[1] Eva Maria Mandl was born on 29 May 1902, the daughter of Mia May and the Austrian-Jewish[2] film director Joe May.

[3] She took the name of Eva May and made her film debut in Die geheimnisvolle Villa (1914), which was directed by her father.

She worked with other directors like Karl Grune in The Count of Charolais (1922) and Max Mack in Die Fledermaus (1923) opposite Lya de Putti.

She starred alongside Alfred Abel in Scheine des Todes (1923), which was directed by her second husband, Lothar Mendes.

[4][5] The year prior, May had attempted to commit suicide by slashing her wrists after Rudolf Sieber broke off their engagement and married Marlene Dietrich instead.