He, along with the other members of the "Compass Players" including Elaine May, Paul Sills, Byrne Piven, 'Joyce Piven' and Edward Asner helped start the famed "Second City Improv" company. They used the games taught to them by fellow cast mate, 'Paul Sill' 's mother, Viola Spolin. He later worked in legitimate theater as an actor before entering into a very successful comedy duo with Elaine May. The two were known as "the world's fastest humans".
Catch-22 (1970): $1,000,000
The Graduate (1967): $500,000
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966): $250,000

Back in Berlin, Mike's father was part of a young intellectual circle that included Russian emigres such as Vladimir Nabokov's sister and Boris Pasternak's parents. Fled from Berlin with his family in 1939 One of Directors Guild of America annual Honorees, 2000. When he won two Emmys in 2001, he joined an elite circle of peers who have won at least one of every major show business award (Oscar, Emmy, Tony, Grammy). Some of the other performers to have done this includes Rita Moreno and Mel Brooks. There are currently nine people who have won all four awards in standard competitive categories. Has won seven Tony Awards: as Best Director (Dramatic), in 1964 for "Barefoot in the Park," in 1965 for "Luv" and "The Odd Couple," in 1968 for "Plaza Suite," and in 1972 for "The Prisoner of Second Avenue;" as Best Director (Play) in 1984 for Tom Stoppard's "The Real Thing," Best Director (Musical) in 2005 for "Spamalot;" and in 1977 as one of the producers of Best Musical winner "Annie." He has also been Tony-nominated seven other times: in 1967 as Best Director (Musical) for "The Apple Tree," in 1974 as Best Director (Dramatic) for "Uncle Vanya;" in 1977, twice as Best Director (Play), for "Comedians" and for David Rabe's "Streamers;" in 1978, as Best Director (Play) and as one of the producers of Best Play nominee "The Gin Game;" and in 2003 as co-producer of Special Theatrical Event nominee "The Play That I Wrote." One of 5 recipients of the 2003 Kennedy Center Honors; other recipients were James Brown, Carol Burnett, Loretta Lynn and Itzhak Perlman. Lost much of his body hair in early childhood due to a bad batch of whooping cough vaccine. Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume Two, 1945-1985". Pages 704-710. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1988. Directed Postcards from the Edge, which was written by Carrie Fisher and based on her relationship with her real-life mother, Debbie Reynolds. He later directed Closer, with featured Fisher's on-screen Star Wars mother, Natalie Portman. Directed 16 different actors in Oscar-nominated performances: Elizabeth Taylor, Sandy Dennis, Richard Burton, George Segal, Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, Katharine Ross, Ann-Margret, Meryl Streep, Cher, Melanie Griffith, Sigourney Weaver, Joan Cusack, Kathy Bates, Natalie Portman and Clive Owen. Taylor and Dennis won Oscars for their performances in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. According to Jack Nicholson's April 1972 Playboy Magazine interview, Nichols asked Nicholson and other cast members not to smoke marijuana while filming Carnal Knowledge on location in Vancouver, British Columbia, where cannabis was easily available. Nichols thought that it dulled an actor's performance. Worked at the Howard Johnson's restaurant in New York's Times Square when he was 17 years old. Father of Daisy, Max Nichols and Jenny Nichols. Since the early 1960s, he has been a well-renowned figure among Arabian Horse fans - breeder of over 400 registered Arabians and has bred and owned many US National Champion horses. Received the first $1,000,000 director salary for "Catch 22" (1970). He was awarded the American National Medal of the Arts in 2001 by the National Endowment of the Arts in Washington D.C. Two of his films are on the American Film Institute's 100 Most Inspiring Movies of All time. They are "Working Girl" (1988) at #87 and "Silkwood" (1983) at #66.