Before bidding adieu to the month of May, it's fitting to memorialize one of the famous palookas whose good looks and midnight maneuvers (temporarily) knocked out MAE WEST.
• • During the flag-draped weekend of May 30th — 31st that, inevitably, thoughts turn to the handsome (former) heavyweight American champion of the world Jack "Manassa Mauler" Dempsey [24 June 1895 — 31 May 1983], who died at the end of May and wooed the actress during 1921 when she was performing in "The Mimic World of 1921."
• • In the month of May — — on 31 May 1983 — — Jack Dempsey died of heart failure at age 87 with his wife Deanna at his side. He is buried in the Southampton Cemetery in Southampton, New York. Dempsey is a member of the International Boxing Hall Of Fame. The street where Madison Square Garden is located is called Jack Dempsey Corner.
• • In May 1981 • •
• • Journalist Sondra Lowell wrote the article "Memories of Mae: Academy Tribute" and it was published in the Los Angeles Times on 21 May 1981, six months after Mae's funeral.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • In 1933, an older gentleman cautioned Mae not to join the ranks of actresses who were wearing menswear and trousers in motion pictures. Mae West replied: "I take that fashion as a personal insult." [Reported in the New York World-Telegram — — February 1933.]
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Mae West has become a part of a new stage drama focused on Anthony Quinn. Writing from NYC, Maria Athens explains this: Dimitri C. Michalakis’ “The Original Sin: The Life of Anthony Quinn” made its debut reading on Saturday, May 28, 2011 at New York University’s Silver Center, located on Washington Square in the heart of Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. Anthony Quinn, who played an important part in “The Guns of Navarone” and the leading role in “Zorba the Greek,” is well-beloved in the Greek community for his heart-felt depiction of Greek men, whose passion cools almost as fast as it boils. According to the synopsis of this dramatization of his life provided in the handbill, “The actor is pursued by the boy he used to be as he comes to terms with his birth in Mexico and hard scrapple life in The United States, and by an epic life and epic success that brings him both pleasure and pain.”
• • Maria Athens explains: Peter Mele did an excellent job performing the part of Anthony Quinn, as did the “Six Women of the Theatre Society,” who played the parts of his mother, sister, grandmother, Mae West, Katherine De Mille, and Janet. The term “dramatization” probably describes better than “play” this performance because it was primarily based on the actors’ reading of their parts from Michalakis’ script. ...
• • Source: Article: "Debut Reading of Michalakis’ “The Original Sin: The Life of Anthony Quinn” written by Maria Athens for Greek USA Reporter; posted on 30 May 2011
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 1947th blog post. Unlike many blogs, which draw upon reprinted content from a newspaper or a magazine and/ or summaries, links, or photos, the mainstay of this blog is its fresh material focused on the life and career of Mae West, herself an American original.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • "Mimic World," 1921 • •
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Mae West.
Few people made MAE WEST laugh louder than Dave Apollon.
• • Born in Kiev, Russia on 23 February 1897, Dave's heavy "sour cream accent" was so hilarious that Mae West knew exactly how to increase his comic capital when they worked together during 1922 in the ill-fated "Ginger Box Revue" [slated to open at the Greenwich Village Theatre in Sheridan Square].
• • When a shady producer short-changed the cast by not producing the expected costumes and scenery, Mae pushed Dave Apollon onstage to deliver a prologue. Apologizing for the third-rate production the audience was about to see, Apollon muttered under his breath, "Ach! It was better under the czar with the lousy pogroms!"
• • Dave Apollon also worked as a mandolin player.
• • The vaudevillian died in Las Vegas at age 75 at the end of May — — on 30 May 1972.
• • In Her Own Words • • 
• • "Diamonds is my career!" — — "Diamond Lil" written by Mae West.
• • In 1979, during an interview at her apartment, Mae West discussed her lifelong passion for diamonds with the writer Charlotte Chandler: "They're all real. They were given to me by admirers." Her gaze settled on my unadorned hands. "Oh, you poor kid! You don't have any!" For a moment she regarded me with pity. Then she brightened. "But you have some at home?"
• • I shook my head (notes Charlotte Chandler).
• • She studied me, then said encouragingly, "You could, honey. But you've gotta try, and you've gotta know how to try. Knowing what you want is the first step toward getting it. There's nothing better in life than diamonds. ..."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • One of Canada's top golf greens is the Waskesiu Golf Course, located at Waskesiu Lake in Prince Albert National Park, where the eighth hole has become known as the Mae West. Hmmmm.
• • The StarPhoenix notes: The 6,301-yard course tests the precision of golfers with its tight treelined fairways and smaller greens. "It's a course you can play over and over and always feel like you're playing it for the first time. It brings different challenges every time," says Peter Anholt, general manager of Waskesiu Golf Course. Consider the eighth hole, also known as the 'Mae West' because of the contoured hills that frame the green. It takes most golfers three good shots to get to the green! . . .
• • Source: Article: "Golfer's paradise awaits at Waskesiu" written by Staff for The StarPhoenix; posted on 28 May 2011
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 1946th blog post. Unlike many blogs, which draw upon reprinted content from a newspaper or a magazine and/ or summaries, links, or photos, the mainstay of this blog is its fresh material focused on the life and career of Mae West, herself an American original.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
________
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1934 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
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Mae West.
