Anthony May trained at R.A.D.A. from 1965 to 1967. He played Wick in David Halliwell's Little Malcolm at the Royal Court Theatre for the National Youth Theatre, and Zigger in Zigger Zagger, which transferred to the Strand Theatre, earning him a nomination for a Variety Award for most promising newcomer.
He made his film debut as the Young Poet in Karel Reisz's Isadora, followed by roles in TV, including The Tenant of Wildfell Hall for the BBC and the Wednesday play No Trams to Lime Street (musical version). He then appeared in a film in Czechoslovakia, Micheal Kohlaas, with David Warner and Anna Karina, directed by the Oscar-winning director Volker Schloendorff.
Anthony played Trixie and Baba by John Antrobus and Richard Cromwell in Cromwell with Richard Harris and Alec Guinness, and starred in the short film Les Bicyclettes de Belsize, directed by Doug Hickox. He appeared in Brendan Behan's The Hostage, directed by Richard Eyre, and toured the Far East playing Prince Hal in Henry IV, parts 1 and 2.
He starred as 'Pirie' in Cornel Wilde's No Blade of Grass, and had a guest star role in the children's hit series, The Double Deckers'. Anthony was a director of Senta Productions, who produced the film The Triple Echo, which starred Glenda Jackson and Oliver Reed, directed by Michael Apted.
Playing Sloane in Joe Orton's Entertaining Mr Sloane at the King's Head Theatre preceded tours with the London Shakespeare Group's Macbeth of Iraq, Bangladesh, Korea, Japan and Africa, where they played to Maasai warriors in the foothills of Mt Kilimanjaro. He played Macduff at Frank Dunlop's Young Vic Theatre, where a long association over the years developed.
Anthony played King Lear, The Real Inspector Hound, A Man for all Seasons, Richard II, Gloo Joo and Caesar in Anthony and Cleopatra at the Young Vic. At the Bristol Old Vic, he played Leonidik in Arbuzov's The Promise, and another production of 'Macbeth', this time playing Banquo, directed by Richard Cottrell.
He appeared in a film of Chekov's Zinotchka, an Australian film They Ran Before the Wind, filmed in the South Seas, in which Anthony played Fletcher Christian in a story of what happened after the mutiny on the Bounty. He then played Bobby in American Buffalo at the National Theatre, directed by Bill Bryden, and starred in an American drama documentary about Jack the Ripper.
Anthony was also in the Jack the Ripper film Murder by Decree with James Mason and Christopher Plummer. He played Hamlet at the Northcott Theatre, and other roles there included Captain Plume in The Recruiting Officer and Sir Thomas Overbury in a new play Favours.
Anthony worked with Mike Hodges on the Tom Stoppard-written film Squaring the Circle, and was also in the film McVicar. He has had many TV appearances, including Z-Cars, Casualty, Juliet Bravo, Dickens of London, The Bill, London's Burning, Anna Lee, The Paradise Club, El Cid, Bulman, Between the Lines, Softly, Softly, Rockliffe's Babies, Minder, All Quiet on the Preston Front, Chandler and Co, Boon, Coronation Street, The Dream Team, The Hutton Enquiry, The Ice House and Messiah.
Anthony has also worked with directors Adrian Shergold, Anthony Minghella, Martin Campbell, Stephen Poliakoff and Tim Fywell. Other stage plays include Richard II, Gloo Joo, Withdrawal Symptoms, A Chorus of Disapproval, Marino Faliero, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, The Launderette, A Last Belch for the Great Auk and The Nuns, which he also directed at the Roundhouse.
In 2011, he played 'Bootstrap Bill' in the Pirates of the Caribbean video game and 'Thompson' in Tin Tin video game and 'Dickson' in The Xenoblade Chronicles. He recently played the Queen Elizabeth Hall, reading the poetry of Rumi.
