It was announced this weekend by the American Film Institute's Board of Trustees Chair, Sir Howard Stringer, that Nichols will receive the 38th AFI Life Achievement Award at a gala tribute to be held in Los Angeles next summer.
Mike Nichols's most recent Broadway directorial credits include The Country Girl and Monty Python's Spamalot. In 2001, he directed The Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park production of The Seagull, which starred Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Natalie Portman.
In 1964 Nichols won his first of eight Tony Awards for
Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park. He went on to helm an unprecedented string of Broadway hits, including Luv (Best Director Tony), The Odd Couple (Best Director Tony), The Apple Tree, Plaza Suite (Best Director Tony), Prisoner of Second Avenue (Best Director Tony), The Gin Game (1978 Pulitzer Prize) and Streamers (New York Drama Critics Award).
He directed successful revivals of The Little Foxes and Uncle Vanya and the U.S. productions of Comedians as well as The Real Thing (Best Director Tony), Hurlyburly, Social Security, Waiting for Godot and Death and the Maiden. As a theatrical producer, he presented
Whoopi Goldberg on Broadway and won the Tony for his blockbuster show Annie.
Film credits include Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Graduate (Academy Award for Best Direction), Catch 22, Carnal Knowledge, Silkwood, Working Girl, Postcards From
The Edge, Regarding Henry, The Birdcage, Primary Colors, Closer and Charlie Wilson's War and for HBO Wit and Angels in America (Emmy Award for Best Direction).
In 1987, Nichols won the
George Abbott Award and in 1990 was honored by the American Museum of the Moving Image for his contributions to the film industry. In 1999, Nichols was a recipient of Lincoln Center's Lifetime Achievement Award and in 2003 he received the Kennedy Center Honor.
The Directors Guild of America honored him in 2004 with its annual Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his contributions to the film medium over the past four decades. Mr. Nichols has the rare achievement of winning all four of the major awards in American show business, the Grammy, Emmy, Tony and Oscar.
