Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Mae West: Fashion as an Insult

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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• • Photo: • • Mae West • • "Mimic World," 1921 • •
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Mae West.

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