MAE WEST, in animated form, briefly but memorably appears in the Turner Features Animation film "Cats Don't Dance" [1997]. Not marketed very successfully, it breezed through the movie houses on its quiet little paws and perhaps you never heard of it. 
• • Mae West steps into the frame during "Danny's Arrival Song," at a musical interlude. The scene is the legendary Brown Derby Restaurant, which opened in the 1920s.
• • Gossip columnists such as Hedda Hopper would regularly mention certain trendy restaurants and night clubs in their columns when celebrities were seen in hot spots such as Vine Street's Brown Derby, which was steps from the intersection of Hollywood and Vine.
• • It is 1939 when Danny the cat wants to break into show business in Tinseltown. He approaches the Brown Derby restaurant. But instead of entering, he prowls around the perimeter, pussy-footing, and appearing at the windows. First, he is seen at the window of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Then he is seen at the window where Mae West is framed. Mae poses for the cameras and mouths a kiss. A flurry of flashbulbs greets the screen queen — — however, Mae West is not seen again.
• • Several cartoon versions of Golden Age Hollywood stars appear in this film in addition to Mae West and Laurel and Hardy such as: Jimmy Durante, Bette Davis, Clark Gable and Vivian Leigh, Laurel and Hardy, Cary Grant, Joan Crawford, W. C. Fields, and Clark Gable during the red carpet premiere. The cartoon, released in March 1997, won the Best Animated Feature award at the 1997 Annie Awards.
• • Hope in May • •
• • Bob Hope appeared with Mae West on TV on Sunday, 3 May 1959 on Dean Martin's special. The comedian was born in England on 29 May 1903.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West wrote this exchange for "My Little Chickadee" [1940].
• • • Wayne Carter: Spring is the time for love.
• • • Flower Belle Lee: What's the matter with the rest of the year?
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Canadian columnist Shinan Govani interviewed Montreal's "Eligible Lady Jennifer Campbell," who said that her "Dream Dinner Guest List" would include: Mae West, Chelsea Handler, Graydon Carter, Marilyn Monroe, Rob Lowe, Alexandra Shulman, Karl Lagerfeld, Katie Couric, and Shinan Govani. ...
• • Source: Article: "Shinan’s Worthy 30: Montreal’s most eligible ladies" written by Shinan Govani for The National Post; posted on 28 May 2011
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 1945th blog post. Unlike many blogs, which draw upon reprinted content from a newspaper or a magazine and/ or summaries, links, or photos, the mainstay of this blog is its fresh material focused on the life and career of Mae West, herself an American original.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xmlMae West• • Photo: • • Mae West • • cartoonized, 1997 • •• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
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In May 1968 MAE WEST was interviewed by news man Bob Thomas for the Los Angeles Herald Examiner, and his article wore this title: "When Glamour Girls Meet." Mae was 74 going on 75 at the time he spoke to her.
• • Hollywood Studio, May 1980 • •• • Wearing her striking black and white costume for her character Leticia in Myra Breckinridge, Mae West appeared on the cover and also inside the May 1980 issue. "Why Blondes Have More Fun" seems to be a very peculiar cover line. Since Lana Turner's life was forever changed by the homicide of her gangster lover Johnny Stompanto in 1958, I wonder how much fun she was really having years later. And, of course, Marilyn Monroe had died in 1962, well before this magazine would hit the news stands.• • Coo Coo about Mae and Mel • •
• • A Mae West figure often appeared in animated shorts during the 1930s. For example, "Coo Coo Nut Grove" (1936) WB Cartoon — — features a caricature of Mae West along with other stars: Jean Harlow, Bette Davis, Joe E. Brown, Hugh Herbert, W.C. Fields, Clark Gable, Groucho and Harpo Marx, Johnny Weissmuller, Lionel and John Barrymore, Laurel and Hardy, Edward G. Robinson, Fred Astaire, and George Raft. Voice actor Mel Blanc, “The Man of a Thousand Voices,” did many of the voice-overs required by Warner Brothers' scripts.
• • The Secret Society will celebrate Mel Blanc's birthday at 7 o'clock on Tuesday evening, 31 May 2011 in Portland, Oregon. The event is called "Radio Daze: Hollywood Behind The Microphone" and there will be free cake for all.
• • After Dark Magazine, May 1977 • •
• • In the late 1970s Patrick Pacheco took over the editorship of After Dark Magazine and tried to boost the iron content with more red-blooded interviews. In the May 1977 issue, Patrick Pacheco's article on Mae West was printed. The title was: "Ladies and Gentlemen — The Lady, the Lions, and Her Amazing 'Sextette'!"
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “When a girl goes wrong, men go right after her.”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • DVD Talk columnist Neil Lumbard writes: The depression of the economy led to new challenges in drawing out audiences, but audiences responded favorably towards such stars as James Cagney, Katharine Hepburn, Shirley Temple, Mae West, and the Marx Brothers. Audiences went to the movies to escape from the dim and disturbing realities faced on a daily basis. ...
