Nichols and May
In 1955 Nichols was invited to join the Compass Players, which was predecessor to Chicago's Second City and whose members included Elaine May, Shelley Berman, Paul Sills, Del Close, and Nancy Ponder.
Nichols moved back to Chicago to perform comedy with Compass and starting doing improvisational routines with Elaine May, which led to the formation of the comedy duo Nichols and May in 1958. They gradually gained popularity, appearing in nightclubs, and on radio. They released three best-selling records, made guest appearances on several television programs and won the 1962 Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album. In 1960 Nichols and May opened the Broadway show An Evening With Mike Nichols and Elaine May, directed by Arthur Penn. In the show they were accompanied by Chicago pianist Marty Rubenstein, host of the television show Marty's Place and the musical director at Mister Kelly's. Personal idiosyncrasies and tensions eventually drove the duo apart to pursue other projects in 1961. They later reconciled and worked together many times, such as on the unsuccessful A Matter of Position, a play written by May and starring Nichols. May scripted Nichols films The Birdcage and Primary Colors. They appeared together at President Jimmy Carter's inaugural gala and in a 1980 New Haven stage revival of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? with Swoosie Kurtz and James Naughton.
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Famous quotes containing the word nichols:
“Society in general do not like originality, especially in woman, as it looks like defying man’s authority for a woman to prefer her own methods to accepting those laid down for the majority.”
—Caroline Nichols Churchill (1833–?)