How he coped with the loss of his brothers

He lost his three brothers

The sad story of Michaela May’s family

He is a fixture on the German TV landscape and usually comes with a charming smile. But three and a half years ago, Michaela May revealed something surprising.

Michaela May epitomizes the joy of life, humility, and success. But shortly before his 70th birthday in 2022, he realized his past and announced the suicide of his three siblings in his autobiography “Behind the Smile” – after 40 years of silence.

His brothers Karl and Hans and his sister Gundi died in 1974, 1977 and 1980, when May’s career had already begun. When Gundi died, May was pregnant and she did not reach the grave at that time, the actress told “Bild” in 2022. But her pregnancy was a great support for her. “All around us there is dying, there is death, but there is a small life that grows inside me and which is the focus of all our attention,” May explained to dpa.

Thanks to his close friends and “amazing family,” he didn’t break down. May explains that she always wanted to see the sun and get rid of the clouds. That’s how he coped with the deaths of his three brothers.

When he thinks of them today, he thinks of their childhood together, which was “unencumbered and idyllic.” The death of his brother and sister caused him to focus on the positive things in life. He is a happy person who does not struggle with his fate.

May’s parents no longer wanted to talk about her siblings’ deaths, so she kept quiet. But when her mother died in 2019, she wanted to open up – and maybe help others. “Perhaps I can use my story to show that you can live a happy life despite a difficult family history,” May explains.

Michaela May did her first TV show as a girl. After training as a kindergarten teacher, she returned to television and repeatedly appeared on the theater stage. His great successes include “Munich Stories”, “Somehow and Anyway”, “Polizeiruf 110”, “The Divine Sophie” and the film “Family Festival”. She lives with her husband, director Bernd Schadewald, in his hometown of Munich and has two daughters.