Sunday, September 16, 2012

Mae West: London Town

"MAE WEST On Way For London Show" was the jolly headline in a few Australian publications on Tuesday, 16 September 1947.  Fans were informed that the Hollywood icon was sailing to England on the Queen Mary to begin assembling a British cast for "Diamond Lil."   
• • The news reached Down Under a bit late; Mae and Jim Timony had already set sail for Southampton, England on 11 September 1947. They arrived at their destination on Wednesday the 17th.
• • The plan was that Mae West would audition new cast members, rehearse, get the costumes and a moveable set made, and then route "Diamond Lil" though Manchester, Blackpool, Birmingham, and Glasgow before opening in London by January 1948. 
• • Mae West's earnings, while touring in the UK, would be 2,000 pounds weekly.
• • The UK run was produced by Val Parnell [1892 — 1972] and Tom Arnold — — very shrewd fellows.
• • Earl Carroll [16 September 1893 — 17 June 1948] • •
• • Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Saturday, 16 September 1893, Earl Carroll was an ambitious theatrical producer, director, songwriter, and composer. Known as "the troubadour of the nude," Carroll was famous for his productions featuring scantily clad showgirls on Broadway.  Mae turned to him in August 1922 to bail her out when "The Ginger Box Revue" ran aground.  Earl did not help oil the wheels before this train wreck, alas.  Mae did the only sensible thing: she headed back to vaudeville.
• • When he was 54, Earl Carroll died in the crash of United Airlines Flight 624, which also took the life of his 39-year-old girlfriend, Beryl Wallace, on 17 June 1948, in Aristes, Pennsylvania.
• • On Saturday, 16 September 1911 • •
• • Variety reviewed the cabaret show (issue dated for Saturday, 16 September 1911) while "A la Broadway" was still in rehearsal.  Choreographer Ned Wayburn got Mae West, who studied dance with him, into the cast.
• • On Monday, 16 September 1928 • •
• • Mae West's play "Pleasure Man" opened on a Monday evening on 16 September 1928 at the Bronx Opera House in New York City.
• • On Saturday, 16 September 1933 • •
• • The film crew had called it a wrap for "I'm No Angel" in early September.  Then on Saturday, 16 September 1933, James Wingate of the Hays Office in Los Angeles sent a Western Union telegram to a colleague on the East Coast. "Just saw the 'Angel' picture,"  Wingate wrote. "We think it is satisfactory with exception very few lines still under discussion."  He added, "Much better than we expected."
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I thought myself to think only of Mae West and then I got so busy I couldn't think of anything else.  You don't leave things to chance in this business."
• • Mae West said: "TV is good training but you can get swallowed.  You have to find your own style and go from there."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A blog post discussed a visit to Mae West.
• • My name is Eric Lindsay and I was born in 1929, year of the great depression, so I am old!  . . .
• • Eric Lindsay wrote: Ray Jackson had written one of the songs with another Brit for Mae West’s new record called “Great Balls of Fire.” This was how Reece became friends with her. The time was just post “Myra Breckinbridge.” Mae (as he called her) adored the English as she had very happy memories of when she appeared for six months at the Prince of Wales Theatre, Coventry Street, London in 1948.   ....
• • Source: Personal Essay: "Afternoon Tea With Mae West" written by Eric Lindsay; ericlindsay.wordpress.com/;  posted in 2012
By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started eight years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2429th 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 • 1947
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