Director Mike Nichols (1931-2014) won an Academy Award, a Grammy, three BAFTAs, four Emmys and nine Tony awards during his prolific career, and Mark Harris has written a superb and definitive biography that Nichols and his fans deserve. Harris (Pictures at a Revolution) is part film historian, theater buff and investigative reporter, which makes this rich, compassionate and candid biography soar with fresh, first-hand anecdotes from Nichols's co-workers and Harris's astute observations about the director's work.
What may surprise many is how often Nichols's career bounced from universal acclaim (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and The Graduate were his first two films; Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park was his first Broadway production) to failures (Day of the Dolphin and Catch-22) and back again. A perfectionist with a short temper and a lacerating tongue, Nichols was a neurotic, insecure workaholic who was in therapy for decades and by the 1980s had suffered a heart attack, a nervous breakdown and was addicted to cocaine and crack. When he married his stabilizing fourth wife, Diane Sawyer, in 1988, he said she "turned Pinocchio into a real boy." This biography offers a treasure of backstage gossip (including the nightmare of directing Plaza Suite starring two alcoholic lead actors in three different roles in three acts). Despite missteps, Nichols was king of the comebacks (Silkwood in 1983, The Birdcage in 1996, Angels in America in 2003) and generally beloved by his co-workers.
Harris's definitive biography of the iconic director, producer and comedian is the ideal gift for anyone interested in the creative arts. --Kevin Howell, independent reviewer and marketing consultant