Special Memorial Service for Acclaimed Director Mike Nichols In the Works

Acclaimed director, producer, writer and performer Mike Nichols passed away last November 20th at the age of 83. While the marquees of Broadway theatres dimmed in his memory the following evening, there has yet to be a formal memorial service for the EGOT-winning legend.

Today, Showbiz411's Roger Friedman reports that Lorne Michaels, Brian Lourd, and Barry Diller are currently involved in planning the long overdue event, with a tentative date scheduled for November 8th. Details of the service, including speakers and location remain undetermined, but Friedman speculates that Lincoln Center or a Broadway theater would be appropriate venue choices for the event.

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. His full Broadway biography can be found on The Internet Broadway Database (ibdb.com) here.

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 the 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 by Walter McBride.