Wikipedia

Elaine May

Elaine Iva May(néeBerlin;born April 21, 1932) is an American actress, comedian, writer, and director. She first gained fame in the 1950s for herimprovisational comedyroutines withMike Nicholsbefore transitioning her career, regularly breaking the mold as a writer and director of several critically acclaimed films. She has receivednumerous awards,including aBAFTA Award,aGrammy Award,and aTony Award.She was honored with theNational Medal of Artsfrom PresidentBarack Obamain 2013, and anHonorary Academy Awardin 2022.[1][2][3][4][5]

Elaine May
May performing in 1959
Born
Elaine Iva Berlin

(1932-04-21)April 21, 1932(age 92)
Philadelphia,Pennsylvania, U.S.
Other namesEsther Dale, Elly May
Occupations
  • Actress
  • comedian
  • writer
  • film director
Years active1955–present
Known for
Spouses
  • Marvin Irving May
    ​
    ​
    (m.1948;div.1960)​
  • ​
    ​
    (m.1962;div.1963)​
  • David L. Rubinfine
    ​
    ​
    (m.1963; died 1982)​
PartnerStanley Donen(1999–2019; his death)
ChildrenJeannie Berlin
AwardsFull list
Signature

In 1955, May moved to Chicago and became a founding member of theCompass Players,an improvisational theater group. She began working alongside Nichols and in 1957, they both quit the group to form their own stage act,Nichols and May.In New York, they performed nightly in clubs inGreenwich VillagealongsideJoan RiversandWoody Allen,as well as on theBroadwaystage. They also made regular appearances on television and radio broadcasts. They released multiple comedy albums and received fourGrammy Awardnominations, winningBest Comedy AlbumforAn Evening with Mike Nichols and Elaine Mayin 1962. Their collaboration was covered in thePBSdocumentaryNichols and May: Take Two(1996).

May infrequently acted in films, includingLuv,Enter Laughing(both 1967),California Suite(1978), andSmall Time Crooks(2000). She became the first female director with a Hollywood deal sinceIda Lupinowhen she directed the 1971 black screwball comedyA New Leaf.[6]Experimenting with genres, she directed the dark romantic comedyThe Heartbreak Kid(1972), the gangster filmMikey and Nicky(1976), and adventure comedyIshtar(1987). May later earned acclaim writing the screenplays forWarren Beatty'sHeaven Can Wait(1978), and Mike Nichols'The Birdcage(1996) andPrimary Colors(1998).Heaven Can WaitandPrimary Colorseach earned her a nomination for theAcademy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay,while the latter won her theBAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.[7]

May returned to acting inWoody Allen'sAmazon PrimeseriesCrisis in Six Scenes(2016) and onBroadwayin the revival of theKenneth LonerganplayThe Waverly Gallery(2018)[8]the latter of which earned her theTony Award for Best Actress in a Play.[9][10]The win made May the second-oldest performer behindLois Smithto win a Tony Award for acting.[11]In 2022, theAcademy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciencesgave May anHonorary Academy Awardfor her "bold, uncompromising approach to filmmaking, as a writer, director, and actress".[2][3][4][5]

Early years and personal life

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Elaine Iva Berlin was born on April 21, 1932, inPhiladelphia,Pennsylvania, the daughter of Jewish parents, theater director and actor Jack Berlin and actress Ida (Aaron) Berlin.[12]: 39 [13]As a child, May performed with her father in his travelingYiddish theatercompany, which he took around the country. Her stage debut on the road was at the age of three, and she eventually played the character of a generic little boy named Benny.[14]

Because the troupe toured extensively, May had been in over 50 schools by the time she was ten, having spent as little as a few weeks enrolled at any one time. May said she hated school and would spend her free time at home reading fairy tales and mythology.[15]: 331 Her father died when she was 11 years old, and then she and her mother moved to Los Angeles, where May later enrolled inHollywood High School.She dropped out when she was fourteen years old. Two years later, at the age of sixteen, she married Marvin May, an engineer and toy inventor. They had one child,Jeannie Berlin(born 1949), who became an actress and screenwriter. The couple divorced in 1960, and she married lyricistSheldon Harnickin 1962; they divorced a year later. In 1964, May married her psychoanalyst, David L. Rubinfine; they remained married until his death in 1982.[15]: 332 

May's longtime companion was directorStanley Donen,from 1999 until his death in 2019.[16]Donen said he proposed marriage "about 172 times".[17]

Career

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1950–1957: Stage career and Compass players

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After her marriage to Marvin May, she studied acting. She also held odd jobs during that period, such as a roof salesman, and tried to enroll in college. She learned, however, that colleges in California required a high school diploma to apply, which she did not have.[12]: 39 After finding out that theUniversity of Chicagowas one of the few colleges that would accept students without diplomas, she set out with seven dollars and hitchhiked to Chicago.[14]

Soon after moving to Chicago in 1950, May began informally taking classes at the university byauditing,sitting in without enrolling. She nevertheless sometimes engaged in discussions with instructors and once started a huge fight after saying that Socrates' apology was a political move.Mike Nichols,who was then an actor in the school's theatrical group, remembers her coming to his philosophy class, making "outrageous" comments, and leaving.[15]: 324 They learned about each other from friends, eventually being introduced after one of his stage shows. The directorPaul Sillsbrought May to Nichols and said, "Mike, I want you to meet the only other person on the campus of the University of Chicago who’s as hostile as you are: Elaine May." Six weeks later, they bumped into each other at a train station in Chicago and soon began spending time together over the following weeks as "dead-broke theatre junkies."[15]: 324f 

In 1955, May joined a new, off-campus improvisational theater group in Chicago, TheCompass Players,becoming one of its charter members. The group was founded by Sills andDavid Shepherd.Nichols later joined the group, wherein he resumed his friendship with May. At first, he was unable to improvise well on stage, but with inspiration from May, they began developing improvised comedy sketches together.[15]: 333 Nichols remembered this period:

