Elaine May Biography (1932-)

Original name, Elaine Berlin; born April 21, 1932, in Philadelphia, PA; daughter of Jack (an actor and theatre operator) and Jeannie Berlin; married Marvin May, c. 1949 (divorced); married Sheldon Harnick (a lyricist), March 25, 1962 (divorced, May, 1963); married Reuben Fine (a doctor), 1963 (divorced); some sources cite two additional marriages; children: (first marriage) JeannieBerlin (an actress, acting teacher, and writer; also known as Jeannie May). Addresses: Agent: William Morris Agency, 151 South El Camino Dr., Beverly Hills, CA 90212-2775.

Nationality: American
Gender: Female
Occupation: Actress, director, comedienne, writer
Birth Details: April 21, 1932; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Famous Works

CREDITS
Film Work
Director
A New Leaf, Paramount, 1971
The Heartbreak Kid, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1972
Mikey and Nicky, Paramount, 1976
Ishtar, Columbia, 1987
Wolf, Columbia/TriStar, 1994
May Sloan, Small Time Crooks, DreamWorks, 2000
Film Appearances
Ellen Manville, Luv, Columbia, 1967
Bach to Bach (short film), 1967
Angela, Enter Laughing, Columbia, 1970
Henrietta Lowell, A New Leaf, Paramount, 1971
Millie Michaels, California Suite (also known as Neil Simon's California Suite), Columbia, 1978
Marianne Flan, In the Spirit, Castle Hill, 1990
Television Appearances
Specials
Herself (in archive footage), The Great Standups (also known as The Great Standups: Sixty Years of Laughter), 1984
Herself, Nichols and May--Take Two, PBS, 1996
Series
Panelist, Keep Talking, CBS, 1958-1959
Celebrity panelist, Laugh Line, NBC, 1959
That Was the Week That Was, NBC, 1964
Making Sense of the Sixties, PBS, 1991
Episodic
The Jack Paar Show, CBS, 1957
"The Red Mill," The DuPont Show of the Month, CBS, 1958
Omnibus, NBC, 1958
The Fabulous Fifties, 1960
Also appeared on The Dinah Shore Show, NBC; Laugh-In (alsoknown as Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In), NBC; and The Perry Como Show, NBC.
Miniseries
(In archive footage) Herself, The Fifties, 1997
Stage Appearances
An Evening with Mike Nichols and Elaine May, John Golden Theatre,New York City, 1960-1961
Shirley, The Office, Henry Miller's Theatre, New York City, 1966
Martha, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Long Wharf Theatre, New Haven, CT, 1980

Ms. Asquith, "The Way of All Fish," Power Plays, Promenade Theatre, New York City, 1998
Sue, "In and Out of the Light," Power Plays, Promenade Theatre, 1998
Stage Work
Director
The Third Ear, Premise Theatre, New York City, 1964
Adaptation (one-act), Greenwich Mews Playhouse, New York City, 1969
Next, Greenwich Mews Playhouse, 1969
The Goodbye People, Berkshire Theater Festival, Stockbridge, MA, 1971
The Disappearance of the Jews, Goodman Theatre, Chicago, IL, 1983
Gorilla, Goodman Theatre, 1983
Hotline, Goodman Theatre, 1983
Technical Assistant
Bruno and Sidney, New Stages Theatre, New York City, 1949
Director; Major Tours
Adaptation, U.S. cities, 1969
Next, U.S. cities, 1969
Radio Appearances
N.Y. Town Hall, NBC, 1959
Appeared weekly on Nightline, NBC, and on other radio programs.
RECORDINGS
Albums; with Mike Nichols
Improvisations to Music, Mercury, 1958
An Evening with Mike Nichols and Elaine May, Mercury, 1960
Mike Nichols and Elaine May Examine Doctors, Mercury, 1961
In Retrospect (compilation), Mercury, 1962
The Best of Mike Nichols and Elaine May (compilation), Mercury, 1965
WRITINGS
Stage Plays
A Matter of Position, produced at Walnut Street Theatre, Philadelphia, PA, 1962
Not Enough Rope, produced at Maidman Theatre, New York City, 1962
Adaptation (one-act), produced at Greenwich Mews Playhouse, New York City, 1969
Better Part of Valour, produced 1983
Hot Line, produced at Goodman Theatre, Chicago, IL, 1983
(With Mike Nichols) Telephone (revue), produced 1984
Mr. Gogol and Mr. Preen, produced at Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre, New York City, 1991
"Hotline," Death Defying Acts, produced at Off-Broadway Variety Arts Theatre, New York City, 1995-1996
"In and Out of the Light," Power Plays, produced at Promenade Theatre, New York City, 1998
"The Way of All Fish," Power Plays, produced at Promenade Theatre,1998
Taller than a Dwarf (one-act), produced at Wilbur Theatre, Boston,MA, then Longacre Theatre, New York City, 2000
Adult Entertainment, Broadway production, 2002
Screenplays
A New Leaf (based on a short story by Jack Ritchie), Paramount, 1971
(As Esther Dale) Such Good Friends (based on a novel by Lois Gould), Paramount, 1971
(With Neil Simon) The Heartbreak Kid (based on a story by Bruce Friedman), Twentieth Century-Fox, 1972
Mikey and Nicky, Paramount, 1976
(With Warren Beatty) Heaven Can Wait (based on stage play of the same title and on the film Here Comes Mr. Jordan by Harry Segall), Paramount, 1978
(With others) Reds, Warner Bros., 1981
(With others) Tootsie (also known as Would I Lie to You?),Columbia, 1982
(With others) Labyrinth, TriStar, 1986
Ishtar, Columbia, 1987
(With others) Dangerous Minds (also known as My Posse Don't DoHomework), Buena Vista, 1995
The Birdcage (also known as Birds of a Feather; based on the film La Cage aux Folles), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1996, published as The Birdcage: The Shooting Script, Newmarket Press (New York City), 1996
Primary Colors (also known as Perfect Couple and Mit aller Macht; based on the book by Joe Klein), Universal, 1998
Film Music
Songs "The Echo Song," "Have Not Blues," "How Big Am I?" "I Look to Mecca," "I'm Quitting High School," "Love in My Will," "My Lips on Fire," "Portable Picnic," "Software," and "You Took My Love," Ishtar, Columbia, 1987

Further Reference

ADAPTATIONS

The film Down to Earth, released by Paramount in 2001, was based on May's screenplay Heaven Can Wait.

OTHER SOURCES

Books

Contemporary Authors, Volume 142, Gale, 1994
Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 44: American Screenwriters, Second Series, Gale, 1986
Women Filmmakers and Their Films, St. James Press, 1998

Periodicals

Entertainment Weekly, September 4, 1998, p. 86
Interview, April, 1990
Nation, April 15, 1996, p. 35
National Review, August 1, 1994, p. 64
New Leader, May 8, 1995, p. 23; June 1, 1998, p. 23
New Yorker, November 25, 1996
New York Times, April 1, 1990; March 5, 1995
Variety, March 16, 1998, p. 63

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