• • True-hearted Mae-mavens know that, in her earliest years of being hired for revues, Mae was getting cast as an Irish serving girl. However, to pole vault herself over the wall of the comedienne's ghetto, Mae knew she had to write her own scripts.
• • Not every actress, however, could convince a Broadway producer or a Hollywood studio boss that she was not made to wear an apron forever. Here's a closer look at Mary Gordon who played a cleaning lady in "She Done Him Wrong" [1933], a film starring Mae as Lady Lou.
• • Mary Gordon [16 May 1882 — 23 August 1963] • •
• • Born as Mary Gilmour in Glasgow, Scotland, she used her ability with dressmaking to attach herself to a theatre group. Widowed in 1917 and in need of income, she hooked up with a stock company en route to a USA junket. When she arrived in America, she played a few minor roles onstage. By the mid-1920s, she had moved to Los Angeles with her mother and young daughter.
• • When her cinema career began in 1925, Mary Gordon was 43 years old. Fortunately, she found work onscreen portraying mothers, aunts, midwives, nursemaids, char ladies, and scrubwomen. It's ironic that, despite her heavy Scottish burr, she was typecast as an Irish mother. (Reportedly, this annoyed Irish film-goers.)
• • Maternal figures, meddling landladies, and mopping became her specialty, which helped her win the role of the kindly housekeeper Mrs. Hudson in the Sherlock Holmes series. The short, plump character actress played the role in ten films (opposite Basil Rathbone) and numerous radio plays. Since several directors enjoyed working with her, between 1925 — 1950 she took part in close to 300 feature films and in TV's "The Cisco Kid" before retiring.
• • Mary Gordon, who took an active role in the Daughters of Scotia auxiliary of the Order of Scottish Clans, spent her retirement years in Pasadena, California and died there after a long illness on Friday, 23 August 1963. She was 81.
• • Dennis O'Keefe [30 March 1908 — 31 August 1968] • •
• • Mae West made a splash in "Night after Night" [1932]. Bit parts player Dennis O'Keefe was seen briefly as Maudie Triplett storms through Joe Anton's speakeasy. He was cast as a drunk asleep at a table.
• • His birthname was Edward Vance Flanagan when he started out in life in Fort Madison, Iowa on 30 March 1908. He was born in the business, accompanying his vaudevillian parents, "Flanagan and Edwards, the Rollicking Twosome," in their act. While enrolled in college, Bud Flanagan tried his hand at writing screenplays. After he started to be hired as an extra, he signaled his Irish heritage in a new stage name, Dennis O'Keefe.
• • Between 1930 — 1966, he was seen in 259 projects on the silver screen and on TV. The tall, genial, outdoorsy character actor transitioned from walk-on bits to Hollywood B movies.
• • Until the mid-1960s, Dennis O'Keefe kept busy with guest-starring roles in Kraft Theatre, Studio One in Hollywood, Lux Video Theatre, Screen Directors Playhouse, all produced on the small screen. Lung cancer claimed him. He died in Santa Monica on Saturday, 31 August 1968. He was 60.
• • On Wednesday, 31 August 1938 • •
• • An article complimenting Mae West and applauding her newest motion picture "Every Day's a Holiday" was published in The Queenslander (Brisbane, Australia) on Wednesday, 31 August 1938.
• • On Sunday, 31 August 1969 • •
• • "Sex is an emotion in motion," Mae West told The Los Angeles Times on Sunday, 31 August 1969. That's a pretty provocative way to end a hot month, eh?
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "You've got to fight in this world! You've got to fight to get there — — and fight to stay there."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A news item mentioned Mae West.
• • GMF blogger wrote: It was a Mae West moment (not something that happens a lot in German politics). I’m referring, of course, to the scene in the 1933 movie “I’m No Angel,” where the actress undulates lazily across a vaudeville stage before a mesmerized audience. Just as she slithers behind the curtain, she throws a single word over her shoulder: “Suckers!”
• • GMF blogger wrote: Sunday’s three regional elections in Germany provided “sucker” experiences all round. . ...
• • Source: Article: "A Mae West Moment in Germany" written by GMF blogger; posted on 31 August 2009
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started eight years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2412th 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.
• • The Mae West Blog was started eight years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2412th 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.
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