• • Byron Foulger [27 August 1899 — 4 April 1970] • •
• • Born in Ogden, Utah, little Byron Foulger came into this world on Sunday, 27 August 1899.
• • Byron Foulger began performing with community theater, and stock and repertory companies after graduating from University of Utah. In 1932, he appeared in his first motion picture "Night World" as a night clubber called Mr. Baby. Specializing in mild-mannered roles, the busy character actor worked the silver screen and TV until 1970, racking up close to 500 credits.
• • When Byron co-starred with Mae West • •
• • But his most memorable role was as Satan in 1937 opposite Mae West in a racy "Adam and Eve" skit on the Edgar Bergen — Charlie McCarthy network radio program "The Chase and Sanborn Hour," which resulted in Mae West being banned from the airwaves almost immediately.
• • Byron Foulger died in Hollywood, California on Saturday, 4 April 1970. He was 70.
• • It happened on April 4th • •
• • The fourth day of the fourth month turned out to be full of many unforgettable moments. Three of these are below.
• • It was on Wednesday, 4 April 1928 that Mae's successful Bowery drama "Diamond Lil" first opened at Leo Teller's Broadway Theatre in Brooklyn, NY. Lil's stage costumes were designed by Dolly Tree. If you were standing outside on the corner of Court Street and Stockton Street, you would have heard thunderous applause and cheers. "You'd have thought that a favorite bootlegger had come back from Atlanta," wrote drama critic Robert Garland in the New York Evening Telegram on Thursday, 5 April 1928. "[Mae] makes Miss Ethel Barrymore look like the late lamented Bert Savoy."
• • It was on Friday, 4 April 1930 that the infamous "Pleasure Man" obscenity trial had come to an end — — when the jury could not agree.
• • On Sunday, 4 April 1976 Mae was a guest on CBS-TV. This would be her final televised appearance on a show called "Back Lot, USA" with the elfin host Dick Cavett. During this prime time program, the screen queen discussed her colorful life and performed a long, elaborately staged medley of her jaunty 1930s hits. Mae was 72 years old at the time.
• • On Monday, 5 April 1954 • •
• • The death of James Timony on Monday, 5 April 1954 was announced in The L.A. Times on April 6th. Mae was prostrated by grief at the death of her long-term companion, the man who guided her rise to fame and fortune.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • It is mid-afternoon but Mae is in a negligee revealing that the years you politely try not to think about have been fantastically kind. Hair kept as blonde as ever; and a smooth face untouched, she swears, by plastic surgery; and smooth hands that tell no tales and the seemingly unchanged hour-glass figure.
• • "And not a single cavity in my teeth, which are my OWN, too," Mae West says and smiles.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I was always famous for what I wore, not for what I didn't wear."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • The Confidential Magazine trial involved Mae West
• • Douglas O. Linder wrote: California attorney Jerry Giesler, speaking for many Hollywood insiders, declared war on Confidential: "My clients have decided to fight... We'll hound them through every court in the country. We'll file civil libel suits and criminal libel complaints...The smut is going to stop." The libel suits began. Lisabeth Scott sought $2.5 million in her suit, Robert Mitchum asked for $1 million, and Doris Duke filed suit for $3 million.
• • Douglas O. Linder explained: Meanwhile, others in the California movie industry sought the intervention of State Attorney General Edmund "Pat" Brown. In early 1957, Brown's office launched an investigation of Confidential.
• • Douglas O. Linder noted: A grand jury empaneled in spring heard from celebrity witnesses including Mae West, Maureen O'Hara, June Allyson, Walter Pidgeon, and Liberace. ...
• • Source: "The Confidential Magazine Trial: An Account" written by Douglas O. Linder; published in 2010
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started nine years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2885th 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/
________
Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • with Edgar Bergen in 1937 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
NYC Mae West
No comments:
Post a Comment