Quick Facts
Biography
May McAvoy (September 8, 1899 – April 26, 1984) was an American actress who worked mainly during the silent-film era. Some of her major roles include Laura Pennington in The Enchanted Cottage, Esther in Ben-Hur, and Mary Dale in The Jazz Singer.
Career
McAvoy appeared in her first film in 1917 entitled Hate.
After appearing in more than three dozen films, McAvoy co-starred with Ramón Novarro and Francis X. Bushman in director Fred Niblo's 1925 production of Ben-Hur released by MGM. The feature-length film was one of the most lavish and spectacular productions of the silent movie era.
Although her voice was not heard in The Jazz Singer, she did speak in several other films, including the second "all-talkie" released by Warner Brothers, The Terror, which was directed by Roy Del Ruth and co-starred Conrad Nagel.
For years, a rumor circulated that McAvoy retired from the screen at the transition to sound films because of a lisp or speech impediment. In truth, she married the treasurer of United Artists, who asked her not to work.
Later, she returned to films and played small roles during the 1940s and 1950s, making her final film appearance in a small part of the 1959 version of Ben-Hur.
Personal life
McAvoy married banker Maurice Cleary on June 26, 1929, with whom she had a son named Patrick, and divorced him in 1940.
McAvoy died at the age of 84 in 1984 from the side effects of a heart attack suffered the previous year, and is interred in the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.
For her contribution to the motion picture industry, May McAvoy has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1731 Vine Street.
Filmography
- Silent
- Hate (1917)
- To Hell with the Kaiser! (1918)
- A Perfect Lady (1918)
- I'll Say So (1918)
- Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch (1919)(*Extant)
- The Woman Under Oath (1919)
- The Way of a Woman (1919)
- Love Wins (1919)
- My Husband's Other Wife (1920)
- The Sporting Duchess (1920)
- Man and His Woman (1920)
- The House of the Tolling Bell (1920)
- The Forbidden Valley (1920)
- The Devil's Garden (1920)
- The Truth About Husbands (1920)(*Extant; Library of Congress)
- Sentimental Tommy (1921 Paramount)(*Lost)
- A Private Scandal (1921)
- Everything for Sale (1921)
- Morals (1921)(*Extant)
- A Virginia Courtship (1921)
- A Homespun Vamp (1922)
- Through a Glass Window (1922)
- The Top of New York (1922)
- A Trip to Paramountown (1922)(*short; Extant)
- Clarence (1922 Paramount)(*Lost)
- Kick In (1922 Paramount)(*Extant)
- Grumpy (1923 Paramount)(*Extant)
- Only 38 (1923 Paramount)
- Her Reputation (1923 Ince/Associated First National)
- Hollywood (1923 Paramount)(*Lost)
- West of the Water Tower (1923 Paramount)(*Lost)
- The Enchanted Cottage (1924 Asso.FirstNational)(*Extant; Library of Congress)
- The Bedroom Window (1924 Paramount)(*Extant; Library of Congress)
- Tarnish (1924 Goldwyn) (*Extant; George Eastman)
- Three Women (1924 Warner Brothers)(*Extant)
- The Mad Whirl (1925 Universal) (*Extant; Library of Congress)
- Tessie (1925 ArrowFilm)(*Lost)
- Lady Windermere's Fan (1925 Warner Brothers)(*Extant)
- Ben-Hur (1925 MGM)(*Extant)
- Calf-Love (1926) (*short)
- The Road to Glory (1926 Fox)(Lost)
- My Old Dutch (1926 Universal)(*Extant)
- The Passionate Quest (1926 Warner Brothers)(*Lost; fragment Library of Congress)
- The Savage (1926 First National)(*Lost)
- The Fire Brigade (1926 MGM)(*Extant)
- Matinee Ladies (1927 Warner Brothers)(*Lost)
- Irish Hearts (1927 Warner Brothers)(*Lost)
- Sound
- Slightly Used (1927 Vitaphone/Warner Brothers)(*Lost; first of McAvoy's films with Vitaphone track of effects and music)
- The Jazz Singer (1927 Vitaphone/Warner Brothers)(*Extant)
- A Reno Divorce (1927 Vitaphone/Warner Brothers)(*Lost')
- If I Were Single (1927 Vitaphone/Warner Brothers)
- The Little Snob (1928 Vitaphone/Warner Brothers)(*Lost)
- Sunny California (1928) (*short)
- The Lion and the Mouse (1928 Vitaphone/WarnerBrothers)(*Extant)
- Caught in the Fog (1928 Vitaphone/Warner Brothers)(*Extant; 35mm British Film Institute per IMDb)
- The Terror (1928 Vitaphone/Warner Brothers) (*Extant)
- Stolen Kisses (1929 Vitaphone/Warner Brothers)(*Lost)
- No Defense (1929 Vitaphone/Warner Brothers)(*Lost)
- Two Girls on Broadway (1940)
- The New Pupil (1940)(*short)
- The Phantom Raiders (1940)(uncredited)
- Dulcy (1940) (uncredited)
- Third Finger, Left Hand (1940) (uncredited)
- Whispers (1941) (*short)(uncredited)
- 1-2-3 Go! (1941) (*short)
- Love Crazy (1941) (uncredited)
- The Getaway (1941) (uncredited)
- Ringside Maisie (1941) (uncredited)
- Main Street on the March! (1942) (*short)(uncredited)
- Born to Sing (1942)(uncredited)
- Mr. Blabbermouth! (1942) (*short) (uncredited)
- Assignment in Brittany (1943) (uncredited)
- My Tomato (1943) (*short) (uncredited)
- Two Girls and a Sailor (1944) (*uncredited)
- Movie Pests (1944)(*short)
- Barbary Coast Gent (1944)(scenes deleted)
- Week-End at the Waldorf (1945)(uncredited)
- The Romance of Rosy Ridge (1947) (uncredited)
- The Unfinished Dance (1947)(uncredited)
- Luxury Liner (1948) (uncredited)
- The Yellow Cab Man (1950) (uncredited)
- Mystery Street (1950)(uncredited)
- Watch the Birdie (film)|Watch the Birdie]] (1950)(uncredited)
- The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)(uncredited)
- Executive Suite (1954) (uncredited)
- Ransom! (1956) (uncredited)
- The Wings of Eagles (1957) (uncredited)
- Designing Woman (1957) (uncredited)
- Gun Glory (1957) (uncredited)
- Ben-Hur (1959) (uncredited)