Mae West: Major Credit

An intriguing article about MAE WEST was printed on Monday, 7 August 1995.

• • Mae West never stopped exerting herself when it came to her career.  Despite the considerable energy she applied to every project, when The N.Y. Times printed an obituary for James Timony on 5 April 1954, they depicted their relationship along the lines of Pygmalion and Galatea.
• • Timony guided her to success • •

• • Calling James A. Timony the manager of Mae West for 25 years, and the person who "guided her to success," The N.Y. Times also noted that he "received major credit for her development from a relatively obscure singer and dancer into an internationally known prototype of the American siren."
• • They Made Mae West a Star • •

• • The William Morris Agency also claimed credit. "They Made Mae West a Star" was the title of the article that ran in U.S. News and World Report on Monday, 7 August 1995.

• • Born in Germany, William Morris [1873 — 2 November 1932] had registered himself as a vaudeville agent in 1898 when he was 25 years old. Though several variety artists became rich and famous, the entertainment audience was shifting to the motion picture house by the late 1920s.  Fortunately, the William Morris Agency took note. A news item about the agency stated: "The Morris Agency found an unlikely savior in Mae West, who went on to become the top grosser at the box office in the 1930s. After its initial dip, entertainment proved a Depression-hardy industry."

• • Now what would Mae West have said about that?

• • Frank Buchman [4 June 1878 — 7 August 1961] • •

• • It was August 1939 when Mae West met with Frank Buchman for a half an hour.

• • Born in in Pennsburg, Pennsylvania on 4 June 1878, Franklin Nathaniel Daniel Buchman was a Protestant Christian evangelist who founded the Oxford Group (known as Moral Re-Armament from 1938 until 2001, and as Initiatives of Change since then). Buchman was a controversial figure throughout much of his adult life, and critics dubbed his movement as "Buchmanism" from the 1920s.

• • Buchman, who never married, went out to Hollywood in 1939 to have himself photographed with movie stars as a way to use these pictures for his own publicity.

• • In August 1939, Mae West suggested that Buchman might visit comedian W.C. Fields.

• • Despite a stroke in 1942, and failing health that eventually led to blindness and immobility, Buchman pressed on and remained fairly active for the next nineteen years. Buchman died in Freudenstadt, Germany in the month of August — — on Monday, 7 August 1961. He was 83.

• • On Tuesday, 7 August 1934 in Variety • •

• • According to Daily Variety, "Belle of the Nineties" was given the purity seal on 6 August  1934. Variety announced this on the front cover of their issue dated for Tuesday, 7 August 1934.

• • Correspondence from Hammell to Joe Breen dated Wednesday, 7 August 1934, however, listed half-a-dozen script revisions that would be made. These modifications were meant to scrub away any implied immorality from the Ruby Carter character or the Tiger Kid.

• • Save the Date: Thursday, August 16th • •

• • Thursday, 16 August 2012 will be the next Mae West Tribute in Manhattan and the evening affair will start at 6:30 pm at 155 Mulberry Street.  This year Mae-mavens will enjoy an indoor event (ahhh, air conditioning), music written by Mae West's Italian husband will be played, and attendees will be seated.

• • At the Reception, Italian wine and light refreshments will be served. The ever-popular Mae West Raffle will offer rare prizes once again to a number of lucky attendees. The public is invited.

• • Mae West was born in Brooklyn, NY on Thursday, 17 August 1893.

• • Closest MTA subway stations: Grand St. or Canal St.

• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "There's nothing better in life than diamonds."
• • Mae West said: "Diamond Lil and I are getting to be pretty inseparable."

• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Excerpt from a review of "Becoming Mae West" by biographer Emily Wortis Leider.
• • Book critic Maria Braden noted: Mae West also hid that she had been married twice because she wanted to be perceived as single and available. And although West was a businesswoman, she refused to portray such a character on the screen because it might compromise her "femininity." ...
• • Source: Book Review: "A Hollywood Legend Who Wasn't Always What She Seemed" written by Maria Braden, Knight-Ridder Newspapers; published on 7 August 1997

• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started eight years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2387th 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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