• • Source: DVD Review: "Moguls & Movie Stars: A History of Hollywood" written by Neil Lumbard for DVD Talk; posted on 24 May 2011
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 1944th blog post. Unlike many blogs, which draw upon reprinted content from a newspaper or a magazine and/ or summaries, links, or photos, the mainstay of this blog is its fresh material focused on the life and career of Mae West, herself an American original.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • as she looked in 1970 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
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Mae West.
MAE WEST worked with a large cast in "Belle of the Nineties" [1934] and one hometown gal was Ellinor Vanderveer, seen briefly as the New Orleans Dowager. 
• • Supposedly, in Hollywood, Ellinor Vanderveer [5 August 1887 — 27 May 1976] became known as "the queen of the dress extras." Launching a career in the cinema when she was a mature woman of 38 years old in 1925, the plucky native New Yorker was promptly featured as the Czarina, wife of Czar Nicholas, in 1926. More typically though, casting directors laced her into a tight background where she became one more faceless wedding guest, a banquet table fork holder, a theatre attendee, a slave girl, a committee women, a ballroom extra, a socialite, and oftentimes a dowager. With 146 bit part credits behind her, Ellinor Vanderveer retired her resume after portraying a Committee Woman in "The Eddie Cantor Story" [1953]. She died at age 88 in Loma Linda, California in the month of May — — on 27 May 1976.
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Allen Gutterman, is the vice president of marketing at Santa Anita Park, where Mae West was photographed enjoying the races. Jay Hovdey writes: “There’s only so much left to invent, so it becomes how you reinvent,” he went on. “Like Lady Gaga is Madonna is Cher is Mae West — — there’s always been some outrageous woman performer who played up sex as much as they could. Someone in every generation seems to figure that out. “One of the tenets of marketing is that any time you take something out of its natural habitat and put it somewhere else, it creates a stir,” Allen Gutterman said. ...
• • Source: Article: "Thinking outside the oval to draw new crowds" written by Jay Hovdey for The Daily Racing Form; posted on 26 May 2011
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 1943rd blog post. Unlike many blogs, which draw upon reprinted content from a newspaper or a magazine and/ or summaries, links, or photos, the mainstay of this blog is its fresh material focused on the life and career of Mae West, herself an American original.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
________
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1934 • •
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Mae West.
Continuing our coverage of the MAE WEST collector extraordinaire, Ramfis Diaz [1963 — 2011], whose memorial service is being held today on the West Coast, here's an intimate recollection by the woman who knew him best.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • • Always in My Heart, My Son Ramfis Diaz • • •
• • Mrs. Genevieve Robles remembers this about her loved one: My son Ramfis was born in Arizona on 22 February 1963. My father (and his maternal grandfather) was Lalo Robles, who conducted his own orchestra — — The Lalo Robles Orchestra — — for over 50 years. He played for more than 500 weddings, and was in heavy demand for parties in Tucson, Arizona, as well as a regular fixture at local dances and concerts. In 1960, he recorded a record album that was also sold in Europe. Lalo played piano, tenor and alto sax, guitar as well as the clavia. 
• • Growing up in such a musical household, by age of 9, Ramfis was determined to be a musician and started piano lessons.
• • During my first marriage, I gave birth to three sons: Danny, Alexander, and Richard Rico. Richard died at 17 years of age in a car accident in 1978. Then my second marriage produced Ramfis Diaz in 1963. At that time, the family, along with a Diaz half-brother, moved to Long Beach, California from Tuscon, Arizona.
• • Ramfis was a gifted, intelligent, alert child. By the age of four, he was in an early school start program. One week he was ill and my little boy had to stay in bed. As luck would have it, there was a Mae West Film Festival on a local television station and my young son sat and watched, completely captivated by the personality of Mae West. When the motion pictures ended, he was puzzled and even became upset.
• • In 1975, I was at the Lakewood Center Mall in Long Beach eating lunch in a restaurant by the front window. Someone shouted out: "There she is, there's Mae West!" Mae West was making an appearance at a book shop in the mall promoting the paperback release of her stage play "Pleasure Man" and autographing copies for her fans. I found a payphone and tried several times to call Ramfis, hoping he could rush over, but my 12-year-old son was out riding his bike, so he never got to meet his idol in person.
• • By the late 1980s, Ramfis had moved to Los Angeles, specifically to an older apartment tower in Hollywood, off Sunset Boulevard. An earthquake ruined some of his prize ceramic Mae West collectibles! Subsequently, he found an apartment for rent at the Gramercy Towers [in suite 701] where he has resided ever since.
• • Ramfis has scored many film scores for small local independent films and, over the years, has been working on recordings of his own.
• • Meanwhile, from 1986 — 1991, I had operated an independent music store called Musicia Latina de Las Americas in Tucson, selling Latin music from all over the world, including Cuba, Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, and Mexico. No doubt, my appreciation of these musical selections also made an impact on Ramfis's early musical direction. 
• • Ramfis always had two passions: his music and the massive Mae West collection he gradually acquired, including thousands of original Mae West movie stills and candid pictures.. He also owned carnival chalkware statues — — and perhaps his most rare and treasured keepsake was a Mae West lamp that was produced for a short period of time in the early 1930s. Very few of these are currently known to exist.