From then on it became mostly pleasure because of Elaine's generosity. The fact of Elaine—her presence—kept me going. She was the only one who had faith in me. I loved it... We had a similar sense of humor and irony... When I was with her I became something more than I had been before.[15]: 333 

ActressGeraldine Pagerecalled they worked together with great efficiency, "like a juggernaut."[15]: 336 Thanks in part to Nichols and May, the Compass Players became an enormously popular satirical comedy troupe. They helped the group devise new stage techniques to adapt the freedom they had during the workshop.[18]: 16 

May, Nichols andDorothy Loudon,1959

May became prominent as a member of the Compass's acting group, a quality others in the group observed. Bobbi Gordon, an actor, remembers that she was often the center of attention: "The first time I met her was at Compass... Elaine was this grande dame of letters. With people sitting around her feet, staring up at her, open-mouthed in awe, waiting for 'The Word'."[15]: 330f A similar impression struck Compass actor Bob Smith:

May would hold court, discussing her days as a child actor in the Yiddish theater, as men hung on her every word. Every guy who knew her was in love with her. You'd have been stupid not to have been.[15]: 329 

As an integral member of their group, May was open to giving novices a chance, including the hiring of a black actor and generally making the group "more democratic". And by observing her high level of performance creativity, everyone's work was improved. "She was the strongest woman I ever met," adds Compass actor Nancy Ponder.[15]: 330 

In giving all her attention to acting, however, she neglected her home life. Fellow actressBarbara Harrisrecalled that May lived in a cellar with only one piece of furniture, a ping-pong table. "She wore basic beatnik black and, like her film characters, was a brilliant disheveled klutz."[15]: 330 

Group actor Omar Shapli was "struck by her piercing, dark-eyed, sultry stare. It was really unnerving", he says. Nichols remembers that "everybody wanted Elaine, and the people who got her couldn't keep her." Theater criticJohn Lahragrees, noting that "her juicy good looks were a particularly disconcerting contrast to her sharp tongue."[15]: 329 

"Elaine was too formidable, one of the most intelligent, beautiful, and witty women I had ever met. I hoped I would never see her again."

Richard Burton[15]: 331 

May's sense of humor, including what she found funny about everyday life, was different from others' in the group. NovelistHerbert Gold,who dated May, says that "she treated everything funny that men take seriously... She was never serious. Her life was a narrative."[15]: 329 Another ex-boyfriend, James Sacks, says that "Elaine had a genuine beautiful madness." Nevertheless, states Gold, "she was very cute, a lot likeDebra Winger,just a pretty Jewish girl. "[15]: 329 

May was considered highly intelligent. "She's about fifty percent more brilliant than she needs to be," says actor Eugene Troobnick. Those outside their theater group sometimes noticed that same quality. British actorRichard Burton,who was married toElizabeth Taylorat the time, agreed with that impression after he first met May while he was starring inCameloton Broadway.[15]: 331 

1957–1961: Nichols and May comedy team

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Main article:Nichols and May
Nichols and May, 1960

Nichols was personally asked to leave the Compass Players in 1957 because he and May became too good, which threw the company off balance, noted club manager Jay Landsman. Nichols was told he had too much talent.[15]: 338 Nichols then left the group in 1957, with May quitting with him. They next formed their own stand-up comedy team,Nichols and May.After contacting some agents in New York, they were asked to audition forJack Rollins,who would later becomeWoody Allen's manager and executive producer. Rollins said he was stunned by how good their act was:

Their work was so startling, so new, as fresh as could be. I was stunned by how really good they were, actually as impressed by their acting technique as by their comedy... They were totally adventurous and totally innocent, in a certain sense. That's why it was accepted. They would uncover little dark niches that you felt but had never expressed... I'd never seen this technique before. I thought, My God, these are two people writing hilarious comedy on their feet![15]: 340 

By 1960, they made their Broadway debut withAn Evening with Mike Nichols and Elaine May,which later won a Grammy. After performing their act a number of years in New York's various clubs, and then on Broadway, with most of the shows sold out, Nichols could not believe their success:

We were winging it, making it up as we went along. It never even crossed our minds that it had any value beyond the moment. It was great to study and learn and work there. We werestunnedwhen we got to New York... Never for a moment did we consider that we would do this for a living. It was just a handy way to make some money until we grew up.[15]: 333 

His feelings were shared by May, who was also taken aback by their success, especially having some real income after living in near-poverty. She told aNewsweekinterviewer, "When we came to New York, we were practically barefoot. And I still can't get used to walking in high heels."[15]: 343 

The uniqueness of their act made them an immediate success in New York. Their style became the "next big thing" in live comedy.Charles H. Joffe,their producer, remembers that sometimes the line to their show went around the block. That partly explains whyMilton Berle,a major television comedy star, tried three times without success to see their act.[15]: 341 Critic Lawrence Christon recalls his first impression after seeing their act: "You just knew it was a defining moment. They caught the urban tempo, like Woody Allen did."[15]: 343 They performed nightly at mostly sold-out shows, in addition to making TV program and commercial[19][20]appearances and radio broadcasts.[15]: 346 Their relatively brief time together as comedy stars led New York talk show hostDick Cavettto call their act "one of the comic meteors in the sky". Woody Allen said, "the two of them came along and elevated comedy to a brand-new level".[21]

Technique

Theater program from 1961

Among the qualities of their act, which according to one writer made them a rarity, was that they used both "snob and mob appeal", which gave them a wide audience. Nachman explains that they presented a new kind of comedy team, unlike previous comedy duos which had an intelligent member alongside a much less intelligent one, as withLaurel and Hardy,Fibber McGee and Molly,Burns and Allen,Abbott and Costello,andMartin and Lewis.[15]: 322 

What differentiated their style was the fact that their stage performance created "scenes," a method very unlike the styles of other acting teams. Nor did they rely on fixed gender or comic roles, but instead adapted their own character to fit a sketch idea they came up with. They chose real-life subjects, often from their own life, which were made into satirical and funny vignettes.[15]: 322 

