Mae West: Colonial

"MAE WEST, author, loses her pianist," noted Variety [8 September 1922].
• • In 1922, Harry Richman — — born in August 1895 — — was an unknown when Mae West gave him a big break. According to one biographer, Richman was an obscure piano man when Jim Timony approached the bachelor about auditioning as Mae's accompanist — — and to fill in entertaining the crowd while she changed her costume. Examining the 27-year-old beanpole with apprehension, Mae asked, "Are you versatile?" She hired the tall, debonair pianist with a pronounced lisp and they were soon performing together on the ritzy B.F. Keith vaudeville circuit. Despite his speech impediment, Mae urged Richman to sing and speak during their routine. "That lisp is distinctive," she said. "It could be the makin' of ya." And, sure enough, wherever their act was booked, the pair got excellent reviews.
• • Ungrateful for the mega media exposure Mae had afforded him, Harry split with her and joined Texas Guinan's friend, singer Nora Bayes, in her act. However, as this clipping shows, Mae and Harry reunited and appeared together in April 1923 at the Colonial Theatre [1887 Broadway at West 62nd Street, not far from the stretch that is now known as Central Park West].
• • Entertainer Harry Richman [10 August 1895 – 3 November 1972] was an actor, a singer, dancer, comedian, pianist, songwriter, bandleader, and cabaret performer. He was born Harold Reichman in Cincinnati, Ohio.
• • In 1966, his autobiography A Hell of a Life was published. In it he recounts his private and public relationship with Mae West.
• • Enrich your Harry Richman and Mae West memories on Friday evening 17 August 2007, when a guided tour will explore Manhattan's WEST-side during the "Mae West Side Story" walking tour. The event — — open to the public — — is timed to salute Brooklyn's own sexpot on her birthdate. [See the Annual Mae West Gala posting below.]
• • Only 14 more days until Mae's birthday!
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West's venue, Colonial Theatre • • c. 1905 • •
NYC
Mae West.