Mae West: Toast of Tinseltown

At age 87, MAE WEST suffered a series of strokes which finally resulted in her death on 22 November 1980 in Hollywood, California.
• • The actress took her final breaths quietly in her Hollywood apartment (Ravenswood). Private services [conducted by Dr. Lloyd Ogilvie and attended by about 100 close friends and family] were held in the Old North Church at Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills.
• • Her eulogy, written by Kevin Thomas and delivered by producer Ross Hunter, concluded: “Mae West always said that no one was ever to feel sorry for her, and she would not want anyone to start now. Mae West figured that in one way or another she would live forever. And she probably will.”
• • Entombment was in the West family mausoleum at Cypress Hills Abbey in Brooklyn, New York.
• • Cause of death: Complications from stroke
• • Burial: Cypress Hills Cemetery
• • Brooklyn, Kings County, New York, USA
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "My idea of sex appeal is very different from what some of my imitators have in mind. Sex doesn't mean a girl has to take off her clothes like Brigitte Bardot. I never posed for cheesecake in my life. In fact, I was always overdressed. I became a sex symbol because I have a sex personality, not because I favored nudity. ..."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • In November 1980, her eulogy, penned by L.A. Times columnist Kevin Thomas and delivered by the producer Ross Hunter, remarked that Mae West had been painted by Dali, admired by George Bernard Shaw, photographed by Avedon and Scavullo, praised by critics, damned by censors, loved by audiences, pursued by the ambitious, and criticized by a famed publisher [William Randolph Hearst] at a time when he and she were the highest-salaried man and woman in the USA. ...
• • Source: Eulogy by Kevin Thomas, November 1980
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2123rd 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 • • 1932 • •
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