This was accomplished by using subtle joke references which they correctly expected their audiences to recognize, whether through clichés or character types. They thereby indirectly poked fun at the new intellectual culture which they saw growing around them. They felt that young Americans were taking themselves too seriously, which became the subject of much of their satire.[15]: 321 

Nichols structured the material for their skits, and May came up with most of their ideas.[14]Improvisation became a fairly simple art for them, as they portrayed the urban couple's "Age of Anxiety" in their sketches, and did so on their feet.[22]According to May, it was simple: "It's nothing more than quickly creating a situation between two people and throwing up some kind of problem for one of them."[14]

Nichols noted that after coming up with a sketch idea, they would perform it soon after with little extra rehearsal or writing it down. One example he remembered was inspired simply from a phone call from his mother. I called Elaine and I said, "I've got a really good piece for us tonight." They created a six-minute-long, mostly improvised, "mother and son" sketch, which they performed later that night.[15]: 335 [23]

May helped remove the stereotype of women's roles on stage. ProducerDavid Shepherdnotes that she accomplished that partly by not choosing traditional 1950s female roles for her characters, which were often housewives or women working at menial jobs. Instead, she often played the character of a sophisticated woman, such as a doctor, a psychiatrist, or an employer.[15]: 337 Shepherd notes that "Elaine broke through the psychological restrictions of playing comedy as a woman."[15]: 322 

May and Nichols had different attitudes toward their improvisations, however. Where Nichols always needed to know where a sketch was going and what its ultimate point would be, May preferred exploring ideas as the scene progressed. May says that even when they repeated their improvisations, it was not rote but came from re-creating her original impulse. Such improvisational techniques allowed her to make slight changes during a performance.[14]Although May had a wider improvisational range than Nichols, he was generally the one to shape the pieces and steer them to their end. For their recordings, he also made the decision of what to delete.[15]: 323 

Team break-up

Nichols and May

Audiences were still discovering May and Nichols in 1961, four years after they arrived. However, at the height of their fame, they decided to discontinue their act that year and took their careers in different directions: Nichols became a leading Broadway stage and film director; May became primarily a screenwriter and playwright, with some acting and directing. Among the reasons they decided to call it quits was that keeping their act fresh was becoming more difficult. Nichols explained:

Several things happened. One was that I, more than Elaine, became more and more afraid of our improvisational material. She was always brave. We never wrote a skit, we just sort of outlined it: I'll try to make you, or we'll fight—whatever it was. We found ourselves doing the same material over and over, especially in our Broadway show. This took a great toll on Elaine.[15]: 349 

"Nichols and May are perhaps the most ardently missed of all the satirical comedians of their era. When Nichols and May split up, they left no imitators, no descendants, no blueprints or footprints to follow. No one could touch them."

AuthorGerald Nachman[15]: 319 

Nichols said that for him personally the breakup was "cataclysmic", and he went into a state of depression: "I didn't know what I was or who I was." It was not until 1996, thirty-five years later, that they would work together again as a team, when she wrote the screenplay and he directedThe Birdcage.It "was like coming home, like getting a piece of yourself back that you thought you'd lost," he said.[15]: 353 He adds that May had been very important to him from the moment he first saw her,[15]: 325 adding that for her "improv was innate," and few people have that gift.[15]: 359 

DirectorArthur Pennsaid of their sudden breakup, "They set the standard and then they had to move on."[15]: 351 To New York talk show hostDick Cavett,"They were one of the comic meteors in the sky."[15]: 348 

They reunited for aMadison Square Gardenbenefit forGeorge McGovern for Presidentin June, 1972. The event, titled "Together Again for McGovern," also featured two musical groups that had recently broken up,Simon and GarfunkelandPeter, Paul and Mary,as well as singerDionne Warwick.[citation needed]

1962–1969: Playwright and actor

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May has also acted in comedy films, includingEnter Laughing(1967), directed byCarl Reiner,andLuv(1967), costarringPeter FalkandJack Lemmon.The latter film was not well received by critics, although Lemmon said he enjoyed working alongside May: "She's the finest actress I've ever worked with," he said. "And I've never expressed an opinion about a leading lady before... I think Elaine is touched with genius. She approaches a scene like a director and a writer."[14]Film scholarGwendolyn Audrey Fosternotes that May is drawn to material that borders on dry Yiddish humor. As such, it has not always been well received at the box office. Her style of humor, in writing or acting, often has more to do with traditional Yiddish theater than traditional Hollywood cinema.[24]

Following the break-up, May wrote several plays. Her greatest success was the one-actAdaptation(1969). Other stage plays she has written includeNot Enough Rope,Mr Gogol and Mr Preen,Hotline(which was performed off-Broadway in 1995 as part of the anthology playDeath Defying Acts),After the Night and the Music,Power Plays,Taller Than A Dwarf,The Way of All Fish,andAdult Entertainment.In 1969, she directed the off-Broadway production ofAdaptation/Next.

1970–1999: Career as a writer and director

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May made her film writing and directing debut in 1971 withA New Leaf,a black comedy based on a short story which she read in anAlfred HitchcockMystery MagazinecalledThe Green Heartwhich the authorJack Ritchiewould later retitleA New Leaf.The unconventionalromancewithWalter Matthauas a Manhattan bachelor faced with bankruptcy, also starred May herself as the awkward botanist-heiress, Henrietta Lowell, who Matthau cynically woos and marries to salvage an extravagant lifestyle. Director May originally submitted a 180-minute work toParamount,but the studio cut it back by nearly 80 minutes for release. The film has since become a cult classic.Vincent Canbycited the two-reelers of the 1930s and Depression-era screwball comedies when he called it "a beautifully and gently cockeyed movie that recalls at least two different traditions of American film comedy... The entire project is touched by a fine and knowing madness." May received aGolden Globenomination for her portrayal of the shy botanist in the project from which she fought studio execRobert Evans,unsuccessfully, to have her name removed.[25]

