Biography for
May McAvoy More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

8 September 1899, New York City, New York, USA

Date of Death

26 April 1984, Los Angeles, California, USA (heart attack)

Height

4' 11" (1.50 m)

Mini Biography

Silent screen star May McAvoy was born in an upper scale area of New York City. Her well-to-do family owned and operated a large livery stable situated where the Waldorf-Astoria now stands. She initially wanted to be a teacher but became intrigued with show business after watching a friend rehearse a show at a nearby vaudeville theater. A model whose first job was a commercial for Domino Sugar, she moved into extra work in films and received her first major break with The Devil's Garden (1920) co-starring Lionel Barrymore. Stardom was hers, however, as the lead in Sentimental Tommy (1921), which led to a Paramount contract. A unassuming brunette, her petite frame and sweet-natured looks belied a surprisingly feisty, independent nature. When Cecil B. DeMille put a halt on her career in 1923 as punishment for refusing a role that required partial nudity, May assertively bought out her contract and freelanced for the next six years. Not always the best case scenario for an established film celebrity, the move ended up being a wise one. She wound up flourishing in such movies as The Enchanted Cottage (1924), Tessie (1925), and Lady Windermere's Fan (1925), while replacing actress Gertrude Olmstead as Esther in her best known silent film Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925). Mostly forgotten today except by the more devoted film enthusiasts, May nevertheless holds a steadfast position in film history thanks to her co-starring role in Hollywood's first talkie The Jazz Singer (1927) opposite Al Jolson, which is actually a silent film with several sound musical and speaking sequences. She herself had no talking scenes. Coincidentally, May also starred in England's first all-talking picture _Terror, The (1928/II)_. She retired for marriage in 1929 and bore one son, Patrick. She returned to films for a decade and a half in the 1940s for MGM but never received any screen credit for these parts. She was widowed in 1973 and died a decade later of a heart attack.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net

Spouse

Maurice Cleary

(1929 - 1973) (his death) 1 son

Trivia

Silent-film actress