Mathilda May

May was born in Paris, France. Her father, playwright,C.R.I.S, Association. "Actualités de Victor Haïm, actualités, textes, spectacles, vidéos, tous ses liens avec la scène - theatre-contemporain.net". theatre-contemporain.net (in French). screenwriter, and actor Victor Haïm, is of Sephardic Jewish (Greek and Turkish) descent. Her mother is the Swedish ballet teacher and choreographer Margareta Hanson.{{cite magazine |last1=Gurtler |first1=Matthias |last2=Simon-Michel |first2=Joséphine |date=15 January 2008 |title=CV de stars: Mathilda May |url=http://www.vsd.fr/contenu-editorial/en-coulisses/cv-de-stars/190-mathilda-may |magazine=VSD |language=fr |access-date=8 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110301062903/http://www.vsd.fr/contenu-editorial/en-coulisses/cv-de-stars/190-mathilda-may |archive-date=1 March 2011 |url-status=dead}} She studied under Christiane Vaussard at the Conservatoire de Paris, graduating at age 16.{{cite web|date=2016-01-29|title=Mathilda May : "je renoue avec moi-même"|url=http://dansercanalhistorique.fr/?q=content/mathilda-may-je-renoue-avec-moi-meme|website=Danser canal historique|language=fr|access-date=2023-06-08}}

May's film work is primarily in French and made for the European market. She was the recipient of the César Award for Most Promising Actress in 1988{{Cite web |title=The Cry of the Owl (translated from French) |url=https://www.academie-cinema.org/films/le-cri-du-hibou-30235/}} and the Prix Romy Schneider in 1989. Non-French films she has appeared in include Naked Tango (1990), Becoming Colette (1991) and The Tit and the Moon (1994). In the United States, she is best known for her role as an alien vampire in the Tobe Hooper science fiction/horror film Lifeforce (1985), in which she is naked for most of her performance. She also appeared in the 1996 space adventure game Privateer 2: The Darkening. She played Isabella in The Jackal, a 1997 action film.

May recorded an album in 1992 called Joy of Love.{{cite web|title=Mathilda May – Album Discography |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/mathilda-may-mn0000727509|website=AllMusic|access-date=8 June 2023}}{{cite web|title=Mathilda May – Mathilda May|url=http://www.discogs.com/Mathilda-May-Mathilda-May/release/1096422|website=Discogs|access-date=8 June 2023}}

May was the writer and director for the theater show Open Space, which was performed in the Théâtre Jean-Vilar in the commune of Suresnes, the Théâtre du Rond-Point, and the Théâtre de Paris from 2013 to 2015.{{cite news|last=Blanchard|first=Sandrine|date=16 October 2013|title=La petite entreprise de Mathilda May|url=https://www.lemonde.fr/scenes/article/2013/10/16/la-petite-entreprise-de-mathilda-may_6002652_1654999.html|newspaper=Le Monde|language=fr|access-date=24 April 2021}}{{cite news|last=Patricelli|first=Sonia|date=9 June 2015|title=Mathilda May, dans l'enfer de l'open space|url=https://www.france24.com/fr/20150609-mathilda-may-open-space-theatre-monde-travail-entreprise|work=France 24|language=fr|access-date=24 April 2021}}{{cite web|date=24 April 2015|title=A ne pas rater : Open Space, le spectacle burlesque mis en scène par Mathilda May|url=https://www.parisselectbook.com/2015/04/24/a-ne-pas-rater-open-space-le-spectacle-burlesque-mis-en-scene-par-mathilda-may/|website=Paris Select Book|language=fr|access-date=24 April 2021}} Open Space was a show without words; the story was presented by movement, music, and sound. May said of the show:

It will be choreographed without it being dance, and musical without an instrument.{{Cite web |date=2013-10-10 |title=Open Space |url=https://www.theatre-suresnes.fr/spectacle/2013-open-space/ |access-date=2024-05-06 |website=Théâtre de Suresnes Jean Vilar |language=fr-FR}}

May has been married four times. Her first husband was Paul Powell. Her second husband was Gérard Darmon, with whom she has two children, daughter Sarah (born 17 August 1994) and son Jules (born 4 March 1997). Her third husband was Philippe Kelly. Her fourth husband was Sly Johnson.

• The César Award (the national film award of France): 1988 Best Young Female Newcomer for The Cry of the Owl
• The 1989 Romy Schneider Award
• The 2019 Molliere for Best Director of a Public Theatre Show for The Wedding Banquet{{Cite web |title=Le Banquet - Théâtre de Paris {{!}} THEATREonline |url=https://www.theatreonline.com/Spectacle/Le-Banquet/69046 |access-date=2024-05-06 |website=www.theatreonline.com}}
• The 2020 Molliere for Best Solo Performance for her production of Monsieur X starring Pierre Richard at the Théâtre de l’Atelier.Palmares 1987 - 2023.docx (lesmolieres.com)
• The 2020 SACD (Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques) for Best Director{{Cite web |date=2020-06-12 |title=La SACD dévoile les 35 lauréats des Prix SACD 2020 |url=https://www.sacd.fr/fr/la-sacd-devoile-les-35-laureats-des-prix-sacd-2020-0 |access-date=2024-05-07 |website=SACD |language=fr}}
  

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• {{cite book |last=May |first=Mathilda |year=2007 |title=Personne ne le saura |language=fr |location=Paris |publisher=Flammarion |isbn=978-2-08-068459-2}}

{{Commons category|Mathilda May}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070216165358/https://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800088441 Mathilda May] at Yahoo! Movies
• {{IMDb name|0000528}}

{{César Award for Most Promising Actress}}

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Category:1965 births

Category:Living people

Category:20th-century French actresses

Category:20th-century French Sephardi Jews

Category:21st-century French actresses

Category:21st-century French Sephardi Jews

Category:Actresses from Paris

Category:Conservatoire de Paris alumni

Category:French film actresses

Category:French people of Greek-Jewish descent

Category:French people of Swedish descent

Category:French people of Turkish-Jewish descent

Category:French television actresses

Category:Jewish French actresses

Category:Most Promising Actress César Award winners