Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Finding Aid for the May McAvoy papers, 1910s-1980s
1634
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Title: May McAvoy papers
Collection number: 1634
Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
3.2 linear ft.
(8 flat boxes.)
Date (inclusive): 1910s-1980s
Abstract: May McAvoy was a silent screen actress who gained popularity during the early 1920s. She also reigned as Rose Queen for the
1923 Tournament of Roses. The collection consists of photographs, film stills, clippings, and ephemera related to her career.
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact UCLA Library Special Collections
for paging information.
Creator:
McAvoy, May, 1901-1984
Open for research. STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact UCLA Library
Special Collections for paging information.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UC Regents. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by the
creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright
owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
[Identification of item], May McAvoy Papers (Collection 1634). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research
Library, UCLA.
May McAvoy was born September 18, 1901 in New York City. She began her career at the age of 15, when she dropped out of school
to begin modeling and acting. In 1917, she made her debut in the film Hate. She then appeared in several other films, including
To Hell with the Kaiser! (1918) and The Truth about Husbands (1920). Her work in Sentimental Tommy (1921) led to her being
offered an exclusive contract with Paramount Pictures, where she appeared in many successful films, including A Private Scandal
(1921), Morals (1921), and Clarence (1922). In 1923, she bought out the remainder of her contract after refusing to appear
scantily dressed in the Cecil B. DeMille production Adam's Rib. That same year, she was chosen to be queen of the Tournament
of Roses in Pasadena, CA. As a free-lance actress, McAvoy's success continued;. she was known for her beauty and talent, and
she was very popular with audiences. During this time, she appeared in The Enchanted Cottage (1924), Lady Windemere's Fan
(1925), and Ben Hur (1926). In 1927, McAvoy signed a new contract with Warner Brothers, which ultimately led to her appearing
in The Jazz Singer (1927), often considered to be the first "talking picture." McAvoy continued to appear in sound pictures
throughout the rest of the 1920s. She retired from film making in 1929 after her marriage to United Artists executive, Maurice
G. Cleary. In 1940, after her divorce from Cleary, she returned to acting and worked under contract with MGM into the late
1950s, when she retired for the second time. She continued to live in Los Angeles, CA until her death on April 26, 1984.
The collection consists of photographs, clippings, and ephemera related to the career of actress May McAvoy. The photographs
are primarily portraits of McAvoy and film stills from a number of productions, such as Ben Hur, The Enchanted Cottage, The
Jazz Singer, and Sentimental Tommy. Known photographers represented in the collection include: Russell Ball, Clarence S. Bull,
Richard Burke, Preston Duncan, Edwin Bower Hesser, and Melbourne Spurr. The clippings and ephemera are related to McAvoy's
reign as the Rose Queen for the Tournament of Roses in 1923.
There is no specific arrangement to the collection.
UCLA Catalog Record ID:
7059786
Subjects and Indexing Terms
McAvoy, May 1901-1984
Motion picture actors and actresses--United States--Archives.