Lead actorsJohn Cassavetes(left) andPeter Falk(right) in 1971

May quickly followed her debut film with 1972'sThe Heartbreak Kid.She limited her role to directing, using a screenplay byNeil Simon,based on a story by Bruce Jay Friedman. The film starredCharles Grodin,Cybill Shepherd,Eddie Albert,and May's own daughter,Jeannie Berlin.It was a major critical success, and holds a 90% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. In 2000, it was listed at No. 91 onAFI's100 Years... 100 Laughslist.[26]May followed the two comedies by writing and directing the gangster filmMikey and Nicky,starringPeter FalkandJohn Cassavetes.Budgeted at $1.8 million and scheduled for a summer 1975 release, the film cost $4.3 million and was not released until December 1976.[citation needed]May ended up in a legal battle with Paramount Pictures over post-production costs, at one point hiding reels of the film in her husband's friend's Connecticut garage and later suing the company for $8 million for breach of contract.[27]May worked withJulian Schlossbergto get the rights to the film and released a director's cut in 1980. In 2019, May worked withThe Criterion Collectionto create the newest director's cut. The film has gained appreciation by many critics and audiences in recent years.[28][29]

InHerbert Ross'sCalifornia Suite(1978), written byNeil Simon,she was reunited withA New Leafco-star Walter Matthau, playing his wife Millie.[30]In addition to writing three of the films she directed, May received an Oscar nomination for updating the 1941 filmHere Comes Mr. JordanasHeaven Can Wait(1978). May reunited with Nichols for a stage production ofWho's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?inNew Havenin 1980. She contributed (uncredited) to the screenplay for the 1982 megahitTootsie,notably the scenes involving the character played byBill Murray.

Warren Beattyworked with May on the comedyIshtar(1987), starring Beatty andDustin Hoffman.Largely shot on location inMorocco,the production was beset by creative differences among the principals and had cost overruns. Long before the picture was ready for release, the troubled production had become the subject of numerous press stories, including a long cover article inNew Yorkmagazine.Some of the opposition to the film came fromDavid Puttnam,the studio head,[31][32]makingIshtara prime example of studio suicide. The advance publicity was largely negative[33]and, despite some positive reviews from theLos Angeles TimesandThe Washington Post,the film was a box office disaster.[34][35]The filmIshtarhas been positively re-evaluated in the 21st century by multiple publications including theLos Angeles Times,Slate,Indiewire,andThe Dissolve.[36][37][38][39][40]Richard Brody ofThe New YorkercalledIshtara "wrongly maligned masterwork" and raved, "There's a level of invention, a depth of reflection, and a tangle of emotions inIshtarwhich are reached by few films and few filmmakers. "[41]

May acted in the filmIn the Spirit(1990), in which she played a "shopaholic stripped of consumer power"; Robert Pardi has described her portrayal as a "study of fraying equanimity [that] is a classic comic tour de force."[42]She also contributed to the screenplay for the dramaDangerous Minds(1995).[43]May reunited with her former comic partner,Mike Nichols,for the 1996 filmThe Birdcage,an American adaptation of the classic French farceLa Cage aux Folles.Their film relocated the story from France toSouth Beach,Miami. It was a major box office hit. May received her second Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay when she again worked with Nichols on the 1998 filmPrimary Colors.

2000–present: Return to acting and Broadway

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She appeared inWoody Allen'sSmall Time Crooks(2000) where she played the character May Sloane, which Allen named after May when he wrote it, and with May being his first choice for the part.[44]For her acting, she won theNational Society of Film Criticsaward for Best Supporting Actress.[45]Allen spoke of her as a genius, and of his ease of working with her: "She shows up on time, she knows her lines, she can ad-lib creatively, and is willing to. If you don't want her to, she won't. She's a dream. She puts herself in your hands. She's a genius, and I don't use that word casually."[44]Nearly 15 years later, Allen ended up casting her to play his wife, Kay Munsinger, in hisAmazonlimited series,Crisis in Six Scenes,which was released in 2016.[46]

In 2002,Stanley Donendirected her musical playAdult EntertainmentwithJeannie BerlinandDanny Aielloat Variety Arts Theater inManhattan.[47]May wrote the one-act playGeorge is Dead,which starredMarlo Thomasand was performed on Broadway from late 2011 into 2012 as part of the anthology playRelatively Speakingalong with two other plays byWoody AllenandJoel Coen,directed byJohn Turturro.Charles IsherwoodofThe New York Timespraised May's entry describing it as "a delicious study in the bliss of narcissism".[48][49]David Rooney ofThe Hollywood Reporterconcurred describingGeorge is Deadas the "Strongest entry".[50]Before he died in 2019, Donen was reported to be in pre-production for a new film, begun December 2013, to be co-written with May and produced by Nichols. Atable readingof the script for potential investors included such actors asChristopher Walken,Charles Grodin,Ron Rifkin,and Jeannie Berlin.[51]

When May's lifelong collaborator Nichols died in 2014, May stepped up to poignantly direct the 2016 TV documentaryMike Nichols: American Masters.[52]That same year, she returned to acting, her first role since 2000, starring alongside her friendWoody Allenin his seriesCrisis in Six ScenesonAmazon Prime,[53]Tim Goodman ofThe Hollywood Reporterpraised their chemistry together writing, "The best episodes are the last two, whenCrisis in Six Scenesbecomes a full-blown farce and we get to see Allen and May playing accidental aging radicals, shuffling around Brooklyn ".[54]

In 2018, aged 86, May returned to Broadway after 60 years in aLila Neugebauer-directed revival ofKenneth Lonergan's playThe Waverly GalleryoppositeLucas Hedges,Joan Allen,andMichael Cera.The play ran at theJohn Golden Theatre,the same theatre where Nichols and May had started out almost 60 years earlier.[8]May received rapturous reviews for her performance as the gregarious, dementia-ridden elderly gallery owner Gladys Green, with many critics remarking that she was giving one of the most extraordinary performances they had ever seen onstage. The show received a nomination for theTony Award for Best Revival of a Play,[9]while May herself won theTony Award for Best Actress in a Playfor her performance.[10]She became the second oldest performer to win a Tony Award for acting.[11]In 2021 she portrayedRuth Bader Ginsburgin theParamount+seriesThe Good Fight.[55]

