Biography
Mia May (born Hermine Pfleger; 2 June 1884 – 28 November 1980) was an Austrian actress. She was married to the Austrian film producer and director Joe May and appeared in 44 films between 1912 and 1924. Her daughter was the actress Eva May. Mia May was born Hermine Pfleger on 2 June 1884 in Vienna, the daughter of Johann Pfleger, a baker, and Albine Pfleger (née. Steinfelder). Her older sister, Maria (1879–1958), who acted under the stage name Mitzi Telmont, was the second wife of the comedian Heinrich Eisenbach.
She made her stage debut at Jantsch Theater at the age of 5, playing child roles until she was 14. She continued her stage career as a teenager, taking on the stage name Herma Angelot, and appearing at the Apollo Theater as an actress and singer. While attending high school, she began receiving ballet lessons from Louise Übermasser.
In 1902, she married Joseph Otto Mandl, and seven weeks later gave birth to their daughter Eva Maria Mandl. Herma Angelot then became Mia May, and when her husband entered the film business, he took on the name Joe May.
In 1911, May traveled to Hamburg to Wilhelm Bendiner's Neues Operettentheater. In 1912, the May family settled in Berlin, where her husband had been hired as a film director. She made her film debut in In der Tiefe des Schachtes (1912), which her husband directed, followed by the 1913 short Life's Temptations, and Die geheimnisvolle Villa (1914), which was also their daughter Eva May's film debut.
In 1915, Joe May founded the film company May-Film Gmb, which Mia May became managing director of. She is also credited with writing Your Big Secret (1918).
May appeared in films such as Hilde Warren und der Tod (1917), which was written by Fritz Lang, The Beggar Countess (1918), The Platonic Marriage (1919), Veritas Vincit (1919), and Tragedy of Love (1923) with Emil Jannings and a young Marlene Dietrich. May said of Dietrich, "I remember her as very funny and engaging, attractive and original. No man could resist her. She went everyone with a monocle and a boa of five red foxes. On other occasions, she would wear a wolf fur throw. People would follow her in the streets, they would laugh at her, but she fascinated them."From 1919 to 1920, she starred in the 8 part film serial Mistress of the World. For a time, she was as popular as actresses Asta Nielsen, Henny Porten, and Pola Negri.May's final screen appearance was in The Love Letters of Baroness S (1924). She retired in 1924 after her daughter Eva May committed suicide.
Upon the rise of the Nazis in 1933, Mia May and Joe May emigrated to America via France. In 1949, Mia and Joe opened the Blue Danube restaurant in Los Angeles, but it was unsuccessful, and closed shortly after. Previously, Joe May had opened the Wiener Bar in Hollywood in 1937.Mia May died on 28 November 1980 in Los Angeles.
Filmography
all 33
Movies 32
TV Shows 1
self 1
Deutscher Filmpreis (1951)
Love Letters of Baroness S (1924)
The Countess of Paris (1923)
Tragedy of Love (1923)
The Indian Tomb, Part II: The Tiger of Bengal (1921)
The Indian Tomb, Part I: The Mission of the Yogi (1921)
Der Leidensweg der Inge Krafft (1921)
Die Schuld der Lavinia Morland (1921)
The Wandering Image (1920)
Der Amönenhof (1920)
The Mistress of the World, Part VIII: The Revenge of Maud Fergusson (1920)
The Mistress of the World, Part VII: The Benefactress of Mankind (1920)
The mistress of the world, Part VI: The woman with the millionaires (1920)
The Mistres of the World, part V: Ophir, the city of the past (1920)
The Mistress of the World, Part IV: King Makombe (1919)
The Mistress of the World, Part III: The City of Gold (1919)
The Mistress of the World, Part II: The Race for Life (1919)
The Mistress of the World, Part I: The Girlfriend of the Yellow Man (1919)
Fräulein Zahnarzt (1919)
Die platonische Ehe (1919)
Veritas vincit (1919)
The Beggar Countess (1918)
Ihr großes Geheimnis (1918)
Fünf Minuten zu spät (1918)
Das Opfer (1918)
Hilde Warren and Death (1917)
Ehre (1917)
Die Silhouette des Teufels (1917)
Nebel und Sonne (1916)
Die Gespensteruhr (1916)
Sein schwierigster Fall (1915)
Stuart Webbs: Die geheimnisvolle Villa (1914)
In der Tiefe des Schachtes (1912)
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Information
Known ForActing
GenderFemale
Birthday1884-06-02
Deathday1980-11-28 (96 years old)
Birth PlaceVienna, Austria
ChildrenEva May
CitizenshipsAustria
Also Known AsHermine Pfleger
AwardsGerman Film Award
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