• • At this time his extensive Mae West collection has been placed in storage and his beloved apartment will be vacated, renovated, and released by the managent of the Gramercy Towers. His family fervently wishes to continue his legacy of the annual Mae West Birthday Party and, ideally, it can be held on the roof deck of the Gramercy Towers this coming August 17th.
• • • • By Genevieve Robles as told to R. Mark Desjardins, who very kindly permitted this to be used on the Mae West Blog.
• • • • PUBLIC MEMORIAL for RAMFIS DIAZ • • • •
• • Funeral services for Ramfis Anthony Diaz will be held on Thursday, 26 May 2011. Visiting hours will be from 9:30 AM to 2:00 PM in order to accommodate Ram's loved ones, coworkers, and neighbors. Ram's older brother Danny tells me that McKenzie Mortuary seats 70 people only, so the family decided to hold services at the church in Long Beach instead; capacity there is 400.
• • WHERE: First United Presbyterian, 600 East 5th Street [corner of 5th & Atlantic], Long Beach, CA. First United Presbyterian is more suitable for the crowd of mourners that will be expected next week.
• • INFO: Tel. (562) 436-9707.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • It seems peculiar that a Mae West quote would be inserted into a discussion about adultery since the Hollywood icon preserved her single status for decades. No matter. When a journalist needs something interesting to say, oftentimes s/he will reach for Mae.
• • Debra Ollivier concludes her Huff Post piece with these four sentences: When it comes to ordinary French men and women, adultery is a wilderness that they enter at their own risk. In this the French share with everyone, including Americans, a universal struggle between passion and a host of other complicated emotions that drive people to push the envelope on propriety. As Mae West once put it: "I used to be Snow White, but I drifted." Contrary to popular opinion, adultery is not a French trademark.
• • Source: Article: "Why Americans Are As Adulterous As The French: Questioning a Tired Cliche" written by Debra Ollivier for The Huffington Post; posted on 19 May 2011
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 1942nd blog post. Unlike many blogs, which draw upon reprinted content from a newspaper or a magazine and/ or summaries, links, or photos, the mainstay of this blog is its fresh material focused on the life and career of Mae West, herself an American original.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
________
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • Ramfis Diaz and friends • •
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Mae West.
Steve Cochran appeared on Broadway with MAE WEST.
• • Born in Eureka, California in the month of May — — on 25 May 1917 — — he moved during the 1920s to Laramie, Wyoming thanks to his lumberjack father. Perhaps used to a lonely landscape where he often saw things tumbling down and falling, his spirit may have yearned to be hemmed in by a fixed construction such as an auditorium. In any case, upon his 1939 commencement from the University of Wyoming, Cochran began working in regional theatre and summer stock. After honing his craft at the Barter Theatre and the Carmel (California) Shakespeare Festival, he worked at Detroit's Federal Theatre, and was co-starred in the touring companies of "Without Love" and "My Sister Eileen" before his Broadway debut in the eight-performance flop "Hickory Stick."
• • In 1948, upon being released from his Hollywood contract, Cochran went back to The Gay White Way. Mae West cast him in the shady, hot-blooded role of Juarez in her "Diamond Lil" revival from February 5—26, 1949 at the Coronet Theatre on West 49th Street.
• • Then 36, the thrice married lady-killer is reputed to have had a heavy breathing "after-hours" relationship with his 50-something diamond-draped leading lady. So generously endowed was Cochran that Mae West once reminisced about his well-equipped manhood, "Cochran. Talk about an appropriate last name. ... "
• • Sex symbol Mamie Van Doren recalled Steve Cochran most fondly on her web site. According to Miss Van Doren: Steve and I had dated for a short time when I found out that he was also seeing Mae West on a regular basis. Steve had been a young actor in one of Mae's Broadway shows when she "discovered" him. (Mae always had a yen for younger men. Of course, I did too.) At first he told me that they were working on a script together, but as time went on, it became clear to me that there was a good bit of other work going on too. Steve finally admitted that he and Mae had been lovers for some time. It has never been my style to share a lover. If someone isn't willing to be with me exclusively, I feel they should move on. But I made an exception in this case. It was, after all, Mae West... . [Leading ladies Cochran led to bed also included busty Jayne Mansfield and Merle Oberon.]
• • After performing with Mae West, Steve Cochran signed with Warner Bros. in 1949 and returned to Hollywood.
• • May 1985 • •
• • Madonna discusses what an enormous influence Mae West was for her. She explained the development of her flamboyant stage persona and her "Mae Westian secret smile" to Rolling Stone Magazine reporter Fred Schruers in an article titled "Lucky Stars."
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • "I coulda made it on the writin' alone. I always took it serious. .... You gotta think to write," Mae West told N.Y. Times reporter Tom Burke in July 1976. His article ran with this headline: "Mae West to Star Opposite Six Leading Men." Three years earlier, in July 1973, Mae had expressed the same viewpoint in Family Weekly: "I'm not just a star — — I'm a writer as well. And a thinker! I always keep busy."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Here's a short section from a post called "The Mae West Approach to RPLA" — — Florida novelist Chris Coward writes: Whenever someone wins a Royal Palm Literary Award (RPLA), I think about how it can change that person’s life. An RPLA award can make an unpublished writer more publishable and a published writer more marketable. Who wouldn’t want that? But what about those folks who don’t win? What do they get from the competition? Mae West probably phrased it best: “When I’m good, I’m very good. When I’m bad, I’m better.” Mae was talking about … oh, never mind … but she could have been talking about RPLA. ...
