In 1918 Mae West was performing onstage in Los Angeles - - either with or without her musician husband Guido Deiro - - and grabbed the chance to get some fresh air. Still known as "May West" then, and less conscious about being photographed in casual attire, the energetic 25-year-old vaudevillian posed on the links with friends, each one claiming a golfbag.
• • The petite 5-foot tall actress is on the far left, half-hidden under a funky hat.
• • Though the hand-written inscription notes "May West, Orpheum," this 1918 photograph could not have referred to the Orpheum Theatre [which was built in 1926 on S. Broadway in L.A.]. So who (or what) was the mysterious "Orpheum" - - and where was it situated during the first World War? Do you know the answer?
• • Source: Mae West: An Icon in Black and White by Jill Watts [Oxford University Press, 2001].
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Mae West
• • Photo: Mae West • • a Los Angeles golf course • • 1918 • •
NYC
Mae West.
As I am preparing a review of Mae West And the Count, I became fascinated by the photo above, reputed to be May (Mae) West golfing, circa 1918. The question of where an earlier Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles was locate, prior to the construction of the 1926 venue has been raised. My research has uncovered that there was a previous Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles, built in 1911, located at 630 South Broadway. It is possible that May West performed there in 1918.
ReplyDelete• • Orpheum Theatre, 630 South Broadway, Los Angeles — — built in 1911.
ReplyDelete• • Well, perhaps the older auditorium went on fire or suffered earthquake damage and then was rebuilt on South Broadway.
• • Thank you, Mark. We are all eager to read your review!