Mae West: Vester Pegg

MAE WEST worked with a large cast in "My Little Chickadee" [1940]. Vester Pegg was seen as a gambler in this comedy with an "Old West" setting.

• • Born in Appleton City, Missouri, his real name was Sylvester House Pegg and he came into the world during May — — on 23 May 1889.  The 23-year-old kicked off his cinema adventures during the silent era when "In the Long Run" [1912] was his first screen credit.

• • Movie-goers got to see him between 1912 — 1941 when he was featured in 140 motion pictures, mostly in blend-right-in bits.  The five-foot-ten character actor must have projected a "tough guy" appeal because he was usually cast as the henchman, poker player, gambler, sheriff, deputy, cowhand, cattleman, frontiersman, soldier, and other don't-mess-with-me roles.

• • Vester Pegg died in Los Angeles on 19 February 1951.  He was 63.

• • Jimmy McHugh [10 July 1894 — 23 May 1969] • •

• • Mae 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 — 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 in Beverly Hills, California on 23 May 1969.  He was 74.

• • On Monday, 23 May 1949 in Life • •

• • Actress Sarah Churchill had the cover of Life Magazine's issue dated for 23 May 1949 but inside there was a grand pictorial devoted to Mae West — — all this for 20 cents.

• • The article "America's favorite hussy comes back again as Diamond Lil" began on page 104. Life featured rarely seen half-tones from the 1920s: Mae onstage in "Sex"; Mae with the cast in court; Mae shaking hands with the prison warden of Welfare Island; Mae pointing to "the pie wagon" she rode in after her arrest as she explains prison life to a group of society women; etc.  Life included photos of Mae as a Hollywood star, too.

• • Life wrote: "At 55 Mae is handsomer than ever," emphasizing this point with a colorful full-page portrait of the Broadway icon costumed for her show in a black, gray, and white gown rimmed with gray fur and crowned with a saucy hat, so heavy that she must steady it with a gray-gloved hand.  A portrait fit for a Bowery queen.

• • In Her Own Words • •

• • Mae West said: "I've got it on [Venus de Milo]. I've got two arms and I know how to use them.  Besides, dearie, I'm not marble.”

• • Mae West said: "I must have a moment or two to commune with myself."

• • Mae West said: "I can do more with my voice and eyes than another woman can do turning herself inside out."

• • Quote, Unquote • •

• • An article in Variety discussed the costumes designed by Dolly Tree for Mae West.

• • Variety wrote about Mae's lingerie for her boudoir scenes, those daring nighties of "heavy cream lace and yellow chiffon flounces"  . . . 

• • Source: Article: "Diamond Lil'' written by the Drama Desk of Variety; published on 23 May 1928  

• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2309th 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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