Mike Nichols to Receive AFI Career Award

Director Mike Nichols has been chosen to receive the 38th American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award.

Nichols won an Academy Award for directing the 1967 classic "The Graduate," and was nominated for Oscars for directing "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" "Silkwood" and "Working Girl," and for producing "The Remains of the Day."

Nichols' most recent film was 2007's "Charlie Wilson's War," starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts.

His other credits include "Catch-22," "Carnal Knowledge," "The Day of the Dolphin," "Gilda Live" (a recording of Gilda Radner's one-woman stage show), "Heartburn," "Biloxi Blues," "Postcards from the Edge," "Regarding Henry," "Wolf," "The Birdcage," "Primary Colors," "What Planet Are You From?" and "Closer."

He also is a Tony Award-winning stage director and made the Emmy-winning miniseries "Angels in America."

Nichols, the son of a Russian émigré who fled with his family to the United States from Berlin in 1939, performed with the Compass Players and Second City, before partnering with Elaine May and gaining fame for their innovative comic routines celebrated for their impeccable timing.

Nichols has won a total of seven Tony Awards, for directing (his stage credits include "Barefoot in the Park," "Luv," "The Odd Couple," "Plaza Suite," "The Prisoner of Second Avenue," "Hurlyburly," "The Real Thing," "Death and the Maiden" and "Monty Python's Spamalot") and producing (the musical "Annie").

Nichols, 77, is married to journalist Diane Sawyer.

In announcing the award for Nichols, AFI Chairman Howard Stringer said, "His artistry has spanned the mediums of modern storytelling - movies, television and the stage - and his gifts across five decades continue to inspire artists and audiences alike."

Nichols reportedly said, when informed by the AFI of the award, "I feel very blessed," adding, "I was watching 'The Graduate' on my Blackberry last week and it really holds up."

He will receive the AFI honor at a ceremony next summer.