Celebrities Mike Nichols, Birthday: 6 November 1931, Berlin, Germany

[on Jack Nicholson] Jack is the sort of guy who takes parts others have turned down, might turn down...Show more »

[on Jack Nicholson] Jack is the sort of guy who takes parts others have turned down, might turn down, and explodes them into something nobody could have conceived of. All his brilliance of character and gesture is consumed and made invisible by the expanse of his nature. Show less «

If everybody's adorable, you can't go anywhere, you can't have any events.

I've never understood that aspect of DVDs, where you suddenly put back the things you took out that ...Show more »

I've never understood that aspect of DVDs, where you suddenly put back the things you took out that could go. Why ruin your movie? With material that you've taken out? I never get that. I don't have that impulse... To put them back seems very unpleasant to me. And pointless. It's like when you've written something, when you cut a paragraph, doesn't it seem dead to you? Doesn't it look like something you'd never want to include, because the point is, it could go? You'll never see anything in my pictures, the stuff that came out, stays out. Show less «

I love to take actors to a place where they open a vein. That's the job. The key is that I make it s...Show more »

I love to take actors to a place where they open a vein. That's the job. The key is that I make it safe for them to open the vein. Show less «

[on firing Mandy Patinkin during making of Heartburn (1986)] I loved Mandy then, and I love him now....Show more »

[on firing Mandy Patinkin during making of Heartburn (1986)] I loved Mandy then, and I love him now. It was awful to have to replace him, but on film I couldn't see the chemistry I wanted. I don't know how many days it was, but to save the damn thing, I had to move fast to get Jack [Nicholson]. Mandy was, of course, devastated, and I've felt awful about it all my life. Show less «

[on Stanley Kubrick] In the end, I think he began to have trouble, because if you can't leave home, ...Show more »

[on Stanley Kubrick] In the end, I think he began to have trouble, because if you can't leave home, you lose track of reality, and I think that happened to him. Still, he made great movies and he was a completely gifted director. If you look at 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), you suddenly realize: My God, there's nobody in this movie! Show less «

A movie is like a person. Either you trust it or you don't.

[on developing an act with Elaine May] We were winging it, making up as it went along, It never cros...Show more »

[on developing an act with Elaine May] We were winging it, making up as it went along, It never crossed our minds that it had any value beyond the moment. We were stunned when we got to New York. Never for a moment did we consider that we would do this for living. It was just a handy way to make some money until we grew up. Show less «

[on Elizabeth Taylor] There are three things I never saw Elizabeth Taylor do: Tell a lie; be unkind ...Show more »

[on Elizabeth Taylor] There are three things I never saw Elizabeth Taylor do: Tell a lie; be unkind to anyone; and be on time. Show less «

[on working with Orson Welles on Catch-22 (1970)] We were talking about Jean Renoir one day on the s...Show more »

[on working with Orson Welles on Catch-22 (1970)] We were talking about Jean Renoir one day on the set and Orson said, very touchingly, that Renoir was a great man but that unfortunately Renoir didn't like his pictures. And then he said, "Of course, if I were Renoir I wouldn't like my pictures either". Show less «

[on his experience judging a limerick contest] It was easy. We just threw out the dirty limericks an...Show more »

[on his experience judging a limerick contest] It was easy. We just threw out the dirty limericks and gave the prize to the one that was left. Show less «

Do you know my theory about '[Who's Afraid of] Virginia Woolf' which I think I only developed lately...Show more »

Do you know my theory about '[Who's Afraid of] Virginia Woolf' which I think I only developed lately? It may be the only play - certainly the only play I can think of, including Shakespeare - in which every single thing that happens is in the present. Even the beautiful reminiscences of the past are traps being set in the present, sprung in the present, having violent effect in the present. It's why you can't hurt it. It's now. It's the one thing plays have the hardest time with. Show less «

[on coming to New York as a child] American society to me and my brother was thrilling because, firs...Show more »

[on coming to New York as a child] American society to me and my brother was thrilling because, first of all, the food made noise. We were so excited about Rice Krispies and Coca-Cola. We had only silent food in our country, and we loved listening to our lunch and breakfast. Show less «

[Part of 2005 Tony Award acceptance speech] "God, my head is totally empty. I had a thing I was goin...Show more »

[Part of 2005 Tony Award acceptance speech] "God, my head is totally empty. I had a thing I was going to say, and I have forgot it, because I had given up so long ago. But the first thing to say is thank you. To the other members of my category, my friends Jack and James and Bartlett, I guess you are thinking age before beauty, me too! My congratulations to the winners. My love to those who have not won tonight. I just want to remind you of my motto: Cheer up, life isn't everything. It always stands me in good stead." Show less «

It's not a film-maker's job to explain his technique, but to tell his story the best way he can.

When I was 17, for my first job, I worked at the midtown Howard Johnson's. A customer asked me what ...Show more »

When I was 17, for my first job, I worked at the midtown Howard Johnson's. A customer asked me what our ice-cream flavor of the week was, which was a dumb question, because there was a huge banner showing that it was maple. So I told him that it was chicken. The customer laughed, but the manager fired me immediately. They were bastards there. Show less «

Mike Nichols

Mike Nichols's FILMOGRAPHY

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