In 2019, it was announced that May is set to direct her first narrative feature in over 30 years. Little is known about the project other than its title,Crackpot,and that it is set to starDakota Johnson,who announced the project at the 2019Governors Awards.[56][57]In 2024, Johnson stated that the film is still in development and she serves as the film's producer and star with May still set to direct.[58]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Credit(s) Role Notes
1967 Enter Laughing Actor Angela Marlowe
1967 Luv Actor Ellen Manville
1967 The Graduate Actor Girl with note for Benjamin Uncredited
1967 Bach to Bach Actor, writer Woman Short film; audio from a previously released Nichols and May sketch, overlaid with visuals by others
1971 A New Leaf Actor, writer, director Henrietta Lowell
1971 Such Good Friends Writer — Under pseudonym, Esther Dale
1972 The Heartbreak Kid Director —
1976 Mikey and Nicky Writer, director, actor Woman on TV (voice) Uncredited as actor
1978 Heaven Can Wait Co-writer —
1978 California Suite Actor Millie Michaels
1981 Reds Co-writer — Uncredited
1982 Tootsie Co-writer — Uncredited
1986 Labyrinth Co-writer — Uncredited
1987 Ishtar Writer, director —
1990 In the Spirit Actor Marianne Flan
1994 Wolf Actor Operator (voice) Uncredited
1995 Dangerous Minds Co-writer — Uncredited
1996 The Birdcage Writer —
1998 Primary Colors Writer —
2000 Small Time Crooks Actor May
2021 The Same Storm Actor Ruth Lipsman

Television

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Year Title Credit(s) Role Notes
1958 Omnibus Performer Herself Episode: "The Suburban Review"
1958 DuPont Show of the Month Actor Candy Carter Episode: "The Red Mill"
1959–60 The Tonight Show with Jack Paar Herself Guest 5 episodes
1960 What's My Line? Herself Mystery Guest Episode: "Elaine May &Mike Nichols"
1962 President Kennedy's Birthday Salute Performer Herself Television special
1964–65 The Jack Paar Program Herself Guest 6 episodes
1966 The Merv Griffin Show Herself Guest Episode: "Peter Falk,Elaine May, & Mike Nichols "
1967 The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour Performer Herself Episode: #1.9
1996 Nichols and May: Take Two Herself Archival footage American Mastersdocumentary
2008 AFI: Tribute to Warren Beatty Performer Herself Television special
2010 AFI: Tribute to Mike Nichols Performer Herself Television special
2016 American Masters: Mike Nichols Director — Television documentary
2016 Crisis in Six Scenes Actor Kay Munsinger 6 episodes
2021 The Good Fight Actor Ruth Bader Ginsburg 2 episodes

Theatre

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Year Title Credit(s) Notes
1960 An Evening with Mike Nichols and Elaine May Playwright, Performer John Golden Theatre,Broadway
1962 3 x 3 Playwright Maidman Playhouse,Off-Broadway
1966 The Office Performer Henry Miller's Theatre,Broadway
1969 Adaptation Playwright, Director Greenwich Mews Theatre, Off Broadway
1980 Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Performer (Martha) Long Wharf Theatre
1991 Mr. Gogol and Mr. Preen Playwright Newhouse Theatre,Off Broadway
1992 Mike Nichols and Elaine May Together Again Playwright, Performer Brooks Atkinson Theatre,Broadway
1995 Death Defying Acts: Hotline Playwright Variety Arts Theatre, Off Broadway
1998 Power Plays Playwright, Performer Promenade Theatre, Off Broadway
2000 Taller Than a Dwarf Playwright Longacre Theater,Broadway
2002 Small Talks on the Universe Playwright Eugene O'Neill Theatre,Broadway
2002 Adult Entertainment Playwright Variety Arts Theatre, Off Broadway
2005 After the Night and the Music Playwright Samuel J. Friedman Theatre,Broadway
2011 Relatively Speaking: George is Dead Playwright Brooks Atkinson Theatre,Broadway
2018 The Waverly Gallery Performer (Gladys Green) John Golden Theatre,Broadway

Discography

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Influence and legacy

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Nichols and May created a new "Age of Irony" for comedy, which showed actors arguing contemporary banalities as a key part of their routine. That style of comedy was picked up and further developed by later comics such asSteve Martin,Bill Murray,andDavid Letterman.[15]: 323 According to Martin, Nichols and May were among the first to satirize relationships. The word "relationship," notes Martin, was first used in the early sixties: "It was the first time I ever heard it satirized."[15]: 323 He recalls that soon after discovering their recorded acts, he went to sleep each night listening to them. "They influenced us all and changed the face of comedy."[15]: 324 

InVanity Fair,Woody Allendeclared, "Individually, each one is a genius, and when they worked together, the sum was even greater than the combination of the parts—the two of them came along and elevated comedy to a brand-new level."[60]

Lily Tomlinwas also affected by their routines and considers May to be her inspiration as a comedian: "There was nothing like Elaine May, with her voice, her timing, and her attitude," says Tomlin.[61]: 43 "The nuances of the characterizations and the cultured types that they were doing completely appealed to me. They were the first people I saw doing smart, hip character pieces. My brother and I used to keep their 'Improvisations to Music' on the turntable twenty-four hours a day."[15]: 324 

In an interview withPitchfork Magazine,standup comedianJohn MulaneydescribedMike Nichols & Elaine May Examine Doctors(1961) as one of his favorite comedy albums of all time.[62]Mulaney stated, "I got this album for Christmas when I was in junior high. The last track, 'Nichols and May at Work,' is an outtake from recording the album, they were just improvising dialog in a studio. They’re trying to do a piece where a son goes to his mother and says that he wants to become a registered nurse. It’s something you just have to experience, because two people that funny laughing that hard is really, really, really funny. I think it might be the happiest thing ever recorded."[62]

Filmmaker and film historianPeter Bogdanovichcovered Elaine's filmography in his bookMovie of the Week(1999). Bogdanovich praised all of her films and concluded with "Long live Elaine! Would that she could act and direct again in pictures. In 1998 I saw her perform off-Broadway in a couple of one-act plays she wrote (Power Plays), and her performances matched the comic genius of the writing. "[63]Other admirers of May's work include comedianPatton Oswalt,and directorsBen and Josh Safdiewho both detailed their admiration for her and her work, in particular her filmMikey and Nicky(1976) throughThe Criterion Channel.

