Mae West: Hijinks Jenkins

MAE WEST met many characters — — and more than a few were men of the cloth.
• • According to old newsprint, Leroy Jenkins, who had charmed his way into Mae West's circle, was a man of convictions. Some of those oddball beliefs got him sentenced to a 12-year prison term in 1979. That probably crimped his style a bit. Imagine how it must feel to be an Elmer Gantry type of revivalist, setting up a tent and taking up collections from those who feel they are listening to a prophet. All that undeclared income can buy a lot of flashy outfits and sequined capes befitting Moses. Then one day the law burst in onto the scene like an overzealous stage manager, unexpectedly bringing the curtain down. Show's over.
• • Born in 1937, Jenkins, a self-promoting salesman and faith-healer, has been accused by some individuals of being a heel and a swindler. But the spiel goes on. And on.
• • Out of the blue, Canadian columnist Dave Goulet started writing about this shady slicker and roping in Mae West (ouch!). Goulet exclaims: Just when I thought I’d seen every crazed TV preacher on the market, I ran across Reverend Leroy Jenkins this past week. . . .
• • Dave Goulet continues: But what really caught my eye was the physical appearance of the preacher. Between the coiffed hair and obvious facelift, he looked like a cross between Elvis and Joan Rivers. His eyebrows, more appropriate for a supermodel, were stuck in a perpetual slant, which gave him a fierce frown.
• • I was so curious to know more about Rev. Leroy Jenkins that I looked him up on the Internet. According to his website, he’s been a faith healer since he himself was healed by a preacher as a young man. He started his own church and one day God told him to drill a well outside the building. This well gave forth miracle water. Armed with this healing H20, Leroy became quite famous in the Bible Belt as a faith healer.
• • Profound • •
• • Dave Goulet adds: Screen siren Mae West, in her later years, was a close friend of Rev. Jenkins. In the early 1990s [sic], a movie was made about Jenkins (produced by Leroy Jenkins), titled "The Calling" [released in December 2002]. Actress Faye Dunaway [born in Florida on 14 January 1941] played Mae West. For some reason, the good reverend feels this adds stature to his ministry, because we all know what a profound theologian Mae West was. . . .
— — Excerpt: — —
• • Essay: "Drawing from Reverend Leroy's well"
• • Byline: By Dave Goulet | "Two Cents" columnist
• • Published in: Barry's Bay This Week [Ontario, Canada] — — www.barrysbaythisweek.com
• • Published on: 2 June 2009
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• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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