Hidden genius

The title of Elaine May's biography, Miss May Does Not Exist, are her own words, written as her biography on an album cover. On the same album cover, Mike Nichols, her comedy partner at the time, wrote a relatively long, name-dropping biography about himself.

It is actually a good title for Carrie Courogen's 2024 book about the Hollywood and Broadway genius who somehow flew under the radar for most of her life. Some of May's best work was as a script doctor for such successful films as Tootsie, What About Bob? and Ghostbusters II, for which she insisted she receive no screen credit. May was also a hidden influence on most of the films directed by Nichols, her former partner in comedy sketches that became famous in the 1950s.

When she did get credit, as in the film Ishtar and various Broadway flops, her work was often panned. Staying hidden seemed to work for her.

As if May's frequent anonymity did not make Courogen's work difficult enough, there is the problem that even when May did talk about herself, it was mostly lies. She told different stories to different people at different times. Even when Miss May did exist, the truth about her often didn't.

Yet the author was able to talk to many other people who worked with or knew Elaine May over the decades, giving her book more credibility than its subject might prefer. She paints May as a genius, a perfectionist and a workaholic who was loyal to her friends, and she had many of them despite the introversion that often drove her into hiding.

She was at her best as a writer, although she also drew raves as a performer. As a director, whether in Hollywood or on Broadway, she never considered her work complete. This caused her to shoot so much film that she would spend months in the cutting room trying to make a film short enough to be shown in theaters. In her plays, mostly one-act ones, she would rewrite scenes from one performance to the next. Although her difficult reputation may have been deserved, much of her work, especially Ishtar, was better than its own reputation. And some of her work, especially her early film A New Leaf, was much better than even she would admit.

Elaine May was most prominent in the public eye back when her comedy act with Mike Nichols was seen frequently on television and was a smash on Broadway. Few people still alive  remember that, but Courogen's fine book helps bring Miss May back into existence.