Becoming Mike Nichols: The Documentary

Click on the audio player above to hear this interview.

From Broadway to television and the big screen, Mike Nichols was a prolific director. His success put him in an elite group of people—he earned an Oscar, Grammy, Emmy, and Tony award, among numerous other accolades.  

His screen and stage career spanned decades. His early film classics included “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” and “The Graduate,” which helped launch Dustin Hoffman’s big screen career.

On the stage, he directed Neil Simon’s comedies  like “The Odd Couple” and “Barefoot in the Park.”  He helped launch another career in 1984 with his one woman show called “Whoopi Goldberg.”  Nearly three decades later, at the age of 80, he would accept a Tony award for his direction of “Death of a Salesman.” 

The documentary “Becoming Mike Nichols,” which premieres tonight on HBO, is a tribute to Nichols’ career and legacy. Shot interview style over the course of two nights at Broadway’s Golden Theater, it’s a revealing look at the early life of Nichols, who died, at age 83 a few months after it was shot.

Directed by his friend and filmmaker Douglas McGrath, it’s an intimate look at Nichols talking about his earliest beginnings from childhood, to directing and his entertaining start as an improvisational actor with actress Elaine May.  

Check out a trailer for the film below.