Mike Nichols, Acclaimed Director of ‘The Graduate,’ Dies at 83

(November 6, 1931 – November 19, 2014)

New York (AP) Mike Nichols, one of America’s most celebrated directors, died on Wednesday from cardiac arrest. He was married to ABC’s news anchor Diane Sawyer. The family will hold a private service this week; a memorial will be held at a later date.

Dryly urbane, Mr. Nichols had a gift for communicating with actors and a keen comic timing, which he honed early in his career as half of the popular sketch comedy team Nichols and May. In films like “The Graduate,” “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” and “Carnal Knowledge” and in comedies and dramas on stage, he accomplished what Orson Welles and Elia Kazan but few if any other directors have: achieving popular and artistic success in both film and theater. He was among the most decorated people in the history of show business, one of only a dozen or so to have won an Oscar, a Tony, an Emmy and a Grammy.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/21/obituaries/mike-nichols-celebrated-director-dies-at-83.html?emc=edit_na_20141120

 

R.I.P.

 

My absolute favorite of his films!

 

The Birdcage (1996)

 

What’s not to love about this film? Starring Robin Williams and Nathan Lane the pairing is perfect and the performances are brilliant!

Here’s the plot:

Meet Armand, Albert and their son Val who’s engaged to Barbara Keeley and the rip-roaring evening when their families meet.

Val’s father, Armand, owns The Birdcage, a drag club in South Beach. His domestic partner is Albert, who appears regularly as “Starina”, the show’s star drag queen. Barbara’s father is ultraconservative Republican Senator Kevin Keeley of Stow, Ohio. He is up for reelection and is also co-founder of the “Coalition for Moral Order”.

Fearing the Keeleys reaction if they learn the truth about Val’s parents, Barbara tells her parents that Armand is a cultural attaché to Greece, that Albert is a housewife, and that they divide their time between Greece and Florida; she also changes the family’s last name from Goldman to Coleman to hide their Jewish background.

What could go wrong?

Based on the 1973 stage play by Jean Poiret and the 1978 French-Italian film la Cage aux Folles co-written and directed by Édouard Molinaro; it starred Ugo Tognazzi and Michel Serrault. In Italian, it is known as Il vizietto. An excellent flick definitely worth checking out.

 

Love the scene with Renaldo teaching Albin to act “straight.”  La Cage vs. Birdcage. What do you think?

(Sorry, no subtitles for the trailer but they are available on the DVD)

 

The Birdcage pays homage but definitely brings its own attitude and flair.

 

 

 

And Hank Azaria as Agador Spartacus is too hilarious!!!!

 

Directed by	Mike Nichols
Produced by	Mike Nichols Neil A. Machlis
Screenplay by	Elaine May
Based on	La Cage aux Folles by Jean Poiret Francis Veber
Starring	Robin Williams Gene Hackman Nathan Lane Dianne Wiest
Music by	Stephen Sondheim
Cinematography	Emmanuel Lubezki
Edited by	Arthur Schmidt
Production company	Nichols Film Company
Distributed by	United Artists
Release dates	March 8, 1996