Elaine MayFilmography

Born:: April 21, 1932 in Philadelphia, PA
Occupation:: Actor, Director, Songwriter, Screenwriter
Birth name:: Elaine Berlin
Biography:: Best known as one half of the famed Nichols and May standup comedy team, Elaine May also carved out successful careers as an actress, writer, and director. Born April 21, 1932, in Philadelphia, PA, she was the daughter of Yiddish theatrical actor Jack Berlin and as a child occasionally performed...Read More

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Small Time Crooks

Actors: Woody Allen, Tracey Ullman, Hugh Grant, Elaine May, Michael Rapaport

Synopsis: Thirty-one years after Take the Money and Run, Woody Allen returns to a life of crime in this broad comedy. Allen plays Ray Winkler, a low-brow con man who is married to Frenchy (Tracy Ullman), a former stripper. Ray and his buddies concoct a scheme to rob a bank by digging a tunnel from a defunct Read More

5/19/00
Primary Colors

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: John Travolta, Emma Thompson, Billy Bob Thornton, Kathy Bates, Adrian Lester

Synopsis: Mike Nichols directed this Elaine May screenplay adapted from the 1996 bestseller by "Anonymous" (Joe Klein), who fictionalized Bill Clinton's first presidential campaign. In the New Hampshire primary, Governor Jack Stanton (John Travolta) convinces Henry Burton (Adrian Lester), grandson of a Read More

1998
The Birdcage

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Robin Williams, Gene Hackman, Nathan Lane, Dianne Wiest, Hank Azaria, Dan Futterman, Calista Flockhart

Synopsis: Director Mike Nichols teams up with his former partner/screenwriter Elaine May for the first time in many years and for the first time together in films to create this sophisticated, remake of the phenomenally popular French musical farce La Cage aux Folles that stars Robin Williams, Nathan Lane Read More

1996
In the Spirit

Actors: Elaine May, Marlo Thomas, Jeannie Berlin, Peter Falk, Melanie Griffith

Synopsis: Elaine May and Marlo Thomas star in this black comedy taking place in the black comedy capital of the world -- New York City. Elaine May plays Marianne Flan, who moves back to a nightmare New York City from Beverly Hills after her husband, Roger (Peter Falk), has been fired from his job. She hires Read More

4/6/90
Ishtar

Crew: Director, Screenwriter, Songwriter

Actors: Warren Beatty, Dustin Hoffman, Isabelle Adjani, Charles Grodin, Jack Weston

Synopsis: Considered one of the great box-office turkeys of its decade, Ishtar was an attempt by writer/director Elaine May and stars Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty to do a modern-day road picture in the style of the much-loved Bob Hope and Bing Crosby comedy classics. Beatty is Lyle Rogers, a Read More

5/15/87
California Suite

Actors: Alan Alda, Michael Caine, Bill Cosby, Jane Fonda, Walter Matthau, Richard Pryor, Maggie Smith

Synopsis: Playwright Neil Simon turned to the hotel setting he used so successfully in his stage-play (later a movie) Plaza Suite to explore four more human dramas in his play California Suite, which was adapted into this quite successful movie. In the first episode, the divorced couple of Bill and Hannah Read More

1978
Heaven Can Wait

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, James Mason, Jack Warden, Charles Grodin

Synopsis: Opting for light entertainment after the critical satire of Shampoo (1975), producer-director-writer-star Warren Beatty remade the 1941 comic fantasy Here Comes Mr. Jordan. Dimly amiable L.A. Rams quarterback Joe Pendleton (Beatty) is prematurely called to Heaven by an over-eager escort (Buck Henry Read More

1978
Mikey and Nicky

Crew: Director, Screenwriter

Actors: Peter Falk, John Cassavetes, Ned Beatty, Rose Arrick, Carol Grace

Synopsis: Nickey (John Cassavetes) is a small-time Jewish gangster in trouble with the mob. He calls on his lifelong friend Mikey (Peter Falk) for help. During the night the two spend together, the power of their friendship is undermined by their mutual nastiness and pressing financial concerns. Elaine Read More

1976
The Heartbreak Kid

Crew: Director

Actors: Tim Browne, Jean Scoppa, Charles Grodin, Cybill Shepherd, Jeannie Berlin, Eddie Albert, Audra Lindley

Synopsis: In Elaine May's second directorial outing, Charles Grodin stars as Lenny, a slick salesman who, while honeymooning with his new bride, Lila (Jeannie Berlin, May's daughter), begins to have second thoughts about his marriage. Once Lenny spots the gorgeous Kelly (Cybill Shepherd), he is lost Read More

1972
A New Leaf

Crew: Director, Screenwriter

Actors: Walter Matthau, Elaine May, Jack Weston, George Rose, William Redfield

Synopsis: Elaine May wrote and directed (credits May attempted to have removed after the studio made extensive cuts in the film) this dark and funny comedy about marriage, murder, and money. May also stars as Henrietta, a shy and clumsy wallflower, who is also heir to a large pile of money. Indigent playboy Read More

1971
Enter Laughing

Actors: José Ferrer, Reni Santoni, Shelley Winters, Elaine May, Jack Gilford

Synopsis: Carl Reiner's semi-autobiographical novel Enter Laughing makes a largely successful transition to the screen. Reni Santoni plays the Reiner character, here named David Kolowitz. A machinist's apprentice in Depression-era New York, David dreams of becoming the new Ronald Colman. Defying the wishes Read More

1967
Luv

Actors: Jack Lemmon, Peter Falk, Elaine May, Nina Wayne, Eddie Mayehoff

Synopsis: Three friends play a game of musical chairs with their relationships in this quirky comedy based on the hit play by Murray Schisgal. Harry Berlin (Jack Lemmon) is a deeply depressed man who is convinced his life is going nowhere -- so much so that he has decided to kill himself by jumping off a Read More

1967
Omnibus: The Suburban Review

Actors: Alistair Cooke, Bert Lahr, Pat Stanley, Mike Nichols, Elaine May

Synopsis: Having bounced around all three major networks, the prestigious fine-arts anthology Omnibus briefly settled at NBC for this special prime-time telecast. Suburban living in the America of the 1920s is amusingly contrasted with the "suburbia" of the 1950s through song, dance, and comedy skits. Read More

1958