Mae West: Harold Fong

MAE WEST was surrounded by a diverse number of nationalities when she filmed "Sextette" [1978]. It's no surprise that an Asian actor was pasted into the part of the hotel's Chinese chef.
• • Harold Fong [8 February 1911 — 1 June 1982] • •
• • Born as "Gee Fong" in Sacramento, California in February — — on Wednesday, 8 February 1911 — — Harold Fong was seen briefly as the Chinese Kitchen Chef in Mae's last film.
• • From 1944 — 1978, Fong was a bit parts player often cast as a menial or in an ethnic role. In the course of three decades, Fong was featured in 74 projects either on the small screen (in one TV series or another) as well as on the big screen such as a naval aide, a Japanese, a clerk, or a captain of a patrol boat — — all of which he played in 1944 as a Hollywood newcomer when he was 33 years old.
• • His two final appearances on the silver screen were in "Up in Smoke" and "Sextette," both released in 1978, after which the 67-year-old actor retired.
• • Harold Fong died in Los Angeles on 1 June 1982. He was 71.
• • On Friday, 8 February 2013 • •

• • Mae West wrote the screenplay for "My Little Chickadee" [1940] with W.C. Fields and Sag Harbor has invited these laughmeisters back this week for a lively screening. The admission fee will include a box of popcorn.
• • "My Little Chickadee" — — starring Mae West and W.C. Fields — — was officially released on 15 March 1940 and was booked in Manhattan at the prestigious Roxy; then located at 153 West 50th Street, this superbly appointed cathedral devoted to the cinema had first opened in 1927.
• • When: 8:00 pm on Friday, 8 February 2013
• • Where: Bay Street Theatre, Bay Street, Sag Harbor.
• • Tell them you heard about it on the Mae West Blog.
• • On Tuesday, 8 February 1927 • •
• • The date was Tuesday, on 8 February 1927. Mae had staged a midnight "sneak preview" of "The Drag" at Daly's 63rd Street Theatre, reported Variety Magazine; invited attendees included city officials and several respected physicians, who had been expected to give the play an endorsement. The very next night, Mae's other show "Sex" was shut down by City Hall. No, not a coincidence.
• • Dated for Friday, 8 February 1935 • •
• • Calling James A. Timony the manager of Mae West for 25 years, and the person who "guided her to success," The N.Y. Times's obituary for the Brooklynite 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."
• • Clearly, their long-term arrangement took various forms during the 38 years of their partnership from 1916 — 1954. Each derived benefits from this relationship and one example is this signed check.
• • Dated for Friday, 8 February 1935, the $3,500 allowance to James Timony was his 10% commission on Mae's script for "Now I'm a Lady," sold to Paramount Pictures for $35,000. This was quite a sum in 1935 when most of the country was in the grip of the Great Depression.
• • On Monday, 8 February 1960 in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West got her star on the "Walk of Fame" at 1560 Vine Street on Monday, 8 February 1960.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "So this is the place where a leaf falls up in some canyon and they tell you it's winter."
• • Mae West said: "I'm going to change my tempo and work very, very fast. This picture needs a big lift to pick up the speed and wake an audience up."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article after the death of Mae West discussed the people who worked with her.
• • Kevin Thomas wrote: Both Dr. Jules Stein, founder of MCA, who once played a fiddle in her jazz band when she appeared in vaudeville, and veteran TV director Herbert Kenwith, who early in his career was the stage manager for the tour of her 1948 revival of "Diamond Lil," were firmly convinced that she was older than she admitted. But her first and best biographer to date . . . discovered records in the Bureau of the Census that confirm her birth year as 1893. ...
• • Source: Article: "Enduring Mae West remembered as more than a bawdy comedienne" written by Kevin Thomas for The L.A. Times; published on Sunday, 8 August 1993
• • By the Numbers • • 
• • The Mae West Blog was started eight years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2571st 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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