Mae West: Hectic Headlines

On Sunday, 6 June 1937 MAE WEST was wishing she was not in the headlines being roasted over this embarrassing matter.  But her denials only fueled the flames.

• • NEW YORK —- Contempt of Court proceedings threaten hip-swaying, movie star Mae West for refusing to say whether she had ever been married or divorced. Appearing in blue lounge pyjamas, the screen siren was questioned regarding claim of U.S. vaudeville artist Frank Wallace, who claims to be "Mr. Mae West."

• • Source: Article: "So She Won't Talk! Mae West Goes Silent" (on page 1) of the Sunday Times (Perth, Western Australia); published on Sunday, 6 June 1937.

• • Violet Trefusis [6 June 1894 — 29 February 1972] • •

• • A Mae West fan, British socialite Violet Trefusis had extraordinary bad girl genes all her own.

• • Born in London, England during the month of June — — on 6 June 1894 — — sweet Violet Keppel was the daughter of the courtesan Alice Keppel, a mistress of King Edward VII of England.

• • Alice Keppel — — anxious to keep her daughter shielded from a scandalous affair with another woman, Vita Sackville-West — — arranged a marriage for Violet with Denys Trefusis.

• • Living abroad in gay Paree, Violet Trefusis adopted Mae West's fashion flair of the 1890s after enjoying the American film "She Done Him Wrong."

• • She died in Bellosguardo, Italy on 29 February 1972. She was 77.

• • On Wednesday, 6 June 1934 • •

• • Hollywood's harpy Joe Breen sent another memo (dated 6 June 1934) about changes that must be made to the upcoming Mae West film, still titled "It Ain't No Sin."

• • On Sunday, 6 June 1976 in the U.K. • •

• • In Britain the Sunday Times did an article that quoted Stanley Musgrove, who was serving as Mae's deputy for the film project "Sextette," and communicating with the young producers Dan Briggs and Robert Sullivan.  The feature was printed on Sunday, June 6, 1976.

• • On Saturday, 6 June 2009 • •

• • On 6 June 2009, a Mae West Look-Alike contest was held in Ithaca, New York at Felicia's Bar. No word on the individual who won, however, contestants were requested to don a blonde wig and look glamourous.

• • In Her Own Words • •

• • Mae West said:  "Between two evils, I always pick the one I never tried before."

• • Mae West said: "I always like to invest my money in something I can watch — — like diamonds or real estate."

• • Quote, Unquote • •

• • An article in The Catholic Herald reviewed a bio of Mae West by George Eells and Stanley Musgrove (along with a number of silly errors).

• • Tom Hutchinson wrote:  If Mae West could survey today's screen scene, she might well recognise it as part of an empire she founded when she introduced man's sex as a comedy subject to the screen in the thirties with "She Done Him Wrong." The sub-title of George Eells and Stanley Muggeridge's (sic) collaboration is "The Lies, The Legend, The Truth" (Dobson Books). They have certainly traced her extraordinary career from child stardom (sic) in variety to her long and ultimately victorious battle with the Motion Picture Production Code to allow her particular brand of jokey sex a place in movies. They record many authentic witticisms of her best encounters, and evoke the polish and glamour she preserved with professional perfectionism. She spoke of her screen and "showbiz image" in the third person as her separate creation, who "wouldn't do this or wear that."

• • Tom Hutchinson wrote: They also record her various excursions into spiritualism or yoga, although she too had some claim to a Catholic background from a long-lost (sic) father. And this very comprehensive account of one of the freakiest phenomena of the cinema achieved a genuinely poignant climax in the story of Paul Novak's (her dresser, secretary, companion, and heir) devoted care of her to the very end.  ...

• • Source: Book Review: "Life with Hollywood's Freakiest Phenomenon" written by The Catholic Herald  [UK] and printed on page 7; published on 5 June 1984

• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2323rd 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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