The Graduate is a 1967 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Mike Nichols and written by Buck Henry and Calder Willingham, based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Charles Webb, who wrote it shortly after graduating from Williams College. The film tells the story of 21-year-old Benjamin Braddock, a recent college graduate with no well-defined aim in life, who is seduced by an older married woman, Mrs. Robinson, but then falls for her daughter Elaine.
Mike Nichols was an American film and theater director, producer, actor, and comedian. He was noted for his ability to work across a range of genres and for his aptitude for getting the best out of actors regardless of their experience. Nichols began his career in the 1950s with the comedy improvisational troupe The Compass Players, predecessor of The Second City, in Chicago. He then teamed up with his improv partner, Elaine May, to form the comedy duo Nichols and May. Their live improv act was a hit on Broadway, and each of their three albums was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album; their second album, An Evening With Mike Nichols and Elaine May, won the award in 1962.
The Birdcage is a 1996 American comedy film directed by Mike Nichols, adapted by Elaine May, and starring Robin Williams, Gene Hackman, Nathan Lane, and Dianne Wiest. Dan Futterman, Calista Flockhart, Hank Azaria, and Christine Baranski appear in supporting roles. It is an English-language remake of the 1978 Franco-Italian film La Cage aux Folles and the musical of the same name.
The 4th Annual Grammy Awards were held on May 29, 1962, at Chicago, Los Angeles and New York. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1961. Henry Mancini won 5 awards.
The Compass Players was an improvisational theatre revue active from 1955 to 1958 in Chicago and St. Louis. Founded by David Shepherd and Paul Sills, it is considered to be the first improvisational theater in the United States.
Elaine Jill Paige is an English singer and actress, best known for her work in musical theatre. Raised in Barnet, Hertfordshire, Paige attended the Aida Foster Theatre School, making her first professional appearance on stage in 1964, at the age of 16. Her appearance in the 1968 production of Hair marked her West End debut.
Elaine Iva May is an American comedian, film director, screenwriter, playwright, and actress. She has received numerous awards including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and a Tony Award. She made her initial impact in the 1950s with her improvisational comedy routines with Mike Nichols, performing as Nichols and May.
William Leon Goldenberg was an American composer and songwriter, best known for his work on television and film.
Sick comedy was a term originally used by mainstream news weeklies Time and Life to distinguish a style of comedy/satire that was becoming popular in the United States in the late 1950s. Mainstream comic taste in the United States had favored more innocuous forms, such as the topical but inoffensive one-liners in Bob Hope's routines. In contrast, the new comedy favored observational monologues, often with elements of cynicism, social criticism and political satire.
This Is a Recording is a comedy album released in 1971 by American actress-comedian Lily Tomlin. The album consists of comic sketches of Tomlin in her most famous character, Ernestine, the nosy, aggressive, and sharp-tongued telephone operator. The album's tracks include monologues in which Ernestine tangles over the phone with Joan Crawford, Gore Vidal, Martha Mitchell, and J. Edgar Hoover. It was recorded live at the intimate Ice House in Pasadena, California.
Nichols and May was an American improvisational comedy duo act developed by Mike Nichols (1931–2014) and Elaine May. Their three comedy albums reached the Billboard Top 40 between 1959 and 1962. Many comedians have cited them as key influences in modern comedy. Woody Allen declared, “the two of them came along and elevated comedy to a brand-new level".
Mike Nichols & Elaine May Examine Doctors is a comedy album by Nichols and May.
Everybody's Doing It may refer to:
Mike Nichols: American Masters is a 2016 documentary film directed by Elaine May about the life of Mike Nichols broadcast on the PBS series American Masters. It is derived from a lengthy interview with Nichols conducted by producer Julian Schlossberg. Brian Lowry of Variety has called it "the last memorable Nichols-May collaboration." Richard Brody said that although it is not a major contribution to May's life's work, it "is nonetheless distinctive in its sparseness, its fixed and almost obsessive concentration on Nichols’s face and voice... [it's] May’s highest tribute to Nichols."
Jerry Before Seinfeld is a 2017 stand-up comedy film that follows comedian Jerry Seinfeld as he returns for a stand-up routine at the New York City comedy club, Comic Strip Live, which started his career. The album of the special was nominated for a 2018 Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album. This is his third special, and first with Netflix.
Becoming Mike Nichols is a 2016 documentary film directed by Douglas McGrath about the life of Mike Nichols. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 29, 2016, and was later broadcast on HBO on February 22, 2016.
Mike Nichols was an American comedian, director, producer, and actor of the stage and screen. He began his career in the 1950s as a comedian alongside Elaine May doing improvisational comedy. Together they formed the comedy duo Nichols and May. Their live improv act was a hit sensation on Broadway, and the first of their three albums won a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album in 1962. Nichols also became known as a director of plays on the Broadway stage including Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park (1963), The Odd Couple (1965), and Plaza Suite (1968). He also directed acclaimed revival productions of Anton Chekov's The Seagull (2002), Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman (2012) and Harold Pinter's Betrayal (2013).
Nichols and May: Take Two is a 1996 documentary film directed by Phillip Schopper about the comedy sketch team starring Mike Nichols and Elaine May, often referred to as Nichols and May.
