10 Hollywood Legends You've Probably Never Heard Of

Elaine May may be the only comic genius of great standing in the east and west coast artistic communities that isn’t a household name. She came to prominence in 1957 with her professional partner and close friend, the late Mike Nichols, when their satirical improv comedy act, radical and innovative at the time, made them first industry darlings and then national sensations.

Four years later, Nichols and May were suddenly through, splitting to pursue separate careers at the height of their fame. Nichols went on to international acclaim as a writer and director of seminal, classic movies - yes, it was that Mike Nichols, the man behind The Graduate, Carnal Knowledge, Working Girl and The Birdcage, among many others. Sadly passing away in 2014, he left behind an intelligent, creative and versatile body of work on stage and screen.

And May herself, arguably the greater talent and larger intellect of the two? Becoming a playwright, she wrote and occasionally directed many successful plays over the following decades and, like Nichols, pursued forays into film in front of and behind the camera.

Her first few films, comedies A New Leaf (1971) and The Heartbreak Kid (1972) and the existential crime drama Mikey And Nicky (1976) received considerable acclaim… and then, in 1987, came Ishtar.

Since its release, Ishtar has become synonymous with cinematic disaster. In fact, it’s actually very good, brimming with the wry, caustic wit and intelligence that May tended to bring to everything. And despite its infamy, a comparative few have actually seen it: the film itself didn’t enjoy a wide release, and was never released on DVD - in fact, it’s only just been issued on Blu-Ray. May has pointed out that “if half the people who made cracks about 'Ishtar' had actually seen it, I would be a rich woman", and it’s hard to disagree.

It’s her writing jobs for other people, mostly uncredited, where May has quietly made her living since then, playing script doctor on Reds, Tootsie and Labyrinth. Amongst many other awards, she’s earned Oscar nominations for her work on Heaven Can Wait (1978) and Primary Colors (1998), and been bestowed with the National Medal Of Arts by President Barack Obama in 2013.

Woody Allen considers Elaine May a revolutionary genius, Warren Beatty a misunderstood artist that’s rarely been given her due. Judd Apatow worships the ground she walks on, and although she rarely gives interviews of any kind, her occasional public forays show her to still have that sparkling, vivacious flair for comic performance in her eighties that she did sixty years ago.

She’s currently about to appear in Allen’s first ever television series, Crisis In Six Scenes for Amazon Studios. Her career may not have met with the same rewards that her old improv partner of decades ago received, but Elaine May remains a captivating, brilliant figure on the fringes of Hollywood, an inspiration to many and a tremendous influence: there might well be no Steve Martin, no Will Ferrell and even no Saturday Night Live without her.