Elaine May facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Elaine May
May performing in 1959
Born	Elaine Iva Berlin (1932-04-21) April 21, 1932 (age 93) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Other names	Esther Dale, Elly May
Occupation	Actress comedian writer film director
Years active	1955–present
Known for	A New Leaf (1971) The Heartbreak Kid (1972) Mikey and Nicky (1976) Ishtar (1987)
Spouse(s)	Marvin Irving May ​ ​ (m. 1948; div. 1960)​ Sheldon Harnick ​ ​ (m. 1962; div. 1963)​ David L. Rubinfine ​ ​ (m. 1963; died 1982)​
Partner(s)	Stanley Donen (1999–2019; his death)
Children	Jeannie Berlin
Awards	Full list
Signature

Elaine Iva May (born April 21, 1932) is an American actress, comedian, writer, and director. She first became famous in the 1950s for her improvisational comedy acts with Mike Nichols. Later, she became a writer and director for many popular films.

Elaine May has won many awards, including a BAFTA Award, a Grammy Award, and a Tony Award. In 2013, President Barack Obama gave her the National Medal of Arts. She also received an Honorary Academy Award in 2022.

In 1955, May moved to Chicago. She became a founding member of the Compass Players, an improv theater group. She started working with Mike Nichols. In 1957, they left the group to form their own comedy act, Nichols and May.

They performed in clubs in Greenwich Village in New York. They also appeared on Broadway, and on TV and radio. They released several comedy albums. In 1962, they won a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album for An Evening with Mike Nichols and Elaine May. Their work together was featured in the PBS documentary Nichols and May: Take Two (1996).

May acted in a few films, like Luv (1967) and Small Time Crooks (2000). She became one of the first female directors in Hollywood. She directed the comedy A New Leaf in 1971. She also directed The Heartbreak Kid (1972) and Mikey and Nicky (1976).

May also wrote screenplays for other films. These include Heaven Can Wait (1978), The Birdcage (1996), and Primary Colors (1998). She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Heaven Can Wait and Primary Colors. She won a BAFTA Award for Primary Colors.

May returned to acting in 2016 in Woody Allen's TV series Crisis in Six Scenes. In 2018, she starred on Broadway in The Waverly Gallery. For this role, she won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. This made her one of the oldest people to win a Tony for acting. In 2022, she received an Honorary Academy Award for her amazing work as a writer, director, and actress.

Early Life and Family

Elaine Iva Berlin was born on April 21, 1932, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her parents, Jack and Ida Berlin, were both actors and involved in theater.

When Elaine was a child, she performed with her father in his traveling Yiddish theater company. Yiddish theater was a type of play performed in the Yiddish language, often with music and comedy. She started acting on stage at age three.

Because her family traveled a lot, May attended over 50 different schools by the time she was ten. She said she did not like school and preferred reading fairy tales. When she was 11, her father passed away. She and her mother then moved to Los Angeles.

May later went to Hollywood High School but left when she was fourteen. At sixteen, she married Marvin May, an engineer. They had a daughter, Jeannie Berlin (born 1949), who also became an actress. Elaine and Marvin divorced in 1960.

She later married lyricist Sheldon Harnick in 1962, but they divorced a year later. In 1964, May married David L. Rubinfine. They were married until his death in 1982.

Elaine May's longtime partner was director Stanley Donen. They were together from 1999 until his death in 2019. Donen often joked that he proposed marriage to her many times.

Career Highlights

Starting in Theater: The Compass Players

After her first marriage, Elaine May studied acting. She also worked many different jobs. She wanted to go to college but did not have a high school diploma. She found out that the University of Chicago would accept students without diplomas. So, she hitchhiked to Chicago in 1950.

In Chicago, May attended classes at the university without officially enrolling. She often joined discussions and shared her strong opinions. This is how she met Mike Nichols. He was an actor in the school's theater group. They became friends and later started working together.

In 1955, May joined a new improv theater group called The Compass Players. Improv theater means actors make up scenes and dialogue on the spot, without a script. May was one of the first members. Mike Nichols also joined the group. They started creating funny improv sketches together.

May, Nichols and Dorothy Loudon, 1959

The Compass Players became very popular because of Nichols and May. They helped the group create new ways to perform. Other actors noticed how talented May was. She was often the center of attention. She also helped make the group more open to new actors.

May was known for her unique sense of humor. She found humor in everyday life and things people took seriously. People described her as very intelligent and having a "beautiful madness."

Nichols and May: A Comedy Duo

In 1957, Mike Nichols and Elaine May left the Compass Players. They decided to form their own stand-up comedy team, called Nichols and May. They quickly became very successful in New York. Their shows were often sold out.

Nichols and May, 1960

They made their Broadway debut in 1960 with a show called An Evening with Mike Nichols and Elaine May. This show later won a Grammy Award. They also appeared on TV and radio. Many famous comedians, like Woody Allen, said they changed comedy forever.

Their Comedy Style

Nichols and May were different from other comedy duos. They created "scenes" on stage, like short plays. They did not have fixed roles, but changed their characters to fit the sketch. They used real-life situations and made them funny. They often made fun of how young Americans took themselves too seriously.

Theater program from 1961

May was especially good at improv. She could quickly create a situation between two people and add a problem for them to solve. They would often perform new ideas soon after thinking of them, without much practice. For example, Nichols once got an idea from a phone call with his mother. He called May, and they created a six-minute "mother and son" sketch that night.

