- Mike Nichols, award winning director of The Graduate and Angels in America died on Wednesday at 83 years old.
- The death was announced in a statement by the president of ABC News James Goldston.
- Nichols leaves behind his wife, journalist Diane Sawyer, three children, and four grandchildren.
Mike Nichols, director of The Graduate, dies at 83
The legacy of Mike Nichols
Nichols was a legendary director both on the stage and the screen. As Goldston said in the announcement of his death:
“He was a true visionary, winning the highest honors in the arts for his work as a director, writer, producer and comic and was one of a tiny few to win the EGOT-an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony in his lifetime. ”
“No one was more passionate about his craft than Mike.”
The cause of Nichols death was not announced.
Throughout his career, Mike Nichols worked on many well known hits such as Barefoot in the Park, Closer, and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? He won his eighth Tony for his revival of “Death of a Salesman.” He was a prolific director, and was often criticized for taking on too many projects
Nichols is most famous for his Oscar winning 1967 work The Graduate, a comedy that wrestled with the uncertainty of adulthood for 1960s teenagers and the film that made Dustin Hoffman into a superstar. His strength, as Eric Duggan said on NPR, was turning dramatic scenes into instant classics as he did with The Graduate and plays like The Odd Couple.
