{{Short description|American actor (1929–2022)}} {{Other people|Don May}} {{more citations needed|date=January 2022}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2022}} {{Infobox person | name = Donald May | image = Donald May 1971.JPG | caption = May in 1971 | birth_date = {{Birth date|1929|02|22|mf=y}} | birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|2022|01|28|1929|02|22|mf=y}} | death_place = Kent, New York, U.S. | other_names = | known_for = ''The Edge of Night'' | occupation = Actor | years_active = 1956–1993 | spouse = {{marriage|Ellen Cameron|1951|1984|end=divorced}}<br />Carla Borelli | children = 2 | alma_mater = University of Oklahoma }}

'''Donald Adam May''' (February 22, 1929 – January 28, 2022) was an American actor who was known for his roles in ''Colt .45'' (1957–1960) and ''The Edge of Night''.

==Early years== May was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Leontine Frances (Torczynski) and Harry Stuart May.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FJ5mAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Harry+Stuart+and+Leontine+Frances+(Torczynski)%22|title=Who's Who in the South and Southwest|isbn=9780837908298|last1=Who|first1=Marquis Who's|date=December 1998|publisher=Marquis Who's Who, LLC }}</ref> He attended elementary school in Houston, Texas, and graduated from Shaker Heights High School in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1949, he graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a bachelor of arts degree.<ref name="th">{{cite news |title=Donald May, Popular Western Star, Goes To the New ABC-TV 'Roaring 20's' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52212668/donald-may/ |accessdate=May 27, 2020 |work=The Titusville Herald |date=October 22, 1960 |location=Pennsylvania, Titusville |page=7|via = Newspapers.com}}</ref>

May joined the U.S. Navy in 1951 and was discharged in 1955, serving as an officer.<ref name=":0">{{cite magazine |date=April 2022 |page=47 |title=Donald May, 92 |magazine=Classic Images }}</ref>

==Career== Before he finished college, May acted in summer stock theater in Surrey, Maine, in 1948. After graduation, he acted on stage in Albany, New York, and Brattleboro, Vermont. He also acted in Signal Corps films.<ref name="th" />

May's first credited role was in 1956–1957 as Cadet Charles C. Thompson, the host of the ABC military drama series ''The West Point Story''.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kleiner |first1=Dick |title=Filmed TV Is 'Too Cold' for Ray Bolger's Feet |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52214359/the-chillicothe-constitution-tribune/ |accessdate=May 27, 2020 |work=The Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune |agency=Newspaper Enterprise |date=December 5, 1956 |location=Missouri, Chillicothe |page=7|via = Newspapers.com}}</ref>

left|thumb|250px|Donald May as Sam Colt, Jr. in ''Colt .45''In 1959–1960, May temporarily replaced Wayde Preston as the lead in four episodes of the ABC/Warner Brothers western television series, ''Colt .45''. May portrayed "Sam Colt, Jr.," cousin to Preston's character, Christopher Colt.<ref name="etvs">{{cite book|last1=Terrace|first1=Vincent|title=Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010|date=2011|publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers|location=Jefferson, N.C.|isbn=978-0-7864-6477-7|page=200|edition=2nd}}</ref>

He subsequently appeared in several other ABC/WB series, ''Sugarfoot'', ''Cheyenne'' (as a young man plotting revenge in the episode "The Long Rope"), ''77 Sunset Strip'', ''Hawaiian Eye'', ''Surfside 6'',{{Citation needed |date=May 2020}} and ''The Roaring 20s'', in which he was cast from 1960 to 1962 in forty-two episodes in the recurring role of fictitious newspaper reporter Pat Garrison.<ref name=etvs/> One of his principal co-stars on ''The Roaring 20s'' was Dorothy Provine.

In 1962, May made a television pilot in which he played a physician, Paul Larson, in the episode "County General" that was screened as an episode of ABC's drama series, ''Bus Stop'', starring Marilyn Maxwell. That same year, he was cast as Major Thompson in "Any Second Now" of the ABC war drama, ''Combat!''. In 1964, he portrayed Thatcher in the three-part episode, "The Tenderfoot" of NBC's ''Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color''. He was cast in 1964 in two other films, as Captain Anderson in ''A Tiger Walks'', and as Secret Service agent John O'Connor in ''Kisses for My President'', with Polly Bergen as the first woman President of the United States, with Fred MacMurray as "First Husband." Two years later, May was cast as Edward White Jr., with, again, Fred MacMurray in the lead, in the film about the Boy Scouts of America, ''Follow Me, Boys!''. In 1965 May made another unsuccessful TV pilot ''Dream Wife'' as the husband of psychic Shirley Jones.<ref>Goldberg, Lee ''Unsold Television Pilots: 1955-1989'' Adventures in Television, July 5, 2015</ref>

May subsequently guest starred on CBS's ''Men into Space'', ''Barnaby Jones'', ''The Dukes of Hazzard'', ''Dallas'', and ''Falcon Crest''. He appeared on ABC's ''Fantasy Island''.{{Citation needed |date=May 2020}} May was featured in several soap operas, including his role from 1967 to 1977 of crime busting lawyer, Adam Drake in ''The Edge of Night''. He played Grant Wheeler in 1981–1982 on the ''Another World'' spinoff ''Texas''.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Reichardt |first1=Nancy M. |title=Soap star Donald May moves to 'Texas' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/181220135/?terms=%22Donald%20May%22%20actor&match=1 |accessdate=May 27, 2020 |work=The Clarion-Ledger |agency=TV Data Inc. |date=July 5, 1981 |location=Mississippi, Jackson |page=119|via = Newspapers.com}}</ref> He also had recurring roles in ''One Life to Live'' and ''All My Children''.

May's last screen role was in 1993 as Andrew Laraby in the episode "Come Rain or Come Schein" on the NBC legal drama, ''L.A. Law''.

==Personal life and death== His first marriage was to Ellen Cameron from 1951 until 1984, when they divorced. They had two sons.<ref name=":0" /> Cameron appeared on screen only once—in an episode of ABC's ''Arrest and Trial''.{{Citation needed |date=October 2022}} After his divorce from Cameron, May was married to Carla Borelli, an actress<ref name=":0" /> who also appeared in the television series ''Texas'' and ''Falcon Crest''.

He died from laryngeal cancer at his home in Kent, New York, on January 28, 2022, at the age of 92.<ref>{{cite news |title=Donald May, Adam Drake on 'The Edge of Night,' Dies at 92 |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/donald-may-dead-edge-of-night-1235084374/ |access-date=3 February 2022 |publisher=The Hollywood Reporter |date=31 January 2022}}</ref>

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==References== {{reflist}}

==External sources== * {{IMDb name|0561928}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20110323162006/http://movies.nytimes.com/person/46669/Donald-May Donald May] at ''The New York Times'' *[https://www.youtube.com/user/hfxmusicman Clips from ''Texas'' episodes]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:May, Donald}} Category:1929 births Category:2022 deaths Category:American male film actors Category:American male soap opera actors Category:American male stage actors Category:American male television actors Category:Deaths from laryngeal cancer in New York (state) Category:Male actors from Chicago Category:Male actors from Los Angeles Category:Military personnel from Chicago Category:Military personnel from Illinois Category:United States Navy officers Category:United States Navy personnel of the Korean War Category:University of Oklahoma alumni Category:Warner Bros. contract players