--- title: Mike Nichols Dead: His Best Movies description: The director passed away Nov. 20 at the age of 83 canonical: https://time.com/3597162/mike-nichols-best-movies/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-11-20T15:20:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:49:46.038Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Mike Nichols Dead: His Best Movies og:description: The director passed away Nov. 20 at the age of 83 og:url: https://time.com/3597162/mike-nichols-best-movies/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbea3dd9f388ce258/698769dfe53abaaea44d6089/mike-nichols1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Mike Nichols og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Mike Nichols Dead: His Best Movies twitter:description: The director passed away Nov. 20 at the age of 83 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbea3dd9f388ce258/698769dfe53abaaea44d6089/mike-nichols1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Mike Nichols: A Look Back at the Director's Best Films ## Video: Mike Nichols, Iconic Director Of ‘The Graduate,’ Dies At 83 [Watch (HLS stream): Mike Nichols, Iconic Director Of ‘The Graduate,’ Dies At 83](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/mo1xgjeA.m3u8) (1:01)  _Published 2014-11-20. Mike Nichols, critically acclaimed director of the 1967 film_ by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Nov 20, 2014 3:20 PM UTC  Director Mike Nichols. Director Mike Nichols.Gerald Holubowicz—Polaris by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Nov 20, 2014 3:20 PM UTC Director Mike Nichols passed away today at the age of 83\. The revered director (and husband of Diane Sawyer) was best known for directing films like _The Graduate_ and _Working Girl_ and _The Remains of the Day_, which he also produced. He was a member of the select group of EGOT winners — those who have earned an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Awards. Nichols excelled at translating stage productions into sublime films, including Neil Simon’s _Biloxi Blues_ and _Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?_, which earned him the Oscar for best director. He also staged the original theatrical productions of _Barefoot in the Park_, _The Odd Couple_ and _Spamalot,_ winning his eighth Tony Award a few years ago for his revival of _Death of a Salesman._ In addition to the films he directed for the screen, he also directed some incredible features for television, including the mini-series _Angels in America_ and _Wit,_ which both earned Emmy Awards. As a primer for newcomers or a walk down cinematic memory lane for those looking to honor the memory of a great director, here are eight of his best films: **_The Graduate_** (1967) **_Catch-22_** (1970) **_Biloxi Blues_**(1988) **_Silkwood_** (1983) **_Working Girl_** (1988) **_Closer_** (2004) **_The Birdcage_** (1996) **_Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?_** (1966) ### See Mike Nichols' Legendary Career in Photos  Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) Warner Bros.  The Graduate (1967) Embassy Pictures  Catch-22 (1970) Paramount  Carnal Knowledge (1971) AVCO Embassy Pictures  Silkwood (1983) 20th Century Fox  Biloxi Blues (1988) Universal  Working Girl (1988) 20th Century Fox  Postcards from the Edge (1990) Columbia  The Birdcage (1996) United Artists  Primary Colors (1998) Universal  Closer (2004) Columbia  Charlie Wilson's War (2007) Universal ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3597162/mike-nichols-best-movies/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3597162/mike-nichols-best-movies/"},"headline":"Mike Nichols: A Look Back at the Director's Best Films","datePublished":"2014-11-20T15:20:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:49:46.038Z","description":"The director passed away Nov. 20 at the age of 83","url":"https://time.com/3597162/mike-nichols-best-movies/","keywords":["movies","obituary","film"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbea3dd9f388ce258/698769dfe53abaaea44d6089/mike-nichols1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbea3dd9f388ce258/698769dfe53abaaea44d6089/mike-nichols1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Mike Nichols","caption":"Director Mike Nichols.","creditText":"Gerald Holubowicz—Polaris","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3597162/mike-nichols-best-movies/","name":"Mike Nichols: A Look Back at the Director's Best Films"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Mike Nichols, Iconic Director Of ‘The Graduate,’ Dies At 83","description":"Mike Nichols, critically acclaimed director of the 1967 film","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/mo1xgjeA/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-11-20T14:49:06.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/mo1xgjeA.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3597162/mike-nichols-best-movies/","duration":"PT1M1S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3597162/mike-nichols-best-movies/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```