Apple TV Plus’ Masters of the Air is the latest World War II series from Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, inspired by the 100th Bomb Group of B-17 Flying Fortresses, recorded in history as the “Bloody Hundredth.” Actress Isabel May plays Marge Spencer on the show — and here’s why she looks familiar.
Surrounding May in the cast is a host of well-known faces like Austin Butler as Major Gale ‘Buck’ Cleven, who worked with Hanks in the Baz Luhrman bio-pic, Elvis. Meanwhile, Barry Keoghan is Lieutenant Curtis Biddick, hot off his shocking turn in Saltburn. As for May, her character, Spencer, is Cleven’s girlfriend, and like almost every other character on the show, Spencer is based on a real person. As a look at May’s acting resume reveals, it’s not the first time she’s played a character in a historical setting.
May was Elsa Dutton in ‘1883’
Before Masters, Isabel May played Elsa Dutton in the 2023 Yellowstone spinoff, 1883. Dutton narrated the series and was the daughter of James and Margaret Dutton, played by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. If you also watched 1923, another Yellowstone prequel, you may recognize May’s voice — she narrated that show, too.
Otherwise, May, who was 23 when Masters of the Air premiered, has appeared in TV’s Young Sheldon on CBS, Netflix’s Alexis & Katie, and the 2022 romantic comedy I Want You Back. Look for May in the thriller Sunflower, directed by Misha Green, with filming set to begin in summer 2024.
On playing Dutton, May said:
“I’m lucky to be a part of it. I don’t really know how I’ve had this opportunity. It’s difficult to find such depth and growth in a character especially at her age, considering the genre as well, being a Western it’s usually from a male perspective.”
via Country Living
Marge Spencer met a sad end
As mentioned, Isabel May’s Masters of the Air character, Marge Spencer, is based on a real person. Spencer met Buck Cleven while they were both kids, and they reconnected while Spencer was enrolled at Texas Tech University and Cleven was a cadet. Spencer stayed behind while Cleven joined the war effort in Europe. The couple married after the war in 1945, but in 1953, Spencer died in her thirties from a suspected brain aneurysm. Though he remarried, it’s said Cleven never got over her death.
