• • What was Mae West really like, when she was in her own home entertaining her non-industry buddies? Chris Basinger, who got to know Mae West in the early 1907s, first as an employee at The Ravenswood, and then as a personal friend, said, "Miss West was more of a listener than a talker. She never monopolized the conversation. Instead she enjoyed hearing what others had to say. Of course, if you asked her a question about her career, then she would answer you politely — — unlike her contemporary Greta Garbo, who quit the business and then, supposedly, would leave the room in a huff if you mentioned her old movies."
• • Angry Moments • •
• • Generally speaking, Mae West was a good sport. But Chris Basinger remembers a few incidents that got her Irish temper up.
• • "In 1974, a fan stopped by the building with several photos he wanted her to sign. One was a gorgeous silver gelatin print, an 11" X 14" taken before World War I. He told me it cost him $75." Taking the photos upstairs to Mae, Chris waited patiently while she autographed the black and white stills from her movies. But when she came to the studio portrait from her vaudeville years, she refused to sign it. She didn't even want to give it back.
• • "Miss West sent me to the lobby with several pictures she offered to trade with the man. No matter what I offered him instead, he refused. When I told her that, she threw the studio portrait on the floor. "Then give the damned thing back to him! I don't need fans like that!" Apparently, Mae only wanted her fans to remember her as she looked onscreen.
• • We'll print more from our exclusive a-Mae-zing interview with Chris Basinger soon.
• • On Sunday, 17 July 1932 in The L.A. Times • •
• • Interviewed for The L.A. Times by California reporter Muriel Babcock, Mae West told her, "The screen doesn't require as much acting of a certain type. The camera catches the slightest facial movements, the slightest twitch of an eye." The complete interview appeared in the weekend edition on Sunday, 17 July 1932.
• • On Sunday, 17 July 1949 • •
• • "Mae West Fell In Hotel, Claims Dollars" was the front page headline of The Sunday Herald (Sydney, NSW) on Sunday, 17 July 1949 .
• • The star of stage and screen sued New York's Hotel Chatham for $250,000 in damages for injuries received in a fall in her bathroom there. She alleged that a defective floormat caused the fall, which made her "sick, sore, lame, and disabled." Additionally, the actress was prevented from continuing to earn 3,000 dollars weekly as the star of the play "Diamond Lil." The fall, she said, broke bones in her left ankle.
• • Save the Dates: 3 Mondays in August 2015 • •
• • Onstage Outlaws — — Mae West and Texas Guinan during the Lawless Prohibition Era • •
• • 3 events commemorate the Brooklyn bombshell’s August birthday in the room where she faced a judge who sent her to jail • •
• • New York's Annual Mae West Tribute: to celebrate the birthday of Brooklyn bombshell Mae West, on August 3rd and on August 10th, her films will be shown at 6:00pm. The first one, "Sextette" [1978] will be screened on August 3rd. Then "Go West Young Man" [1936] will be screened on August 10th. The August 17th multi-media presentation will feature light refreshments (courtesy of East Village Cheese) and a raffle. You could win rare films starring Texas Guinan. Or maybe a rare reprint by The New Yorker’s caricaturist Alfred Freuh or by a famous N. Y. Times illustrator.
• • Refreshment sponsor: East Village Cheese
• • Details — — Mae West Tribute: Triple Treat in 2015
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West tosses curve at Chatham Hotel in New York in latest lawsuit.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "The only thing I know about Milwaukee is that they make beer there. It's pretty good beer — — but it never was good enough to make me get married and then forget about it."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • 45 Years Ago on July 15th • •
• • Universal City Studios Inc. relayed that Mae West granted permission for the Diamond Lil Theatre to continue calling itself that. Owners Ed and Vera Cheney sent brochures and photographs to Mae West after being informed that the actress, who wrote and starred in a play called “Diamond Lil,” owned rights to the name. ...
• • Source: A "looking backwards" column of archival news and notes from The Jackson Hole News (Teton County, Wyoming); published on Wednesday, 15 July 2015
• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 11th anniversary • •
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past eleven years. The other day we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 3,200 blog posts. Wow!
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started ten years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 3225th 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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• • Photo: • • Mae West • • in 1928 • •
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