Gisela May was a German actress and singer born on May 31, 1924, in Wetzlar. She was a prominent interpreter of the works of Bertolt Brecht. She studied at the drama school in Leipzig between 1942 and 1944. Her career achieved visibility after Hanns Eisler recognized her talent for the chanson in 1957. In 1962, she joined the Berliner Ensemble where she remained for 30 years. Her stage career included the role of Madame Cabet in the play The Days of the Commune, Mrs. Peachum in the opera The Threepenny Opera, and the title role in the play Mother Courage and Her Children. She performed the lead role in the musical Hello, Dolly! (1970) and appeared in the television series Adelheid and her Murderers. Her recording career included the studio recording Die sieben Todsünden der Kleinbürger for which she received the Grand Prix du Disque in 1968. Her discography included the studio recording Gisela May singt Brecht, Eisler, Dessau (1966) and the studio recording Chansons bleiben Chansons (1979) featuring titles by Jacques Brel. She received the National Prize of the GDR in 1963, the Deutscher Kleinkunstpreis in 1987, and the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2004. She died on December 2, 2016, in Berlin.
