Mae West: Matilda

Rona Barrett called her friend MAE WEST "the star that will not dim." But in January 1930 the inner illumination that guided the actress failed.
• • As the Los Angeles engagement of "Diamond Lil" was winding down, a telegram arrived. The condition of Matilda West was worsening; the cancer had spread to her liver. Mae West hired a private train. On 14 January 1930 — — after their last performance in California — — Mae and the cast left for Brooklyn, New York.
• • The death of 59-year-old Matilda West in January 1930 "was a staggering blow," admitted Mae, who was inconsolable.
• • Born in December 1870 in Bavaria, Matilda died in an apartment on Euclid Avenue in Brooklyn, perhaps being nursed there by relatives. [Matilda and Jack had also owned a house on 88th Street in Woodhaven, Queens according to the 1920 Census. By 1927 the West family was residing on Jericho Turnpike in Floral Park, Queens, New York.]
• • On 27 January 1930 Mae West attended the funeral.
• • In this photo, crime boss Owney Madden waits for her by the door of the sedan, wearing a dark topcoat with a Persian lamb collar.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • Owney Madden • • 1930 • •
NYC
Mae West.