Elaine May (born Elaine Berlin on April 21, 1932 in Philadelphia) is a two-times Academy Award nominated director, screenwriter, and actress. She achieved her greatest fame, in the 1950s, from her improvisational comedy routines in partnership with Mike Nichols.
Elaine Berlin was born in Philadelphia on April 21st, 1932, the daughter of the theatre director and actor Jack Berlin and actress Ida Berlin. As a child, Elaine occasionally performed with her father in the Yiddish theater he ran. In 1942, she moved to Los Angeles, California.
She married Marvin May in the late 1940s and gave birth to a daughter, actress Jeannie Berlin (using her mother's surname), in 1949. She later divorced Marvin. In 1972, she married lyricist Sheldon Harnick, best known for his work in Fiddler On The Roof (1971). However, the two soon divorced in 1973.
During the 1950s, Elaine was friendly with Alexander Horn, who later became known as a leader of an alleged theatre cult in San Francisco.
It is suggested in Janet Coleman's book The Compass that Elaine had a short affair with Mike Nichols early in their association. When Elaine and Mike Nichols were asked by Tommy Smothers at a comedy festival in 1999 "so did you guys have an affair or what?" Elaine replied, "Exactly."
In 1947, May studied acting under Maria Ouspenskaya, the veteran theater and screen actress.
In 1950, May attended the University of Chicago and Playwrights Theatre in Chicago.
In 1953, she became a member of the improvisational theatre group The Compass Players, founded by Paul Sills and David Shepherd, which later became The Second City. She remained a member until 1957.
During her membership, May met Mike Nichols, who was starring in one of Sills' plays, and began a successful partnership with him. Together they formed a standup comedic duo, performing in New York clubs and making several TV appearances. In 1960, the duo showcased the Broadway debut of An Evening with Mike Nichols and Elaine May, which won the Grammy Award in 1962 for Best Comedy Performance.
Throughout the 1960s, thanks in part to the successful duet with Nichols, May wrote, directed, and acted in various forms of theatre. In addition, she wrote and performed for radio and recorded several comedy albums. Her work with Nichols during this time was critical to establishing improvisation as a form of comedy.
May formed and directed an improvisational company called The Third Ear in New York that included Reni Santori, Peter Boyle, Renee Taylor, and Louise Lasser. On Tuesday nights the cast would improvise with invited guests, like Mark Gordon who had also been in The Compass.
May also wrote several plays during this period. Her greatest success was the one-act Adaptation. Other stage plays she has written include Not Enough Rope, Mr Gogol And Mr Preen, Hot Line, After the Night and the Music, Power Plays, Taller Than A Dwarf, and Adult Entertainment. She also directed the off-Broadway production of Adaptation/Next.
Nichols and May starred together in a stage version of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at the Long Wharf Theatre in 1980. Nichols had directed the film version in 1966.
May made her film writing and directing debut in 1971 with the cult classic A New Leaf, a zany update on 1930s screwball comedy starring Walter Matthau and her. Originally, May handed in a 180-minute black comedy that the studio cut and sweetened into a 102-minute weird romance. It is unknown if the original cut exists.
In her second directorial effort, May found great success with The Heartbreak Kid. The film was a critically lauded and modestly popular comedy with an original screenplay by Neil Simon, featuring hilarious performances from Charles Grodin, Eddie Albert, and May's own daughter, actress Jeannie Berlin.
May followed up these two comedies with a bleak crime story entitled Mikey and Nicky in 1976. The film features strong performances from John Cassavetes and Peter Falk.
May’s next directorial effort Ishtar (1987) was her last. Largely shot on location in the Middle East, the production was beset by internal difficulties, and advance publicity was so negative that the picture never got off the ground, becoming one of the biggest cinematic failures of its day.
May received an Oscar nomination for updating Here comes Mr. Jordan as Heaven Can Wait.
May reunited with her comedic sidekick Mike Nichols with “The Birdcage� in 1996. The film was a relocating of the classic French farce “La Cage aux Folles� to South Beach, Florida.
May received her second Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay when she re-teamed once again with Nichols on “Primary Colors� in 1997.