May's work as a director has been given a closer look in recent years with David Hudson, a writer forThe Criterion Collectiondeclaring her as a "criminally underappreciated moviemaker".[64]In 2017 thePhiladelphia Film Critics Circlecreated an award in her name given "to a deserving person or film that brings awareness to women’s issues".[65]

May's life and career will be profiled in the biographyMiss May Does Not Exist: The Life and Work of Elaine May, Hollywood’s Hidden Geniuswritten byCarrie Courogen,which is set to be released in June 2024 published byMacmillan Publishers.[66]

Awards and honors

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Main article:List of awards and nominations received by Elaine May
May receiving the Medal of Arts award from President Obama, July 13, 2013[67]

For her acting in films, May's accolades include a nomination for aGolden Globe Award for Best Actress – Comedy or MusicalforA New Leaf(1971),[68]and winning theNational Society of Film CriticsAward for Best Supporting Actress for her role inSmall Time Crooks(2000).[45]On stage, May won theTony Award for Best Actress in a Playfor her performance as Gladys in theBroadwayrevival ofKenneth Lonergan'sThe Waverly Galleryin 2019.[69]She also received a Drama League Award nomination and won aDrama Desk Awardand anOuter Critics Circle Awardfor Outstanding Actress in a Play.[70]That same year, May's filmA New Leafwas selected by theLibrary of Congressfor preservation in theNational Film Registryfor being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[71]

May was awarded theNational Medal of Artsfor her lifetime contributions to American comedy by PresidentBarack Obama,in a ceremony in the White House on July 10, 2013. She was awarded for her "groundbreaking wit and a keen understanding of how humor can illuminate our lives, Ms. May has evoked untold joy, challenged expectations, and elevated spirits across our Nation."[72]

In January 2016, theWriters Guild of America-Westannounced that May would receive its 2016Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievementat theWriters Guild of America Awardceremony in Los Angeles on February 13.[73][74][75]

In 2021, she was chosen to receive theHonorary Academy Awardby theBoard of Governorsof theAcademy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences,receiving the award for her "bold, uncompromising approach to filmmaking, as a writer, director and actress". She was honored at the annualGovernors AwardsalongsideSamuel L. Jackson,Liv Ullmann,andDanny Gloveron March 25, 2022.[3][4][5][76]Bill Murraypresented her with the award crediting her with "saving his life on multiple occasions professionally".[77]

