Elaine May (April 21, 1932)

Elaine May and Mike Nichols seemed incredibly sophisticated to me when I was young, and I suspect that they really were. And I suspect she still is. For example, she interviewed Ethan Coen and Woody Allen, and asked them:

"A miraculous being with divine powers appears to you and says, 'You have a choice. You can be fabulously attractive and have an even better physique or you can reverse global warming.' What do you say to her?"

When I looked her up, I discovered that Elaine May's father Jack Berlin was a Yiddish theater actor.