Hollywood stars begin paying their respects to legendary director Mike Nichols

Within minutes that news broke of Mike Nichols death, the tributes from Hollywood began pouring in. Nichols, who died Wednesday night at the age of 83, was a living legend in showbusiness and a member of the elite EGOT club.

Nichols’ death was announced by ABC News President James Goldston. Nichols leaves behind his wife, ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer and three children.

Among the first statements came from Steven Spielberg, who recalled how important Nichols’ Oscar-winning The Graduate was for him.

“Mike was a friend, a muse, a mentor, one of America's all time greatest film and stage directors, and one of the most generous people I have ever known,” Spielberg’s statement to The Hollywood Reporter. “For me, The Graduate was life altering — both as an experience at the movies as well as a master class about how to stage a scene. Mike had a brilliant cinematic eye and uncanny hearing for keeping scenes ironic and real. Actors never gave him less than their personal best — and then Mike would get from them even more. And in a room full of people, Mike was always the center of gravity. This is a seismic loss.”

Meryl Streep, who was working on a new HBO project with Nichols, told Deadline, “An inspiration and joy to know, a director who cried when he laughed, a friend without whom, well, we can’t imagine our world, an indelible irreplaceable man.”

Tom Hanks, who appeared in Nichols’ last film, Charlie Wilson’s War, wrote, “‘Forward. We must always move forward. Otherwise what will become of us?’ said Mike Nichols, who changed the lives of those who knew him, who loved him, who will miss him so…”

Of course, many other Hollywood celebrities left their remembrances on Twitter. Here’s a few:

image of Mike Nichols & Diane Sawyer courtesy of Walter McBride/INFphoto.com

{"code":"internal_server_error","message":"

There has been a critical error on your website.<\/p>

Learn more about debugging in WordPress.<\/a><\/p>","data":{"status":500},"additional_errors":[]}