A popular postcard beauty, May was famous for her leading roles in Edwardian musical comedies.

[2] By the age of 7, she had joined a children's opera company and performed Gilbert and Sullivan productions in Syracuse.

She then moved to New York to take the small role of Clairette in Oscar Hammerstein's Broadway show, Santa Maria.

The following year, the production played in London, becoming a hit and running for 697 performances, making May a star.

She starred in a 1916 film called Salvation Joan, donating the proceeds to charity.