May McAvoy was born in NYC (1899).She initially wanted to be a teacher but became intrigued with show business.She moved into extra work in films and received her first major role in 1920 co-starring Lionel Barrymore.A unassuming brunette,her petite frame - 4'11"(1.50 m)- and sweet-natured looks belied a surprisingly feisty,independent nature.When Cecil B. DeMille put a halt on her career in 1923 as punishment for refusing a role that required partial nudity,May assertively bought out her contract and freelanced for the next six years.She was Esther in her best known silent film Ben-Hur(1925).She had a role in the first talkie Le chanteur de jazz (1927) opposite Al Jolson,which is actually a silent film with several sound musical and speaking sequences.She herself had no talking scenes.She retired for marriage in 1929.She returned to films for a decade and a half in the 1940s for MGM.She was widowed in 1973 and died in 1984 of a heart attack./Kit:Hallowed Evening Kitby Creative Victorian Designs