orig. Michael Igor Peschkowsky
born Nov. 6, 1931, Berlin, Ger.
German-born U.S. stage and film director.
He and his parents fled Germany for the U.S. in 1938. After studying at the University of Chicago and the Actors Studio , he formed a comic improvisational group in Chicago. He and Elaine May (b. 1932) toured with and recorded a set of brilliant social-satire routines. He later directed several Broadway hits, including Barefoot in the Park (1963), The Odd Couple (1965), and Plaza Suite (1968). His first film, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), was followed by The Graduate (1967, Academy Award); his later films include Catch-22 (1970), Silkwood (1983), Working Girl (1988), and Primary Colors (1998). His productions focused on the absurdities and horrors of modern life as revealed in personal relationships.