• • Source: Article: "The Mae West Approach to RPLA" written by Chris Coward for Florida Writers Association Blog; 22 May 2011
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 1941st blog post. Unlike many blogs, which draw upon reprinted content from a newspaper or a magazine and/ or summaries, links, or photos, the mainstay of this blog is its fresh material focused on the life and career of Mae West, herself an American original.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
________
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • Coronet Theatre, 1949 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
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Mae West.
MAE WEST loved Santa Monica — — and bought a beach house there. On Wednesday evening, 25 May 2011, the screen queen will be celebrated with a Mae West Double Feature at the Aero Cinema.
• • Aero announced this: The month of May calls for the sass and sexy double entendres of writer and film star Mae West! She stars with W.C. Fields in "My Little Chickadee" and with a young hunk named Cary Grant in the pre-code "She Done Him Wrong."
• • WHERE: Aero Theatre, 1328 Montana Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 90403. Contact Aero for run-times and showings.
• • On 24 May 1929 • •
• • It was 1929 and Broadway star Mae West was feeling fine, touring from coast to coast with "Diamond Lil" — — specifically on Friday, 24 May 1929. And when a news man for a Midwestern tabloid approached, she agreed to an interview. She told him that she had performed with Van Tenni's Arab Acrobatic Troupe. "I lifted three of the Arabs in the pinwheel formation," Mae affirmed, "and did other acts which required great strength." She credited the hands-on training in gymnastics and acrobatics she received, coached by her father to develop her strength to the point where (she would claim later on) she was able to lift 500 pounds and support three athletes.
• • Where They Lived — — Irving Berlin • •
• • The Ziegfeld Follies of 1911 had featured the Bear Dance performed by Fannie Brice. 
• • During her vaudeville days, Mae West also enjoyed treating the audience to a sultry "Dance of the Grizzly Bear." And a rousing backlash by the Dance Police only served to keep The Bear quite popular.
• • Cashing in on the craze, several composers put together their own variation of it — — including Irving Berlin [11 May 1888 — 22 September 1989], who wrote the lyrics for "The Dance of the Grizzly Bear," partnering with George Botsford, who published the music in 1912. Since Sophie Tucker appeared on their song sheet, naturally she introduced their version to her vast vaudeville audience.
• • Deliberately rough and clumsy, the dance imitated the motions of a trained bear. Imagine taking a very heavy step to the side, like a grizzly might, while executing a decided bending of the upper part of the body from one side to the other, hilariously ungraceful and undignified.
• • The Chatsworth was built in 1904 on West 72nd Street [346 W. 72nd]. A starry-eyed pair of newlyweds, 24-year-old Irving Berlin and his wife Dorothy Goetz, moved here in 1912. Unfortunately, the bride died a few months later when she was 20 years old. On their honeymoon, she had contracted typhoid fever. The young widower continued to compose music and live in his luxurious apartment, alone, for the next ten years.(After 1930 Mae, too, would move to the Upper West Side with her sister Beverly.)
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Noticing the young actor Cary Grant strolling along on a Paramount Pictures back lot, Mae West supposedly told a movie executive: "If he can talk, I'll take him!" In the Spanish language, that would have been expressed this way: "Si sabe hablar, me lo quedo!"
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Mulling over one mega-star in the pop music galaxy, Melinda Newman offers her opinions on Lady Gaga: Mae West once said “too much of a good thing can be wonderful.” We’d say Lady Gaga surpassed that dictum months ago. Fatigue long since set in... not for her, for us. Go on a promotional march that lasts as long as a presidential campaign, but don’t expect us to hang in there with you. Tuning in to see Lady Gaga appear on TV is no longer appointment TV. If you miss one performance, she’s just like a bus, there’s another one right around the corner. ...
• • Source: Article: "Commentary: What have we learned from Lady Gaga?" written by Melinda Newman for Hit Fix; Monday, 23 May 2011
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 1940th blog post. Unlike many blogs, which draw upon reprinted content from a newspaper or a magazine and/ or summaries, links, or photos, the mainstay of this blog is its fresh material focused on the life and career of Mae West, herself an American original.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
________
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • She Done Him Wrong • •
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Mae West.
Apparently always "in the mood," MAE WEST sang "I'm in the Mood for Love" — — and it was featured on the LP Fabulous Mae West [released in September 1955]. The song had been published twenty years earlier in 1935.
• • Born in Boston on 10 July 1894, James Francis McHugh was a prolific songwriter who was doing his best work from the 1920s through the 1950s. McHugh composed over 270 songs and his hits were recorded by Mae West as well as Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Judy Garland, Billie Holiday, Chet Baker, Dinah Washington, June Christy, Peggy Lee, Deanna Durbin, and Ella Fitzgerald.
• • Composer Jimmy McHugh collaborated with lyricist Dorothy Fields on "I'm in the Mood for Love," which enjoyed great popularity and is still being sung today.
