From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 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 are Laura Pennington in The Enchanted Cottage, Esther in Ben-Hur, and Mary Dale in The Jazz Singer. 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.
Movie | Ben-Hur | Woman in crowd (uncredited) | 1959-11-18 |
Movie | The Bad and the Beautiful | Pebbel's Secretary (uncredited) | 1952-12-25 |
Movie | The Yellow Cab Man | (uncredited) | 1950-03-25 |
Movie | Mystery Street | Nurse (uncredited) | 1950-06-23 |
Movie | Luxury Liner | Woman (uncredited) | 1948-11-09 |
Movie | Two Girls and a Sailor | Dowager (uncredited) | 1944-06-14 |
Movie | Movie Pests | Woman Whose Vision Gets Blocked (uncredited) | 1944-07-08 |
Movie | Mr. Blabbermouth! | 1942-08-08 | |
Movie | Born to Sing | (uncredited) | 1942-02-18 |
Movie | Rio Rita | Hotel Guest (uncredited) | 1942-03-11 |
Movie | Whispers | Gossip (uncredited) | 1941-02-08 |
Movie | Love Crazy | Sanity Hearing Secretary (uncredited) | 1941-05-23 |
Movie | Ringside Maisie | 1st Nurse (uncredited) | 1941-08-01 |
Movie | Sucker List | Secretary (uncredited) | 1941-07-26 |
Movie | Main Street on the March! | Window Shopper (uncredited) | 1941-12-09 |
Movie | Hollywood: Style Center of the World | Saleslady | 1940-05-29 |
Movie | Two Girls on Broadway | Chatworth's Secretary (uncredited) | 1940-04-19 |
Movie | Phantom Raiders | Middle Telephone Operator | 1940-06-07 |
Movie | Dulcy | Miss Murphy - Van Dyke's Secretary (uncredited) | 1940-10-04 |
Movie | Third Finger, Left Hand | Telephone Operator (uncredited) | 1940-10-11 |
Movie | Stolen Kisses | May Lambert | 1929-02-23 |
Movie | No Defense | Ruth Harper | 1929-04-05 |
Movie | Caught in the Fog | The Girl | 1928-08-25 |
Movie | The Lion and the Mouse | Shirley Ross | 1928-05-21 |
Movie | The Terror | Olga Redmayne | 1928-09-06 |
Movie | Slightly Used | Cynthia Martin | 1927-09-03 |
Movie | The Jazz Singer | Mary Dale | 1927-10-06 |
Movie | The Road to Glory | Judith Allen | 1926-02-07 |
Movie | My Old Dutch | Sal Gratton | 1926-05-23 |
Movie | The Fire Brigade | Helen Corwin | 1926-12-20 |
Movie | The Savage | Ysabel Atwater | 1926-07-18 |
Movie | The Mad Whirl | Cathleen Gillis | 1925-03-02 |
Movie | Lady Windermere's Fan | Lady Windermere | 1925-12-26 |
Movie | Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ | Esther | 1925-12-25 |
Movie | The Bedroom Window | Ruth Martin | 1924-06-08 |
Movie | The Enchanted Cottage | Laura Pennington | 1924-03-23 |
Movie | Three Women | Jeannie Wilton | 1924-08-18 |
Movie | Only 38 | Lucy Stanley | 1923-06-17 |
Movie | Hollywood | May McAvoy | 1923-08-19 |
Movie | A Homespun Vamp | Meg Mackenzie | 1922-02-12 |
Movie | A Trip to Paramountown | Self | 1922-07-10 |
Movie | Sentimental Tommy | Grizel | 1921-03-26 |
Movie | A Private Scandal | Jeanne Millett | 1921-06-11 |
Movie | Morals | Carlotta Carlotta | 1921-10-31 |
Movie | The Devil's Garden | Norah | 1920-11-22 |
Movie | Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch | Australy Wiggs | 1919-02-16 |
Movie | The Woman Under Oath | Edith Norton | 1919-06-29 |
Movie | The Way of a Woman | Grace Lee | 1919-07-27 |
Movie | A Perfect Lady | Claire Higgins | 1918-12-01 |
Movie | I'll Say So | 1918-12-22 |