Elaine May

Elaine May (born Elaine Iva Berlin, April 21, 1932) is an American actress, comedian, screenwriter, and film director celebrated for her sharp improvisational comedy, pioneering role as one of Hollywood's first prominent female directors, and contributions to satirical theater and cinema. Born in Philadelphia to Jewish parents, with her father Jack Berlin a Yiddish theater actor and director, May made her stage debut at age three in her family's traveling troupe. Following her father's death when she was 11, she moved to Los Angeles with her mother and briefly attended the University of Chicago before pursuing performance.

May rose to prominence in the mid-1950s as part of the improvisational comedy scene in Chicago, joining the Compass Players improv troupe in 1955 where she met and partnered with Mike Nichols. Their duo, Nichols and May, became a sensation for their intelligent, satirical sketches examining human relationships and societal norms, culminating in the Broadway production An Evening with Mike Nichols and Elaine May (1960–1961), which earned them a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Performance in 1962 and a nomination in 1963. The partnership dissolved in 1961, but it established May as a key figure in American comedy, influencing generations with her emphasis on spontaneity and intellectual wit.

Elaine May was born Elaine Iva Berlin on April 21, 1932, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Jewish parents Jack Berlin, a Yiddish theater actor, director, and producer, and his wife Ida, who managed aspects of his business. The family faced financial struggles amid the demands of Jack's nomadic career in the Yiddish theater circuit, which took them on frequent tours across the United States; in the late 1930s or early 1940s, they settled in Chicago, where Jack contributed to the city's thriving Yiddish theater community, immersing young Elaine in the world of performance from an early age.