Mike Nichols

He first got married to Patricia Scott (1957- 1960) with whom he had a daughter Daisy (born in 1964).

Thereafter he married Margo Callas (1963- 1974).

His third marriage was with Annabel Davis-Goff (1975-1986) with whom he had two children, Max (born in 1974) and Jenny (born in 1977).

He was born Mikhail Igor Peschkowsky on November 6, 1931, in Berlin, Germany, to Pavel Peschkowsky and Brigitte (née Landauer). His father, a physician, originally hailed from Siberia and his mother was a German. He was distantly related to scientist Albert Einstein from his mother’s side.

When he was four years old he had variolation for cough, following which he lost his hair and had to wear wigs throughout his life.

As atrocities of Nazis increased in Berlin, in April 1939 when he was only seven years old his mother sent him and his three year old brother Robert to the US where his father already fled sometime back. His mother got reunited with the family later in 1940.

On April 28, 1939, his family relocated to New York City where his father set up medical practice and soon became a successful medical practitioner in Manhattan. There his father adopted the name Paul Nichols.

In 1944 he became a naturalized citizen of the US.

In 1953 he started working as an announcer with classical music station WFMT, 98.7 FM. As per instructions of Rita Jacobs, co-owner of the music station, Nichols set up a folk music program for Saturday nights and named it ‘The Midnight Special’. The program that he hosted for two years maintains same time slot till present.

His interest in theatres led him to return to New York City where he studied method acting under Lee Strasberg for a couple of years.

Having difficulty in finding stage work in New York City, he returned to Chicago and accepted an invitation to join ‘Compass Players’ in 1955, members of which included Paul Sills, Del Close, Shelley Berman, Elaine May and Barbara Harris. There he began to do improvisational routines with May.

In 1958 he and May set up their own comedy duo naming it ‘Nichols and May’ and beginning with New York City the duo gave live satirical comedy act performances that soon gained popularity. The duo performed in TV, radio and nightclubs as well and released 3 records of their routines that emerged as best-sellers.

‘An Evening With Mike Nichols and Elaine May’, a Broadway show directed by Arthur Penn was premiered in 1960, the LP album of which earned ‘Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album’ in 1962. This successful comedy duo split-up in 1961, however reconciled later that saw them working together on many occasions including May scripting for a couple of films of Nichols that included ‘The Birdcage’ (1996) and ‘Primary Colors’ (1998).