Elaine May also helped change how women were seen in comedy. She often played smart, important female characters, like doctors or bosses. This was different from the usual roles for women in the 1950s.

The Duo Splits Up

In 1961, at the peak of their fame, Nichols and May decided to stop working together. They wanted to try different things. Nichols became a famous director for stage and film. May focused on writing plays and screenplays, and also acted and directed.

Nichols later said that their breakup was very hard for him. He felt lost. They did not work together again until 1996. May wrote the screenplay for the film The Birdcage, and Nichols directed it. He said it felt "like coming home."

They did reunite for a special event in 1972. They performed for a benefit concert for George McGovern's presidential campaign.

Writing and Directing Films

After the comedy duo split, May wrote several plays. Her play Adaptation (1969) was very successful. She also directed it off-Broadway.

May made her film directing and writing debut in 1971 with A New Leaf. It was a dark comedy based on a short story. May also starred in the film as Henrietta Lowell, an awkward heiress. The studio cut the film shorter than May wanted, but it later became a cult classic. May was even nominated for a Golden Globe for her acting in it.

Lead actors John Cassavetes (left) and Peter Falk (right) in 1971

She then directed The Heartbreak Kid (1972). She only directed this film, which was written by Neil Simon. It starred Charles Grodin, Cybill Shepherd, and May's daughter, Jeannie Berlin. The film was a big success and is still highly rated today.

May also wrote and directed the gangster film Mikey and Nicky (1976). This film had some challenges during production. However, it has become much more appreciated by critics and audiences in recent years.

May also wrote screenplays for other directors. She received an Oscar nomination for co-writing Heaven Can Wait (1978). She also helped write Tootsie (1982) and Dangerous Minds (1995), though she was not credited for these.

In 1987, May wrote and directed the comedy Ishtar, starring Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman. This film had a difficult production and was not successful at first. However, in the 21st century, many critics have re-evaluated Ishtar and now praise it as a unique and brilliant film.

May reunited with Mike Nichols for the 1996 film The Birdcage. She wrote the screenplay for this comedy, which was a big box office hit. She also received her second Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay for Primary Colors (1998), which Nichols also directed.

Return to Acting and Broadway

In 2000, May acted in Woody Allen's film Small Time Crooks. Allen wrote the part specifically for her. She won an award for Best Supporting Actress for her role. Allen called her a "genius" and loved working with her.

About 15 years later, Allen cast her again in his Amazon series, Crisis in Six Scenes (2016). In this series, May played Allen's wife. Critics praised their chemistry together.

In 2018, at 86 years old, May returned to Broadway after many years. She starred in a play called The Waverly Gallery. She played Gladys Green, an elderly gallery owner with dementia. Critics loved her performance, calling it extraordinary. She won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for this role.

In 2021, she played Ruth Bader Ginsburg in the TV series The Good Fight. It was also announced that May plans to direct a new film called Crackpot, starring Dakota Johnson.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Discography

• Improvisations to Music (1958) Mercury ASIN B000W0V9BW
• An Evening with Mike Nichols and Elaine May (1960) Mercury ASIN B000W06CCS
• Mike Nichols & Elaine May Examine Doctors (1961) Mercury MG 20680/SR 60680 ASIN B000W0AGDY
• In Retrospect (1962) Polygram, compilation, re-released as compact disc in 1996 ASIN B000001EKT

Influence and Legacy

Nichols and May changed comedy by creating a new style. They often showed characters arguing about everyday things in a funny way. This style influenced later comedians like Steve Martin, Bill Murray, and David Letterman.

Steve Martin said that Nichols and May were among the first to make fun of "relationships." He listened to their albums every night and said they "changed the face of comedy."

Woody Allen called them both "geniuses." He said that when they worked together, their comedy reached a "brand-new level."

Lily Tomlin was also inspired by them. She said, "There was nothing like Elaine May, with her voice, her timing, and her attitude." She loved their smart and hip characters.

Comedian John Mulaney said that Mike Nichols & Elaine May Examine Doctors is one of his favorite comedy albums. He especially loves the last track, which is an unscripted outtake of them improvising and laughing.

Filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich praised all of Elaine May's films. He wished she would act and direct more. Other fans of her work include comedian Patton Oswalt and directors Ben and Josh Safdie.

Many people now see Elaine May as a "criminally underappreciated moviemaker." Her work as a director is getting more attention.

In 2017, the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle created an award named after her. It is given to a person or film that raises awareness about women's issues.

Awards and Honors

May receiving the Medal of Arts award from President Obama, July 13, 2013

Elaine May has won many awards for her acting and writing. She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her role in A New Leaf (1971). She won the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress for Small Time Crooks (2000).

On stage, May won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play in 2019 for her role in The Waverly Gallery. She also won a Drama Desk Award and an Outer Critics Circle Award for this performance. In the same year, her film A New Leaf was chosen for the National Film Registry. This means it is considered important for American culture and history.

President Barack Obama gave May the National Medal of Arts in 2013. This award honored her for her lifetime contributions to American comedy. The award recognized her "groundbreaking wit" and how she used humor to "illuminate our lives."

In 2016, the Writers Guild of America-West gave May the Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement.

In 2021, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences decided to give her an Honorary Academy Award. She received this award in 2022 for her "bold, uncompromising approach to filmmaking, as a writer, director and actress." Bill Murray presented her with the award.

See also

In Spanish: Elaine May para niños