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      Elaine May

      Elaine May

      Highest Rated: 94% A New Leaf (1971)

      Lowest Rated: 40% Ishtar (1987)

      Birthday: Apr 21, 1932

      Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

      A true pioneer with a sardonic wit and keen insight into the human condition, Elaine May rose to prominence as one-half of an improvisational team, alongside future director Mike Nichols, before becoming a greatly revered writer-director-actor in her own right. After working together in the Chicago improv troupe The Compass Players, Nichols and May joined forces as a comedy team, performing in nightclubs and on stage and television, before dissolving the partnership to pursue separate interests. For May, that initially led to the theater, with efforts such as her play "Adaptation" receiving excellent notices. She soon turned her attention to film, with hilarious appearances in films like Rob Reiner's "Enter Laughing" (1967). Not long after, May wrote, directed and starred in the off-the-wall comedy "The New Leaf" (1971), co-starring Walter Matthau. As a director, she scored another triumph with the Neil Simon-scripted "The Heartbreak Kid" (1972), a quirky comedy that played like an inverse of pal Nichols' earlier seminal work "The Graduate" (1967). As a writer, May made an indelible mark in cinema when she co-wrote the much-beloved romantic comedy "Heaven Can Wait" (1978), along with its star, Warren Beatty. May also worked steadily as a respected script writer - both credited and non - adding hits like Mike Nichols' "The Birdcage" (1996) and "Primary Colors" (1998) to her already impressive résumé.

      Highest rated movies

      A New Leaf
      The Same Storm
      Small Time Crooks
      California Suite
      Enter Laughing

      Photos

      ENTER LAUGHING, Elaine May, 1967. Becoming Mike Nichols, Mike Nichols (L), Elaine May (R), 02/22/2016, ©HBOMR A NEW LEAF, Walter Matthau, Elaine May, 1970 SMALL TIME CROOKS, Elaine May, 2000, © DreamWorks A NEW LEAF, Elaine May, directing a scene, on location in NYC, 1971. A NEW LEAF, Elaine May, directing a scene, 1971. A NEW LEAF, Elaine May, 1971 A NEW LEAF, Walter Matthau, Elaine May, 1971 LUV, Elaine May, 1967 LUV, Peter Falk, Elaine May, 1967 ENTER LAUGHING, Elaine May, 1967. CALIFORNIA SUITE, Elaine May, 1978 LUV, Elaine May, 1967 LUV, Jack Lemmon, Elaine May, 1967 LUV, Elaine May, Jack Lemmon, 1967 ENTER LAUGHING, from left: Reni Santoni, Elaine May, 1967 LUV, Elaine May, Jack Lemmon, 1967 LUV, Peter Falk, Elaine May, 1967 LUV, Jack Lemmon, Elaine May, Peter Falk, 1967 LUV, Jack Lemmon, Elaine May, 1967

      Filmography

      Movies

      Credit
      79% No Score Yet The Same Storm Ruth Lipsman Berg (Character) - 2021
      66% 57% Small Time Crooks May (Character) $17.1M 2000
      80% 64% Primary Colors Screenwriter $39.0M 1998
      84% 81% The Birdcage Writer $124.0M 1996
      No Score Yet No Score Yet Nichols and May: Take Two Self - 1996
      No Score Yet 67% In the Spirit Marianne Flan (Character) $15.9K 1990
      40% 39% Ishtar Director,
      Writer,
      Original Music and Songs
      $12.7M 1987
      77% 86% Labyrinth Writer $12.1M 1986
      91% 81% Tootsie Writer - 1982
      90% 82% Reds Writer - 1981
      50% 46% California Suite Mrs. Michaels (Character) - 1978
      86% 69% Heaven Can Wait Writer - 1978
      88% 79% Mikey and Nicky Director,
      Screenwriter
      - 1976
      92% 73% The Heartbreak Kid Director - 1972
      94% 83% A New Leaf Henrietta Lowell (Character),
      Director,
      Screenwriter
      - 1971
      No Score Yet 39% Luv Ellen Manville (Character) - 1967
      50% 38% Enter Laughing Angela Marlowe (Character) - 1967

      TV

      Credit
      No Score Yet 73% Somebody Feed Phil Guest 2018
      18% 66% Crisis in Six Scenes Kay (Character) 2016
      No Score Yet No Score Yet What's My Line? Guest 1960