Mike Nichols — director (the graduate) with roots in the Russian Empire
Mike Nichols was a German-born American director who became one of the most decorated in entertainment history — winner of the Oscar (The Graduate), Tony (multiple), Grammy, Emmy, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Starting as a comedy duo with Elaine May, he revolutionised both Broadway and Hollywood.
Tracing the roots — Siberia (Physician)
Born Michael Igor Peschkowsky in Berlin in 1931, his father Igor Peschkowsky was a physician from Siberia (Russia) who had emigrated to Germany. Nichols fled Nazi Germany on a ship to New York at age seven, speaking no English. The immigrant outsider's eye — the ability to see American life with clarity precisely because he had come from outside it — defines every one of his greatest works.
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Siberia (Physician). At the time, this region lay within the Russian Empire, which spanned from Poland to the Pacific.
A career defined by ambition
"The hardest thing about directing is making it look like you're not."