Peter Nichols
(1927–2019)
Playwright
Born July 31, 1927, in Bristol, Nichols studied acting at the theater school of the Bristol Old Vic in Britain. Nichols’s biggest hit came in 1967 with A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, a dark comedy about the pains and pressures of bringing up a severely disabled child. The groundbreaking work, which was nominated for four Tony Awards upon its Broadway premiere in 1968, was inspired by Nichols’s own experiences raising his developmentally handicapped daughter, Abigail, who died at the age of 10. Joe Egg was revived twice on Broadway, winning the 1985 Tony for Best Revival, and returned to London’s West End last year. Nichols was awarded a CBE in 2018, and, over the course of his career, earned four Evening Standard Awards, two Ivor Novello Best Musical Awards, and Society of West End Theatres Awards for Best Comedy and Best Musical. Other works include The National Health (1969), Privates on Parade (1977), and the musical Poppy (1982). Thelma Reed, his wife of 59 years, as well as their children Dan, Louise, and Catherine, survives him.