• • Jimmy McHugh died during the month of May — — on 23 May 1969 — — at age 74 in Beverly Hills, California.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Reflecting upon her courtroom troubles due to the two homosexual plays she was prosecuted for, Mae West told a West Coast reporter: "I was ten years ahead of my time. Some day I'm going to produce those plays again . . . We make things that exist too important by whispering about 'em, rather than bringin' 'em right out into the open. We talk around a subject and make it something it isn't . . ." [Source: Movie Classic, 1934].
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Surveying the best album covers, such as The Beatles classic — — ‘Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' — — Ben Gilbert writes: Has there ever been a more artfully considered cover than The Beatles' landmark sleeve? Featuring more than 70 famous people, Peter Blake's collage left out Adolf Hitler, Mahatma Gandhi, and Jesus Christ and had to seek permission from all those featured. Mae West initially refused, asking: "What would I be doing in a lonely hearts club?" She relented when the band sent her a personal request.
• • Source: Article: "Greatest album covers" written by Ben Gilbert for New UK Music; posted on Friday, 20 May 2011
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 1939th blog post. Unlike many blogs, which draw upon reprinted content from a newspaper or a magazine and/ or summaries, links, or photos, the mainstay of this blog is its fresh material focused on the life and career of Mae West, herself an American original.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1955 • •
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Edward F. Cline directed a motion picture starring MAE WEST — — but he didn't describe it like that. Instead (recalling the turmoil between the Brooklyn bombshell and her booze-loving co-star), Cline admitted: "I wasn't directing, I was referee-ing."
• • In 1939, Variety's film critic took this view of the finished product: Universal catches Mae West on a delayed rebound from Paramount, teaming her with W.C. Fields for a hefty package of lusty humor. Picture marks return of Mae West to the screen after two years absence. The familiar Westian swagger, drawl, wisecracks and innuendos are all included, likewise the typical Fields routines and quick-triggered comments. Sequences in which the pair work together are reduced to a minimum. Script setup is a continual series of episodes, first with West and then Fields. Story is a reverse twist to "Destry Rides Again" and with western frontier locale . . . [Variety, 31 December 1939].
• • Born on 4 November 1891 in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Edward F. Cline entered the world of cinema as an actor with Keystone in 1913, where he encountered a rotund juggler from Pennsylvania, William Claude Dukenfield.
• • Working on "My Little Chickadee" [1940] for Universal Pictures must have been memorable as well as challenging. As the director of "Chickadee," Cline's insistence on having his stars adhere to the script irked the former vaudevillian Fields, who was used to being spontaneous. Cline had objected to the ad-libbing because it caused the crew to snicker and chuckle. In fact, one time Cline's sudden burst of loud laughter necessitated a quick cut at the end of one of Fields's barroom scenes. That year Cline also directed the comedy "The Bank Dick" starring W.C. Fields. He followed up by directing "Never Give a Sucker an Even Break" [1941].
• • Edward Francis Cline died during the month of May — — on 22 May 1961 — — at age 69 in Hollywood, California.
• • PHOTO: a fake marriage between Cuthbert and Miss Flower Belle Lee• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Reflecting upon her divorce from Frank Wallace, Mae West noted this about hastily tying the knot in 1911: "It was later proved to be some knot. The judge must have learned it from a sailor."
• • On Monday, 22 May 1978 • •
• • In May 1978, the subscribers of Time Magazine discovered these felicitous remarks by resident movie critic Gerald Clarke: And her new movie, Sextette, is so bad it's good. Opening her mouth so wide that the pink of her gums shows, Mae West taps her teeth with her fingernails. "See that," she says proudly. "All my own. Not a false one there." Then, holding out her arms so that her wrists protrude from her jacket, she adds, "I've never had any face lifts either. You can tell by my hands and wrists. They can't operate on your hands. I've never had anything done, and I look the way I did when I was 22." You can't argue with a lady, and when the lady will be 85 this summer, who would want to? Sixty years ago Mae West looked in the mirror and ordered the clock stopped. So far as she is concerned, it has never dared to start again .... ["Show Business: At 84 Mae West Is Still Mae West" by Gerald Clarke, Time Magazine, issue for the week of 22 May 1978].
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Reviewing the new screen comedy "Bridesmaids," Carrie Rickey writes: Instead, I submit Exhibits A through J as proof of Why Women Are Funny:
• • Exhibit A: Mae West calculating Cary Grant's assets while explaining her hobby in She Done Him Wrong: "It was a tossup whether I went out for diamonds or sang in the choir. The choir lost." ...
• • Source: Article: "Bridesmaids, why women are funny, and who makes you laugh?" written by Carrie Rickey for Philly.com; posted on Wednesday, 18 May 2011
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 1938th blog post. Unlike many blogs, which draw upon reprinted content from a newspaper or a magazine and/ or summaries, links, or photos, the mainstay of this blog is its fresh material focused on the life and career of Mae West, herself an American original.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1940 • •
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MAE WEST took the starring role of Carliss Dale in the stage play "Come On Up (Ring Twice)," which toured during 1946 in California and elsewhere. This comedy was written by Miles Mander, Fred Schiller, and Thomas Dunphy.