References

edit
  1. ^"Tony Kushner, Anna Deavere Smith, Joan Didion and Elaine May Among National Medal of Arts and Humanities Recipients".Playbill.RetrievedApril 2,2023.
  2. ^ab"Academy Awards Database Search: Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences".awardsdatabase.oscars.org.Retrieved2022-12-31.
  3. ^abcBeckett, Lois (March 26, 2022)."'This is going to be cherished': Samuel L Jackson and Elaine May receive honorary Oscars ".The Guardian.RetrievedMarch 26,2022.
  4. ^abcWillis, Courtney (March 26, 2022)."Samuel L. Jackson, Danny Glover honored at Governors Awards".The Grio.RetrievedMarch 26,2022.
  5. ^abc"Samuel L. Jackson, Elaine May, Liv Ullmann to Receive Honorary Oscars; Danny Glover to Get Jean Hersholt Award".The Hollywood Reporter.June 24, 2021.RetrievedJune 24,2021.
  6. ^Dargis, Manohla (January 21, 2019)."The Marvelous Mrs. Elaine May".The New York Times.RetrievedJune 25,2021.
  7. ^McNary, Dave (January 19, 2016)."Elaine May Honored by Writers Guild of America".RetrievedJuly 16,2018.
  8. ^abElaine MayPlaybill (vault)
  9. ^ab"Theater Review. 'Waverly Gallery'"The New York Times,October 25, 2018.
  10. ^abEvans, Greg; Hayes, Dade (2019-06-09)."Deadline's Tony Awards Live Blog".Deadline.Archived fromthe originalon 2019-06-10.Retrieved2019-06-10.
  11. ^abKare, Jeffrey (June 10, 2019)."2019 Tony Awards: 24 records, milestones and fun facts about this year's winners".Gold Derby.RetrievedJune 10,2019.
  12. ^abQuart, Barbara Koenig (1988). "American Women Directors (Chapter 3)".Women Directors: The Emergence of a New Cinema.New York, NY, USA: Greenwood-Prager. pp. 37–51 andpassim.ISBN0313391106.Retrieved31 January2016.
  13. ^"Person Details for Marvin May," California, County Marriages, 1850-1952 "— FamilySearch.org".familysearch.org.RetrievedFebruary 1,2016.
  14. ^abcdefThompson, Thomas (1967)."What Ever Happened to Elaine May?"(print).Life.Vol. 63, no. 4, July 28. pp. 54–59.ISSN0024-3019.RetrievedJanuary 31,2016.Since She and Mike Nichols Broke Up Their Famous Comedy Team, She has had Flops, Problems and Now, at Last, a New Success.
  15. ^abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzaaabacadaeafagahaiajakalamanaoNachman, Gerald(2003). "Double Jeopardy: Mike Nichols and Elaine May".Seriously Funny: The Rebel Comedians of the 1950s and 1960s.New York, NY: Pantheon Books.ISBN978-0-375-41030-7.OCLC50339527.
  16. ^Feeney, Mark (2009)."Like His Films, Donen Exudes Style and Wit"(online).The Boston Globe.No. October 4. pp. 1–3, esp. 3.RetrievedJanuary 31,2016.Subtitle: Famed director Stanley Donen, the subject of a retrospective at the Harvard Film Archive, visits this week.
  17. ^Heilpern, John (2013)."Hollywood Conversations: Out to Lunch with Stanley Donen"(online, print).Vanity Fair(February 28 (March, print)). Tim Shaeffer, illustrations.RetrievedJanuary 31,2016.Subtitle: The last of the golden-age Hollywood directors still believes in romance.
  18. ^Seham, Amy E. (2001). "The First-Wave Paradigm (Chapter 1)".Whose Improv Is It Anyway?: Beyond Second City.Jackson, MS, USA: University Press of Mississippi. pp. 11, 14–16, 229.ISBN160473759X.RetrievedJanuary 31,2016.
  19. ^FilmArchivesNYC (March 13, 2009)."Elaine May & Mike Nichols Commercial (stock footage / archival footage)".RetrievedJuly 29,2018– via YouTube.
  20. ^"Elaine May and Mike Nichols on Tax Day".April 15, 2016.RetrievedJuly 29,2018– via YouTube.
  21. ^"Exclusive: The Reunion of Mike Nichols and Elaine May".Vanity Fair.December 20, 2012.
  22. ^Kashner, Sam (2008)."The Movies: Here's to You, Mr. Nichols, The Making of The Graduate"(online, print).Vanity Fair(February 29).RetrievedJanuary 31,2016.Reprinted in Graydon Carter'sVanity Fair's Tales of Hollywood: Rebels, Reds, and Graduates,,New York, NT, USA: Penguin.
  23. ^Nichols, Mike & May, Elaine, acting; Arthur Penn, producer (1998) [1960]. "Mother and Son [track 4]".An Evening With Mike Nichols And Elaine May(Original Cast Recording)(audio CD [vinyl]). New York, NY, USA [Chicago, IL, USA]: PolyGram Records [Mercury Records].ASINB000007Q8O.Retrieved31 January2016.
  24. ^Foster, Gwendolyn Audrey.Women Film Directors: An International Bio-critical Dictionary,Greenwood Publishing (1995) p. 246
  25. ^Canby, Vincent,"A New Leaf (1971): Love Turns 'New Leaf' at Music Hall",The New York Times,March 12, 1971. Retrieved 2011-01-02.
  26. ^"AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs"(PDF).American Film Institute.June 13, 2000. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on March 16, 2013.RetrievedAugust 29,2022.
  27. ^Lang, Brent (2021-04-21)."As Elaine May Turns 89, It's Time to Give the Filmmaking Giant the Credit She Deserves".Variety.Retrieved2022-12-18.
  28. ^Hoberman, J. (2019-07-02)."In 'Mikey and Nicky,' Elaine May Nails a Pair of Desperate Characters".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Retrieved2022-12-18.
  29. ^LaSalle, Mick (September 1, 2022)."Elaine May's 'Mikey and Nicky' is an unsung gem from the 1970s".Datebook | San Francisco Arts & Entertainment Guide.Retrieved2022-12-18.
  30. ^California Suite(1978) - Walter Matthau Tribute.August 30, 2013.RetrievedFebruary 1,2016– via YouTube.
  31. ^Chung, Evan (7 June 2019)."IshtarDidn't Die a Natural Death ".Slate.Retrieved2022-05-28.
  32. ^Brueggemann, Tom (17 May 2020)."'Ishtar': How Hollywood Decided That One Box-Office Flop Spoke for All Female Directors ".IndieWire.Retrieved2022-05-28.
  33. ^"Ishtar".Metacritic.
  34. ^Harmetz, Aljean (May 19, 1987)."Elaine May's 'Ishtar': A$51 Million Film in Trouble".The New York Times.RetrievedAugust 29,2022.
  35. ^Biskind, Peter(2010).Star: How Warren Beatty Seduced America.Simon & Schuster.p.382.ISBN9780743246583.
  36. ^Murray, Noel (August 6, 2013)."Ishtar".The Dissolve.
  37. ^Labuza, Peter (November 13, 2012)."The Disc-Less: 5 Re-Evaluated Classics Not Available On DVD, Including 'Greed,' 'Song Of The South' & 'Ishtar'".Indiewire. Archived fromthe originalon March 5, 2016.RetrievedFebruary 24,2016.
  38. ^Hillis, Aaron (August 6, 2013)."DVD Is The New Vinyl: Rock Hudson Has 'Seconds,' Nazi Escapes & 'Ishtar'".Indiewire. Archived fromthe originalon March 5, 2016.RetrievedFebruary 24,2016.
  39. ^Haglund, David (August 6, 2013)."Ishtar Is Finally on Blu-ray. And It's Good!".Slate's Culture Blog.
  40. ^Olsen, Mark (August 11, 2013)."'Ishtar' rises from the ashes on Blu-ray ".Los Angeles Times.Archivedfrom the original on September 13, 2014.
