Mike Nichols
Who Mike Nichols is
Mike Nichols was an American comedian and comedy-record act, born in Berlin, who came to the United States in 1939 and made his name in the comedy team Nichols and May. He joined the Compass Players, a team of six comic actors in Chicago, in 1955, and in 1957 formed a comedy partnership with Elaine May that played first at the Village Vanguard in Greenwich Village and then at the Blue Angel in midtown.
The pair made their first national television appearance on NBC's Omnibus in 1958, released Improvisations to Music on Mercury in 1959, and in October 1960 opened An Evening With Mike Nichols and Elaine May on Broadway, whose album won Best Comedy Performance at the 4th Annual Grammy Awards. Their last album, Nichols and May Examine Doctors, came in 1963, and soon after they ended their performing partnership; his first Broadway show as a director, Barefoot in the Park, opened that fall, and his second film, The Graduate, in December 1967.
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At a glance
- Born
- 1931
- Died
- 2014
- From
- Berlin
- Stand-up specials
- An Evening With Mike Nichols and Elaine May
- Albums
- Improvisations to Music, An Evening With Mike Nichols and Elaine May and Nichols and May Examine Doctors
- On screen
- Omnibus, Barefoot in the Park and The Graduate
Specials, shows and podcasts
Stand-up specials
- An Evening With Mike Nichols and Elaine May Broadway revue, with Elaine May, directed by Arthur Penn, 1960
Albums
- Improvisations to Music album, with Elaine May, Mercury, 1959
- An Evening With Mike Nichols and Elaine May album, with Elaine May, 1961
- Nichols and May Examine Doctors album, with Elaine May, 1963
On screen
- Omnibus with Elaine May, NBC, 1958
- Barefoot in the Park Broadway, director, 1963
- The Graduate film, director, 1967
Career timeline
- 1931Born
- 1958Omnibus (with Elaine May, NBC, 1958) On screen
- 1959Improvisations to Music (album, with Elaine May, Mercury, 1959) Album
- 1960An Evening With Mike Nichols and Elaine May (Broadway revue, with Elaine May, directed by Arthur Penn, 1960) Special
- 1961An Evening With Mike Nichols and Elaine May (album, with Elaine May, 1961) Album
- 1963Barefoot in the Park (Broadway, director, 1963) On screen
- 1963Nichols and May Examine Doctors (album, with Elaine May, 1963) Album
- 1967The Graduate (film, director, 1967) On screen
- 2014Died
Questions and answers
What stand-up specials has Mike Nichols released?
An Evening With Mike Nichols and Elaine May.
What TV shows and films are they in?
Omnibus (with Elaine May, NBC, 1958), Barefoot in the Park (Broadway, director, 1963) and The Graduate (film, director, 1967).
Where are they from?
Born in Berlin.
How old were they?
They were born in 1931 and died in 2014.
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The full SUCDb record
The full record — the career in order, the specials and credits, and the sources for each — is on SUCDb, with a button to vote them into My D.O.C. Legends.
Sources
- PBS American Masters — Mike Nichols biography and career timeline ↗ Born in Berlin on 6 November 1931; sent to the United States in 1939; Compass Players in Chicago (1955); partnership with Elaine May at the Village Vanguard…
- Recording Academy — GRAMMY artist page for Mike Nichols ↗ Winner, Best Comedy Performance, 4th Annual Grammy Awards (1962), for An Evening With Mike Nichols And Elaine May; nominee for Improvisations To Music (1959)…
- Wikipedia ↗ died 19 November 2014
Updated · the record checked 10 November 2026