• • Mae must have taken a shine to Tommy Dunphy because she attached her name as co-writer to another laugh-fest called "Ladies, Please." Centered around two frisky fellows who attend a party in drag, when this debuted in Great Britain at Brighton's Theatre Royal in May 1948, the Hollywood icon was in residence for the premiere. A ticket, stating "Mae West presents European Premiere prior to London Production," was preserved by Brighton's History Centre along with other Mae-memorabilia.
• • Comic actor Pat McGrath, born in Ireland in 1916, wore a platinum blonde wig with his female garb; London native Dick Emery, born in 1915, played the sexy redhead.• • The production of "Ladies, Please" was directed by William Mollison, the same English director Mae had worked with when she performed "Diamond Lil" in Great Britain.• • Documents from the ocean liner Queen Mary confirm that Mae West and Jim Timony boarded on 15 May 1948 at Southampton, England for their voyage back to New York City. They arrived in their home port on 19 May 1948. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • • Mae West: visit to Brighton 1948 • • •
• • According to Kate Elms, Brighton History Centre: 
• • On the 10 May 1948, screen siren Mae West took her seat at Brighton’s Theatre Royal for the European premiere of ‘Ladies, Please!’ She co-wrote the play and was in town to attend its European premiere, bringing with her a dash of Hollywood glitz and glamour. And, judging by reviews published in local papers, the play was an ideal tonic for a town still in the grip of rationing and other post war austerity measures.
• • • "Ladies Please!" at the Theatre Royal, Monday, 10 May 1948 • • •
• • Heading the cast were George Gee and Betty Frankiss, who was famous for her panto appearances, supported by Pat McGrath and Dick Emery. The plot centered on two men (played by McGrath and Emery), who attend a birthday party dressed as women, with predictably comic results. The Brighton & Hove Herald declared that, ‘In a red wig and purple sequins, Dick Emery is irresistible and his clowning never flags, while Pat McGrath plays his platinum blonde companion with equal ease.’ And according to the Gazette, ‘It [the play] oozes sex from the opening lines to the final curtains but is honest enough to pretend to be nothing else but what it is — — a blasé farce.’
• • Mae West, who reportedly stayed at The Grand Hotel when she visited Brighton in 1948, also has a more permanent presence in the town. Visitors to Brighton Museum & Art Gallery may be familiar with the Mae West’s Lips sofa, designed by Salvador Dali around 1938. ... One of only five originals, the sofa was acquired by Brighton Museum in 1983, and can be seen in the Twentieth Century Art and Design Gallery.
• • • • Written by Kate Elms, Brighton History Centre [posted on 5 May 2011]
• • Source: Brighton History Centre at The Brighton Museum & Art Gallery [Royal Pavilion Gardens, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 1EE]
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Can you imagine Mae West in a Marx Brothers comedy — — as a foil?
• • Movie Critic Steven D. Greydanus writes: Flirting with Angelica [actress Penelope Cruz] isn’t the same, because she’s a pirate and isn’t discomfited in the same way. How funny would Groucho’s impudence be if Margaret Dumont came back at him like Mae West? How amusing would Astaire’s insouciance be if Ginger didn’t at least pretend to be offended? ...
• • Source: Article: "SDG Reviews 'Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides' " written by Steven D. Greydanus for The National Catholic Register; posted on Friday, 20 May 2011
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 1937th blog post. Unlike many blogs, which draw upon reprinted content from a newspaper or a magazine and/ or summaries, links, or photos, the mainstay of this blog is its fresh material focused on the life and career of Mae West, herself an American original.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
________
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• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1948 ticket • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
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MAE WEST worked with many colorful cast mates in "Sextette" [1978].
• • Born in the USA during the month of May — — on 20 May 1917 — — Patrick Sullivan Burke often was placed in fantasy roles. His first role was as a leprechaun in "Darby O'Gill and the Little People" [Walt Disney Productions, 1959]. Over the years he appeared in a dozen projects for TV and the big screen, cast variously as a witch, a soldier, a bartender.
• • In "Sextette" [1978], he played a live person, namely the Irish Delegate. The same year he was seen in "Lord of the Rings" and he played the Head Angel on an episode of "Little House on the Prairie" before retiring.
• • Patrick Sullivan Burke died at age 76 on 3 January 1994 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
• • May 1935 • •
• • "Goin' to Town" opens in movie houses across the USA.
• • May 1946 • • 
• • The stage play "Ring Twice Tonight" opens in Long Beach, California on 16 May 1946 before moving forward on its cross-country tour. The title gets changed and becomes "Come On Up."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Critic Scott Renshaw writes: But since great comedy has at its core always been about subversive honesty, we've had a long road culturally — — from Mae West to Joan Rivers to Sarah Silverman — — toward being comfortable with it coming out of the mouths of the fairer sex. While we've been more willing to appreciate slapstick charmers like Lucille Ball and Carol Burnett on the small screen, the history of American mainstream comedy box-office stardom has generally been as female-friendly as a third-grade boy's birthday party. ...
• • Source: Movie Review: "Nasty Girls: Bridesmaids" written by Scott Renshaw for Colorado Springs Independent; posted on 12 May 2011
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 1936th blog post. Unlike many blogs, which draw upon reprinted content from a newspaper or a magazine and/ or summaries, links, or photos, the mainstay of this blog is its fresh material focused on the life and career of Mae West, herself an American original.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
________
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• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1946 poster • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
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An article in Variety — — whose publisher Sime Silverman [19 May 1873 — 23 September 1933] was well-known to MAE WEST — — could inflate and launch a performer's career upward not unlike the way helium helps a balloon.
