Mike Nichols, director of ‘The Graduate,’ dies

Mike Nichols, the Oscar-winning director of “The Graduate” who had escaped Nazi Germany as a boy, has died.

Nichols died Wednesday evening at the age of 83, ABC News President James Goldston announced.

Nichols was the husband of Diane Sawyer, the former anchor of ABC World News.

Along with winning the Academy Award, he also won Emmy, Grammy and Tony awards — one of the few to win all four.

Among his most well-known films were “Working Girl,” “Silkwood,” “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf,” “Closer,” “Charlie Wilson’s War,”  “Annie, ” “Spamalot, ” The Birdcage” and “Angels in America.”

Goldston in a statement called Nichols “a true visionary,” adding, “No one was more passionate about his craft than Mike.”

Nichols, born Michael Igor Peschkowsy, left Germany with his family in 1938 for the United States.