Elaine Iva May (née Berlin; born April , ) is an American comedian,
film director, screenwriter, and actress. She made her initial impact
in the s from her improvisational comedy routines with Mike Nichols,
performing as Nichols and May. After her duo with Nichols ended, May
subsequently developed a career as a director and screenwriter.Her
screenwriting has been twice nominated for the Academy Award, for
Heaven Can Wait () and Primary Colors () which was directed by
Nichols. May is celebrated for the string of films she directed in the
s: her black comedy A New Leaf, in which she also starred; her dark
romantic comedy The Heartbreak Kid; and her gritty drama Mikey and
Nicky, starring John Cassavetes and Peter Falk. In , she reunited with
Nichols to write the screenplay for The Birdcage, directed by
Nichols.After studying acting with theater coach Maria Ouspenskaya in
Los Angeles, she moved to Chicago in and became a founding member of
the Compass Players, an improvisational theater group. May began
working alongside Nichols, who was also in the group, and together
they began writing and performing their own comedy sketches, which
were enormously popular. In they both quit the group to form their
own stage act, Nichols and May, in New York. Jack Rollins, who
produced most of Woody Allen's films, said their act was "so
startling, so new, as fresh as could be. I was stunned by how really
good they were.":They performed nightly to mostly sold-out shows, in
addition to making TV appearances and radio broadcasts. In their
comedy act, they created satirical clichés and character types which
made fun of the new intellectual, cultural, and social order that was
just emerging at the time. In doing so, she was instrumental in
removing the stereotype of women being unable to succeed at live
comedy. Together, they became an inspiration to many younger
comedians, including Lily Tomlin and Steve Martin. After four years,
at the height of their fame, they decided to discontinue their act.
May became a screenwriter and playwright, along with acting and
directing. Their relatively brief time together as comedy stars led
New York talk show host Dick Cavett to call their act "one of the
comic meteors in the sky." Woody Allen declared, “the two of them
came along and elevated comedy to a brand-new level". Gerald Nachman
noted that "Nichols and May are perhaps the most ardently missed of
all the satirical comedians of their era.":
film director, screenwriter, and actress. She made her initial impact
in the s from her improvisational comedy routines with Mike Nichols,
performing as Nichols and May. After her duo with Nichols ended, May
subsequently developed a career as a director and screenwriter.Her
screenwriting has been twice nominated for the Academy Award, for
Heaven Can Wait () and Primary Colors () which was directed by
Nichols. May is celebrated for the string of films she directed in the
s: her black comedy A New Leaf, in which she also starred; her dark
romantic comedy The Heartbreak Kid; and her gritty drama Mikey and
Nicky, starring John Cassavetes and Peter Falk. In , she reunited with
Nichols to write the screenplay for The Birdcage, directed by
Nichols.After studying acting with theater coach Maria Ouspenskaya in
Los Angeles, she moved to Chicago in and became a founding member of
the Compass Players, an improvisational theater group. May began
working alongside Nichols, who was also in the group, and together
they began writing and performing their own comedy sketches, which
were enormously popular. In they both quit the group to form their
own stage act, Nichols and May, in New York. Jack Rollins, who
produced most of Woody Allen's films, said their act was "so
startling, so new, as fresh as could be. I was stunned by how really
good they were.":They performed nightly to mostly sold-out shows, in
addition to making TV appearances and radio broadcasts. In their
comedy act, they created satirical clichés and character types which
made fun of the new intellectual, cultural, and social order that was
just emerging at the time. In doing so, she was instrumental in
removing the stereotype of women being unable to succeed at live
comedy. Together, they became an inspiration to many younger
comedians, including Lily Tomlin and Steve Martin. After four years,
at the height of their fame, they decided to discontinue their act.
May became a screenwriter and playwright, along with acting and
directing. Their relatively brief time together as comedy stars led
New York talk show host Dick Cavett to call their act "one of the
comic meteors in the sky." Woody Allen declared, “the two of them
came along and elevated comedy to a brand-new level". Gerald Nachman
noted that "Nichols and May are perhaps the most ardently missed of
all the satirical comedians of their era.":
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