--- description: The academy award winning director's work spanned 50 years title: See Mike Nichols' Legendary Career in Photos image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt103de133799434a6/698769db2dce011ea49dbe4a/birdcage.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [remembrance](/tag/remembrance/) ## remembrance Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # See Mike Nichols' Legendary Career in Photos by [Noah Rayman](/author/noah-rayman/) and [TIME Photo](/author/time-photo/) Nov 20, 2014 2:08 PM CUT  The Birdcage (1996) The Birdcage (1996)United Artists by [Noah Rayman](/author/noah-rayman/) and [TIME Photo](/author/time-photo/) Nov 20, 2014 2:08 PM CUT Mike Nichols, whose many accolades include the Academy Award for Best Director for _The Graduate_, [died](http://time.com/3597091/mike-nichols-dead/ "undefined") on Wednesday at 83. The German-born comedian, writer and director made a name for himself across film, television and theater during his career spanning more than five decades. Nichols, who was married to ABC’s Diane Sawyer, directed a range of titles including the 1966 film _Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?_, the 1971 comedy-drama _Carnal Knowledge_ and the 2007 biopic _Charlie Wilson’s War_. He said in a 1996 [interview](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/graduate-director-mike-nichols-dead-at-83/ "undefined") with the Associated Press that, on advice from Orson Welles, he didn’t try to interpret common themes in his work. “Leave it to the other guys, the people whose whole job it is to do that, to make patterns and say what the thread is through your work and where you stand,” Nichols recalled being told by Welles. “Let somebody else worry about what it means.”  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/3597167/mike-nichols-dies-career-in-photos/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3597167/mike-nichols-dies-career-in-photos/"},"headline":"See Mike Nichols' Legendary Career in Photos","datePublished":"2014-11-20T14:08:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:50:46.818Z","description":"Famed director dies at 83","url":"https://time.com/3597167/mike-nichols-dies-career-in-photos/","keywords":["remembrance","photography"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt103de133799434a6/698769db2dce011ea49dbe4a/birdcage.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Noah Rayman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/noah-rayman/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Photo","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-photo/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt103de133799434a6/698769db2dce011ea49dbe4a/birdcage.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"birdcage","caption":"The Birdcage (1996)","creditText":"United Artists","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/remembrance/","name":"remembrance"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3597167/mike-nichols-dies-career-in-photos/","name":"See Mike Nichols' Legendary Career in Photos"}}]},{"@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/3597167/mike-nichols-dies-career-in-photos/","duration":"PT1M1S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3597167/mike-nichols-dies-career-in-photos/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```