Elaine May

Elaine May was born on April 21, 1932 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA as Elaine Iva Berlin.

She married as a teenager and had a daughter (Jeannie Berlin, born in 1949) before she turned 18 years old.

She has appeared in three films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: The Graduate (1967), King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis (1970) and A New Leaf (1971). She has also directed one film that is in the registry: A New Leaf.

So brief was her 70s marriage to lyricist Sheldon Harnick of Fiddler on the Roof (1971) fame, the joke went that Elaine got custody of the cake.

Directed two Oscar nominated performances: Eddie Albert and Jeannie Berlin in The Heartbreak Kid (1972).

After working together on Heaven Can Wait (1978) and Reds (1981), Warren Beatty commissioned Elaine to help him develop and write a biopic of Howard Hughes. May's script was one of several that Beatty developed over the years, along with Howard Hughes scripts by Bo Goldman and Robert Towne, among others. It is uncertain if any of May's original work has made its way into the upcoming Warren Beatty Howard Hughes project Rules Don't Apply (2016).

Did major uncredited rewrites during production on Reds (1981) and also was a major creative voice in post-production for Warren Beatty.

Was married to her psychoanalyst, Dr. David L. Rubinfine for 18 years until his death in 1982.

Her play, "Hot Line", was nominated for a 1983 Joseph Jefferson Award for "New Work" at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Illinois.

Was originally hired by Warner Bros. to write the script for the remake of the 1985 German film Men... (1985) from Doris Dörrie. WB has owned the remake writes for 30 years and has commissioned numerous drafts from different writers, but Elaine May's draft was stalled in development and eventually tossed out. In 2006, WB hired Allan Loeb to write a new draft with Todd Phillips attached to direct. Around 2008, Tom Cruise was rumored to be loosely attached to star, but that project eventually stalled in development as well.

Was an uncredited script doctor on Labyrinth (1986).

Has not directed a movie since the colossal box office failure of Ishtar (1987).

Is said to have worked as an uncredited script doctor for Warren Beatty on Dick Tracy (1990).

One of only three women to have won the Razzie Award for Worst Director. (The other two being Jennifer Lynch for Boxing Helena (1993) and Elizabeth Banks, who was one of several directors of Movie 43 (2013). May, who won for Ishtar (1987), actually tied the award with Norman Mailer for Tough Guys Don't Dance (1987).

Was an uncredited script doctor on Dangerous Minds (1995).

Partnered with Mike Nichols for a number of years until their less than amicable split. They made up years later and wrote the movie The Birdcage (1996).

Wrote an unused treatment for the Paramount story idea Runaway Bride (1999), during the early 1990's. The idea for the movie was originally conceived in the late 1980's by Paramount executives, who hired screenwriters Josann McGibbon & Sara Parriott to flesh out the story and write the script. Their script was completed in 1989 and was in development for 9 years. During that time, Paramount hired Elaine May to write a new treatment for the story, but her treatment was tossed out, along with another by screenwriter Leslie Dixon. However, by 1998 Paramount went back to the original draft by McGibbon & Parriott and landed Julia Roberts, Richard Gere and Garry Marshall.

Was awarded a National Medal of Arts by Barack Obama on July 10, 2013, along with Tony Kushner, George Lucas and seven others.

Winner of the Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play for "The Waverly Gallery" by Kenneth Lonergan. [2019]