She contributed (uncredited) to the screenplay for the 1982 megahit Tootsie, notably the scenes involving the character played by Bill Murray. Warren Beatty worked with May on the comedy Ishtar (1987), starring Beatty and Dustin Hoffman.

“Pirandello” on a few occasions led to the drawing of actual blood, and Nichols and May never allowed it to be filmed. The pair was as close as lovers (both were a bit coy about the depth of their romantic liaison, which was evidently brief, back in Chicago) and fell out as lovers do.

Jeannie Berlin (born Jeannie Brette May) is an American film, television and stage actress and screenwriter, the daughter of Elaine May. She is best known for her role in the 1972 comedy film The Heartbreak Kid, for which she received Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actress.

She went on to write and direct the 1969 off–Broadway hit Adaptation, and direct movies such as 1972's The Heartbreak Kid. She co–wrote the celebrated films Heaven Can Wait in 1978 and Tootsie in 1982. She brought an improv sensibility to her directing, encouraging actors to play with the material over multiple takes.