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NEW YORK (AP) — Meryl Streep is remembering director Mike Nichols as "an inspiration and joy to know."
The actress is among those mourning the death of Nichols, whose films included "The Graduate" and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" -- along with "Silkwood" and "Heartburn," both of which starred Streep. She says he was an "indelible, irreplaceable man."
Nichols died yesterday evening at the age of 83. He was married to ABC's Diane Sawyer.
Nichols was a former stand-up performer who began his career in a groundbreaking comedy duo with Elaine May. He would go on to win an Academy Award, a Grammy and multiple Tony and Emmy honors, as he moved easily among stage, screen and television during a career that spanned more than 50 years.
In a statement, fellow director Steven Spielberg calls him "one of America's all-time greatest film and stage directors." And Spielberg says the movie "The Graduate" was "life altering" for him.
That 1967 film -- the story of an earnest young man rebelling against the expectations of his elders -- shot Dustin Hoffman to fame.
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192-w-30-(Margie Szaroleta (zar-oh-LEH'-tah), AP entertainment correspondent, with actors Dustin Hoffman and Mike Nichols)--Director Mike Nichols has died at the age of 83. AP entertainment correspondent Margie Szaroleta takes a look at his career. ((opens with sound)) (20 Nov 2014)
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196-r-15-(Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, in scene from "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" directed by Mike Nichols)-"associate professor's salary"-Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in a scene from "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" directed by Mike Nichols. (20 Nov 2014)
<<CUT *196 (11/20/14)££ 00:15 "associate professor's salary"
195-r-02-(Dustin Hoffman, in scene from "The Graduate," directed by Mike Nichols)-"to seduce me"-Dustin Hoffman in a scene from "The Graduate," directed by Mike Nichols. (20 Nov 2014)
<<CUT *195 (11/20/14)££ 00:02 "to seduce me"
162-a-16-(Mike Nichols, director, with reporters on April 12, 1996)-"to control it"-Mike Nichols said in 1996 that he was always 'the director' -- even when he and his wife, Diane Sawyer, were in their car. (20 Nov 2014)
<<CUT *162 (11/20/14)££ 00:16 "to control it"
APPHOTO NY120: FILE - In this April 10, 1968, file photo, French actress-dancer Leslie Caron presents the Oscar for best director for the movie "The Graduate" to director Mike Nichols at the 1967 Academy Awards at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, Calif. Nichols, the director of matchless versatility who brought fierce wit, caustic social commentary and wicked absurdity to such film, TV and stage hits as "The Graduate," ''Angels in America" and "Monty Python's Spamalot," died Thursday, Nov. 20, 2014. He was 83. (AP Photo/File) (10 Apr 1968)
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APPHOTO NY115: FILE - Director Mike Nichols arrives at the AFI Lifetime Achievement Awards honoring Mike Nichols, presented at Sony Pictures Studios on in this June 10, 2010 file photo taken in Culver City, Calif. ABC News confirms director Mike Nichols and husband of Diane Sawyer died Wednesday evening Nov. 19, 2014. He was 83. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, FILE) (10 Jun 2010)
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APPHOTO NY113: FILE - Journalist Diane Sawyer and director Mike Nichols arrive at the AFI Lifetime Achievement Awards honoring Mike Nichols, at Sony Pictures Studios in this June 10, 2010 file photo taken in Culver City, Calif. ABC News confirms director Mike Nichols and husband of Diane Sawyer died Wednesday evening Nov. 19, 2014. He was 83. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello) (10 Jun 2010)
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