--- description: He was ""the sort of director whom most writers and actors only meet when they are asleep and dreaming" title: Mike Nichols: Reviews of His Plays, Movies, TV from TIME image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteb4164902b227e05/698769e335ba6f3c9dc05739/1101700615_400.jpg?branch=production&width=828&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [remembrance](/tag/remembrance/) ## remembrance Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Mike Nichols: A Half-Century of Raves  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Nov 20, 2014 5:10 PM CUT  The June 15, 1970, cover of TIME The June 15, 1970, cover of TIMECover Credit: SANTI VISALLI (NICHOLS); BOB WILLOUGHBY (ARKIN  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Nov 20, 2014 5:10 PM CUT When Mike Nichols, [who died on Wednesday at age 83](http://time.com/3597091/mike-nichols-dead/ "undefined"), first gained notice, it was not as a director. In 1958, Nichols, then 26, appeared along with his comedy partner Elaine May, on NBC’s _Omnibus_ revue; within six months, the two were [touted](http://time.com/vault/issue/1958-06-02/page/55/ "undefined") by TIME as “the fastest-sharpening wits in television.” The two had met at the University of Chicago and began their dual career as sketch and improv comics in that city, as part of a group that would eventually feed into Second City. Though they were an instant hit on TV, the question of how to translate their comedy to the censored and scripted world on screen. They found their footing on Broadway instead with _An Evening with Mike Nichols and Elaine May,_ which debuted in 1960\. “_An Evening with Mike Nichols and Elaine May_,” TIME’s critic [declared](http://time.com/vault/issue/1960-10-24/page/73/ "undefined"), “is one of the nicest ways to spend one.” From that point on, the rave reviews just kept coming. By 1962, Nichols was acting in a play written by May, and in 1963 he directed _Barefoot in the Park,_ earning [another](http://time.com/vault/issue/1963-11-01/page/78/ "undefined") rave: “If the theater housing this comedy has an empty seat for the next couple of years, it will simply mean that someone has fallen out of it. _Barefoot_ is detonatingly funny.” He would [later](http://time.com/3597288/some-are-more-yossarian-than-others/ "undefined") tell TIME that it had been a turning point, the moment he realized he was meant to direct: --- > “” --- For his next Broadway foray, _Luv,_ he earned the [headline](http://time.com/vault/issue/1964-11-27/page/90/ "undefined") “The Nichols Touch” and was called “the sort of director whom most writers and actors only meet when they are asleep and dreaming.” [As for](http://time.com/vault/issue/1965-03-19/page/72/ "undefined") 1965’s _The Odd Couple_ _,_ “\[t\]he only worry they leave in a playgoer’s head is how to catch his breath between laughs.” In 1966, when he made his first foray into movies with _Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,_ the performance he got out of star Elizabeth Taylor was [deemed](http://time.com/vault/issue/1966-07-01/page/94/ "undefined") “a sizeable victory.” By 1970, when he made a movie of _Catch-22_, he landed on the cover of the magazine, with a multi-page feature that praised the maturity of the work: --- > “” --- Despite his much-acclaimed career — which would continue for decades — not _every_ one of his projects won applause. In 1967, for example, TIME gave one of his films [a rare pan](http://time.com/vault/issue/1967-12-29/page/59/ "undefined"). The picture in question “unfortunately shows his success depleted” because “\[m\]ost of the film has an alarmingly derivative style, and much of it is secondhand” with “a disappointing touch of TV situation comedy.” But, as befits a comedian by training, he had the last laugh: that movie was _The Graduate_. **_Read the full cover 1970 story here, in TIME’s archives:_** [Some Are More Yossarian Than Others](http://time.com/3597288/some-are-more-yossarian-than-others/ "undefined") ### 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/3597404/mike-nichols/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3597404/mike-nichols/"},"headline":"Mike Nichols: A Half-Century of Raves","datePublished":"2014-11-20T17:10:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:06:59.617Z","description":"He was 'the sort of director whom most writers and actors only meet when they are asleep and dreaming'","url":"https://time.com/3597404/mike-nichols/","keywords":["remembrance","movies","director"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteb4164902b227e05/698769e335ba6f3c9dc05739/1101700615_400.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteb4164902b227e05/698769e335ba6f3c9dc05739/1101700615_400.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The June 15, 1970, cover of TIME","caption":"The June 15, 1970, cover of TIME","creditText":"Cover Credit: SANTI VISALLI (NICHOLS); BOB WILLOUGHBY (ARKIN","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/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/remembrance/","name":"remembrance"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3597404/mike-nichols/","name":"Mike Nichols: A Half-Century of Raves"}}]},{"@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/3597404/mike-nichols/","duration":"PT1M1S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3597404/mike-nichols/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```