandchildren.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride