Events in Film & TV
- May 1 7th National Film Awards (India): "Apur Sansar" wins the Golden Lotus
Music Concert
May 2 Harry Belafonte's 2nd Carnegie Hall performance (New York City)
TV Show Appearance
May 12 Elvis Presley appears on a Frank Sinatra television special; Elvis sings Sinatra's 1957 Cy Coleman hit "Witchcraft", and Frank performs Presley's 1956 classic "Love Me Tender"
Cannes Film Festival
May 20 13th Cannes Film Festival: "The Sweet Life" directed by Federico Fellini wins the Palme d'Or
- May 23 WGTV TV channel 8 in Athens-Atlanta, GA (PBS) begins broadcasting
- May 23 WRCA radio changes call letters back to WNBC (NYC)
Musical Finale
May 28 Frank Loesser's musical "Greenwillow", starring Anthony Perkins, closes at Alvin Theater, NYC, after 95 performances
Birthdays in Film & TV
- May 2 Stephen Daldry, English film director (Billy Elliot; The Hours), born in Dorset, England
- May 3 Amy Steel, American actress (April Fool's Day), born in Pennsylvania
- May 4 Andrew Denton, Australian television presenter and comedian, born in Sydney, Australia
- May 6 Julianne Phillips, American actress (Frankie Reed-Sisters), born in Lake Oswego, Oregon
- May 10 Victoria Rowell, American actress (The Young & The Restless - "Drucilla"), born in Portland, Maine
- May 13 Dick van de Toorn, Dutch actor (Pastorale), born in Haarlem, Netherlands
- May 14 Frank Nobilo, New Zealand golfer, broadcaster (5 European Tour titles, CBS, Golf Channel), born in Auckland, NZ
- May 14 Steve Williams, American professional wrestler, known as "Dr. Death", and USFL football player, born in Lakewood, Colorado (d. 2009)
- May 15 Rob Bowman, American film director
- May 16 Anne Parillaud, actress (Subway, Nikita, Innocent Blood), born in Paris, France
- May 17 Fiona Hutchison, actress (One Life to Live, Guiding Light), born in Miami, Florida
- May 20 John Billingsley, American actor
- May 20 Tony Goldwyn, American actor (Ghost, Scandal), born in Los Angeles, California
- May 21 Mohanlal, Indian actor, born in Elanthoor, India
- May 22 Hideaki Anno, Japanese film director and animator (Neon Genesis Evangelion), born in Ube, Yamaguchi, Japan
- May 24 Kristin Scott Thomas, British actress (The English Patient, Mission: Impossible), born in Redruth, Cornwall, England
- May 29 Adrian Paul, English actor (Dance to Win, Highlander), born in London, England
- May 31 Chris Elliott, American screenwriter, comedian, and actor (David Letterman; Cabin Boy, Get A Life), born in NYC, New York
Deaths in Film & TV
- May 27 Edward Brophy, American character actor (Champ, Dumbo, Great Guy, The Cameraman, Doughboys), dies at 65
- May 27 George Zucco, British actor (Fog Island, Black Raven, Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Captain Fury), dies at 74