  41. ^"Elaine May Talks About" Ishtar "".The New Yorker.April 1, 2016.
  42. ^Pardi, Robert (2016). "Elaine May Biography".Elaine May Films… Filmography… Biography… Career… Awards.Retrieved31 January2016.
  43. ^"Unpacking the short but prickly filmography of Elaine May".AV Club.January 24, 2013.RetrievedJune 9,2018.
  44. ^abLax, Eric.Conversations with Woody Allen: His Films, the Movies, and Moviemaking,Knopf Doubleday Publishing (2007) p. 161
  45. ^abCardwell, Diane (January 7, 2001)."Critics Group Honors Quirky List of Film Favorites".The New York Times.RetrievedJanuary 2,2018.
  46. ^"Woody Allen casts Miley Cyrus, Elaine May in his '60s-set series for Amazon".Entertainment Weekly.RetrievedAugust 30,2023.
  47. ^Brantley, Ben (2002)."Theater Review: Is She a Serious Actress? XXXtremely"(online).The New York Times(December 12).RetrievedJanuary 31,2016.Good acting is pretty common to the American stage and screen; bad acting, perhaps, even more so… / A master class in this delicate art is now being offered by Jeannie Berlin, who is appearing in Elaine May'sAdult Entertainment,the often very funny, overstretched comedy sketch that opened last night at the Variety Arts Theater under the direction of Stanley Donen.
  48. ^Isherwood, Charles (2011)."Each Family, Tortured in Its Own Way"(online).The New York Times(October 20).RetrievedJanuary 31,2016.Mothers come in for some serious savaging in "Relatively Speaking," a reasonably savory tasting platter of comedies by Ethan Coen, Elaine May and Woody Allen that opened on Thursday night at the Brooks Atkinson Theater… / These plays are not going to do anything much in the way of reputation burnishing for their three celebrated authors — and certainly none is required — but they are packed with nifty zingers and have been directed by John Turturro with a boisterous flair for socking home the borscht-belt humor. / Ms. May's "George Is Dead" is, for most of its running time, a delicious study in the bliss of narcissism… Marlo Thomas plays a pampered princess named Doreen who comes…that her husband has just been killed.
  49. ^"BWW TV: Meet the Company of Woody Allen, Ethan Coen, Elaine May's Relatively Speaking!".December 27, 2011.RetrievedJuly 30,2018– via YouTube.
  50. ^"Relatively Speaking: Theater Review".The Hollywood Reporter.20 October 2011.RetrievedAugust 30,2023.
  51. ^"Stanley Donen gearing up to direct his first feature in 30 years".moviepilot. December 3, 2013. Archived fromthe originalon October 17, 2014.RetrievedDecember 14,2013.
  52. ^"Elaine May’s ‘American Masters’ Documentary on Mike Nichols",The Film Stage,February 1, 2016.
  53. ^Fleming, Mike Jr. (January 25, 2016)."Woody Allen Amazon Series Sets Cast: He Stars With Elaine May & Miley Cyrus".Deadline Hollywood.Penske Business Media.Retrieved25 April2016.
  54. ^"'Crisis in Six Scenes': TV Review ".The Hollywood Reporter.26 September 2016.RetrievedAugust 30,2023.
  55. ^"'The Good Fight': See Elaine May as Ruth Bader Ginsburg ".Collider.29 July 2021.RetrievedAugust 30,2023.
  56. ^"Elaine May to Direct her First Narrative Feature in 30 Years with Dakota Johnson".The Film Stage.November 2, 2019.RetrievedMarch 14,2020.
  57. ^Hoffman, Jordan (November 2, 2019)."Elaine May age 87 to direct new film".Vanity Fair.RetrievedMarch 14,2020.
  58. ^"Dakota Johnson Confirms Elaine May's Crackpot Is Still In Development".The Film Stage.8 February 2024.RetrievedFebruary 9,2024.
  59. ^Anon. (December 15, 1958)."Sold Out".Billboard.p. 17.RetrievedJune 5,2018.
  60. ^Exclusive: The Reunion of Mike Nichols and Elaine May | Vanity Fair
  61. ^Lavin, Suzanne (2004). "Overview (Chapter 1)".Women and Comedy in Solo Performance: Phyllis Diller, Lily Tomlin and Roseanne.New York, NY, USA: Routledge-Taylor & Francis. pp. 2, 9f, 43.ISBN0203643461.Retrieved31 January2016.
  62. ^abThe Pitch
  63. ^Bogdanovich, Peter.Movie of the Week.p. 137
  64. ^"Elaine May," Criminally Underappreciated Moviemaker "".The Criterion Collection.RetrievedMay 13,2020.
  65. ^"PFCC Annual Awards".
  66. ^"Miss May Does Not Exist".MacMillian.RetrievedSeptember 27,2023.
  67. ^"President Obama Awards the 2012 National Medals of Arts and Humanities".10 July 2013.Retrieved16 July2018– via YouTube.
  68. ^"Golden Globes Awards - Elaine May".Hollywood Foreign Press Association.RetrievedDecember 31,2022.
  69. ^"Elaine May, a comedy great with Chicago roots, wins first Tony Award at 87".Chicago Sun-Times.June 10, 2019.RetrievedApril 8,2020.
  70. ^Staff."'Hadestown' Leads the Outer Critics Circle Awards With 6 Wins"Playbill, May 13, 2019
  71. ^Chow, Andrew R. (December 11, 2019)."See the 25 New Additions to the National Film Registry, From Purple Rain to Clerks".Time.New York, NY.RetrievedDecember 11,2019.
  72. ^"President Obama to Award 2012 National Medal of Arts and National Humanities Medal".whitehouse.gov.3 July 2013.RetrievedFebruary 1,2016– viaNational Archives.
  73. ^Petski, Denise (January 19, 2016)."Elaine May to Receive WGA Screenwriting Honor".Deadline Hollywood.Retrieved31 January2016.Comedy screenwriter-director-actress Elaine May will receive the WGAW's 2016 Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement at the WGA Awards L.A. ceremony on February 13.
  74. ^McNary, Dave (2016)."Elaine May Honored by Writers Guild of America"(online).Variety(January 19).Retrieved31 January2016.Elaine May will receive the Writers Guild of America West's Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement to honor her career and body of work.
  75. ^"Screenwriter Robert Towne presents the 2016 Screen Laurel Award to Elaine May".14 February 2016.Retrieved29 July2018– via YouTube.
  76. ^Dury, Sharareh (March 24, 2022)."Academy Honors Legacy Troupe Ahead of Governors Awards".Variety.RetrievedMarch 26,2022.
  77. ^"Bill Murray honors Elaine May at the 2022 Governors Awards".Oscars.7 June 2022.RetrievedJune 16,2022.

Further reading

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  • Quart, Barbara Koenig (1988). "American Women Directors (Chapter 3)".Women Directors: The Emergence of a New Cinema.New York: Greenwood-Prager. pp. 37–51 andpassim.ISBN0313391106.Retrieved31 January2016.
  • Stephens, Chuck. "Chronicle of a Disappearance: Unjustly Omitted from Most Histories of Seventies American Filmmaking, Actor-writer-director Elaine May—and the Four Unforgettable Films She Somehow Got Away with—Refuse to Fade Away."Film Comment42.2 (2006): 46. Web.
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