• • Born in Cortland, NY in the month of May — — on 19 May 1873 — — Simon J. Silverman yearned to be a reporter. In 1903 Daily America hired him to critique vaudeville acts. After acquiring some experience, he snagged a reviewer's gig with The Telegraph. A variety artist had paid for a half-page ad in The Telegraph. Being honest instead of politically correct, Silverman panned the act as "N.G." (no good), which got him sacked. This was exactly the motivation he needed. In 1905, he launched his own "horizontal" sheet, VARIETY, which offered coverage on live acts, vaude, circus dare-devils, and other forms of entertainment.
• • Also born in May, writer Sidney Skolsky [2 May 1905 — 3 May 1983] regularly interviewed Broadway personalities such as Mae West during the 1920s. Sidney Skolsky wrote this amusing essay in 1929. An excerpt appears below.
• • Sime Silverman — — Variety's The Spice Of Life • •
• • He is the sole owner, publisher and editor of the bible of show business: SIME SILVERMAN. Variety, the man in type form, is one of the best, most respected and most influential trade journal in the world.
• • He was fired from the Morning Telegraph be-cause his review of a vaudeville act displeased the managing editor. While on that sheet he signed his reviews: "The Man in the Third Row."
• • He is not moody.
• • He is fifty-three years old. Was born in Cortland, N. Y. Has been married to the same wife for thirty years. The pride and joy of his life is his son, Syd, who wrote on Variety as a child critic at the age of seven, signing his articles with the pen name "Shigie."
• • Decided to publish a paper for the profession which would print news items and show reviews as the staff writers wrote them. He discussed the possibilities with Mrs. Silverman. Together they named it Variety. Then, absentmindedly, she sketched on the table cover the funny capital "V." It's still the trademark of the paper. 
• • His first office was a tiny room on the fifth floor of the Knickerbocker Theatre building. [In 1905 the building was situated at 1396 Broadway, between West 38th and West 39th, adjacent to New York City’s famous theatre district.]
• • His only pet is an Angora cat named Steve.
• • He summers at Alexandria Bay when he summers.
• • In mid-December, the year 1905, the first copy of Variety appeared on the newsstands. It contained sixteen pages. It sold for a nickel. The wise guys gave the paper three months to live.
• • He likes to eat in road houses. His credit is good everywhere. He always pays cash.
• • In the beginning Variety's space was devoted solely to vaudeville. Today vaudeville receives but little attention, motion pictures being the big feature. He still reviews the small-time vaudeville shows.
• • Is probably the hardest working editor in America. His day begins at eight-thirty A. M. Can generally be found at his desk at two A. M. still working.
• • He eats in the hunting room at the Astor. Is the greatest check grabber Broadway has ever known. Has never been known to allow anyone to pick up the "bad news." Is a very liberal tipper. ...
• • Photo from 1920 shows the theatre district mainstays — — such as the Casino Theatre, Knickerbocker, and Maxine Elliott's — — which were located between West 38th — — West 39th on Broadway. Soon the playhouses would move further uptown. Mae entertained at the Casino.
• • Babe Gordon [1930] • •
• • Blogger Erik Donald France crafted an enjoyable and insightful review of "Babe Gordon" [1930], a novel by Mae West. His first paragraph is this: Mae West's Babe Gordon is a rare character in that she does basically what she wants. No Pandora's Box. No Thelma and Louise, no Madame Bovary, no Anna Karenina, more like The Last Seduction, the entertaining 1994 neo-noir movie starring Linda Fiorentino. In other words, instead of "independent woman gets punished for her social transgressions," "independent woman lives free and gets away with it." Why aren't there more of these kinds of characters? It's refreshing. ...
• • Source: Erik Le Rouge's blog on Blogger.com [posted on 16 May 2011]
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Raymond Loewy [1893 — 1986], the father of industrial design, created the Mae West bottle for Coke in the 1950s.
• • Gareth Roberts writes: In 1940, the [cigarette] brand came to the attention of the legendary industrial designer Raymond Loewy, the man responsible for Coca-Cola’s Mae West inspired bottle and numerous other American institutions including the Studebaker car, the Greyhound bus, and the Shell logo. The president of American Tobacco George Washington Hill bet Loewy $50,000 he would not be able to improve on the Lucky Strike design. One month later Loewy collected his money and Lucky Strike had a new package. ...
• • Source: Article: "Stubbing Out A Century Of Cigarette Design" written by Gareth Roberts for Sabotage Times; posted on 19 May 2011
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 1935th blog post. Unlike many blogs, which draw upon reprinted content from a newspaper or a magazine and/ or summaries, links, or photos, the mainstay of this blog is its fresh material focused on the life and career of Mae West, herself an American original.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • NYC theatre district where Mae performed, 1920 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
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Mae West.
Before bidding adieu to the month of May, it's fitting to memorialize one of the famous palookas whose good looks and midnight maneuvers (temporarily) knocked out MAE WEST.
