He was the son of Peter Ostermayr, a film producer with Universum Film AG, and his wife Olga, née Wernhard. After secondary school in Feldkirch, he entered to film industry and trained in film laboratory work. He became a film editor in 1930 and assistant director in 1935. His first film as director was Edelweißkönig, in 1938.

After the Second World War, he adopted the pseudonym Paul May. His greatest successes were 08/15 (1954), The Forests Sing Forever (1959), Via Mala (1961) from the book by John Knittel, and Scotland Yard Hunts Dr. Mabuse (1963) with Peter van Eyck. He also directed for television. He directed more than forty films between 1935 and 1972.

Editor edit

Screenwriter edit

• Night of the Twelve (1949)

Director edit

Film

Television

• 1964: Die Truhe — (based on a play by James Liggat and Alan Reeve-Jones)
• 1965: Die Schlüssel [de] (TV miniseries) — (remake of Francis Durbridge's The Desperate People, 1963)
• 1965: Glück in Frankreich — (based on a story by Ernst von Salomon)
• 1965: Acht Stunden Zeit — (based on a play by Charles Maître)
• 1966: Melissa [de] (TV miniseries) — (remake of Francis Durbridge's Melissa, 1964)
• 1967: In Sachen Erzberger gegen Helfferich — (screenplay by Axel Eggebrecht)
• 1967–1968: Sherlock Holmes (TV series) — (remake of Sherlock Holmes, 1965)
• 1968: Eine Gefangene bei Stalin und Hitler — (based on Under Two Dictators by Margarete Buber-Neumann)
• 1969–1972: Königlich Bayerisches Amtsgericht (TV series, 7 episodes)
• 1969: Nennen Sie mich Alex — (film about Oleg Penkovsky)
• 1970: Theatergarderobe (TV series)
• 1971: Die Schrott-Story
• 1971–1972: Fünf Tage hat die Woche (TV series)
• 1972: Nicht Lob – noch Furcht. Graf Galen, Bischof von Münster — (screenplay by Luise Rinser)
• 1972–1975: Im Auftrag von Madame [de] (TV series, 32 episodes)

• Paul May at IMDb