Mike check: Biography explores Nichols' versatile career

It’s hard to think of anyone who had a career like Mike Nichols.

Most people know him as the director who gave us “The Graduate” and “The Birdcage,” among many films. Or maybe they know him as Mr. Diane Sawyer.

But Nichols, who passed away in 2014 at the age of 83, also left his indelible print on the world of comedy and Broadway. He found and nurtured talent, leading to some of the best performances given by our best modern actors. 

Prolific critic Mark Harris’ “Mike Nichols: A Life” came out earlier this year and offers an exhaustively researched, entertaining biography of Nichols at every significant point of his life. While it’s a long read, it’s amusing and brisk; perfect for a long plane ride or a week at the beach while you are trying to enrich your knowledge of filmmakers and their films. 

Nichols is so fascinating you have to approach his incredible story piece by piece. 

Nichols was an immigrant. Born in Berlin as Igor Mikhail Peschkowsky, his family immigrated to New York before the rise of Nazi Germany. As his father left early to establish a medical practice, the young boy was sent by himself on the long boat ride across the ocean. Nichols spoke of this journey as formative, shaping his desire to forge familial relationships with his cast and crew. Always on the lookout for a family to call his own.

He also developed a rare condition as a boy, losing his ability to grow hair. From a very early age, Nichols wore a wig and, as a directing technique, would talk about the embarrassment and shame of his condition with performers to coax connections and help them think about their own vulnerabilities. 

Nichols was a comedian. Attending the University of Chicago, he met Elaine May and they were immediately attracted to one another’s talent. They were a perfect fit, feeding off of each other’s rhythms, becoming almost competitive in developing the comedy of a scene. They become a hit on the New York club scene and moved onto television.

From there, the duo — who were a big deal because there had never really been a male/female comedy team before — sold out a Broadway show night after night and moved millions of records. Their style of improv, which was toned in Chicago and St. Louis, redefined comedy in a way that shapes it to this day. 

Nichols and May broke up, but Mike found that moving these scenes along — forming them, perfecting them — was a strength. Seems he had a knack for directing. There was something he found paternalistic about helping a performer find the right notes to make a character come to life.

His first mark was on Broadway shepherding two classic Neil Simon plays — “Barefoot in the Park” and “The Odd Couple” — to huge financial successes. Barely in his thirties, Nichols had already racked up back-to-back Tony Awards.

Through his stage work, Nichols became friends with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. At the time, they were the world’s most famous couple and they wanted to adapt “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” for the big screen. The studio wanted them, but knew it would take a special director to keep this volatile pair on track. Taylor chose Nichols and the film became a groundbreaking hit. 

Nichols followed this up with another classic, “The Graduate.” He won best director for his second film. He followed these films with some notorious flops. “The Day of the Dolphin,” anyone? 

It should be noted May also became a director — a darned fine one at that — but Hollywood was less than forgiving about her financial fiascos. You might get one guess at why Nichols kept getting shots at redemption when May was placed in director’s jail for good. 

Either way, Nichols continued bouncing back between movies and the stage. He made “Silkwood” and “Working Girl,” two modern classics. Nichols also helped establish HBO as a place for prestige with the sweeping, epic miniseries “Angels in America.” 

Harris explains that Nichols' real success was in developing emotional connections with his casts. He was a performer himself, and knew what they needed to get into a moment. More than that, he knew personalities and was able to adjust his directing style for each actor. It’s where his training as an improv comic came in handy.

It is no wonder titans like Streep and Nicholson worked with him time and time again. Nichols can also be credited for discovering the likes of Whoopi Goldberg, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Natalie Portman. 

Nichols was a socialite. All of this success led to a lot of money. Which led to cultivating things like rich friends and Arabian horses. Harris doesn’t shy away from depicting some of Nichols' indulgences as totally ridiculous. Sure, Nichols was a snob but he never lost his ability to work out the kinks in a script or get the spark between a romantic on-screen couple. 

Nichols was a cultural titan. He was an EGOT winner. He lived life to the fullest despite crippling insecurity. Harris presents his story with incredible highs and unbelievable lows. What emerges is a poignant portrait that presents the heart and soul of not only an artist, but the cultural landscape of the past 60 years. 

I don’t mean to critique “Mike Nichols: A Life” here, but rather give you a taste for great book about what makes a director tick and the obsessions that fuel their films and their lives. 

In real life, James Owen is a lawyer and executive director of energy policy group Renew Missouri. He created/wrote for Filmsnobs.com from 2001-2007 before an extended stint as an on-air film critic for KY3, the NBC affiliate in Springfield. He was named a Top 20 Artist under the Age of 30 by The Kansas City Star when he was much younger than he is now.