Mae West: Closeted Dyke

MAE WEST was the ideal co-star, thought Elvis Presley.  This is Part 5, the conclusion.
• • Hollywood Remembered — — Elvis Presley and Mae West by Darwin Porter • •
• • Elvis as her stooge • •
• • Darwin Porter wrote:  "Roustabout" would be "a Mae West picture with Elvis as her stooge,” Col. Parker shouted at Hal Wallis.

• • Elvis was bitterly disappointed to learn that Mae West was out, with the role going to Barbara Stanwyck instead. The former speakeasy dancer from Brooklyn was the biggest female star Elvis had ever appeared with. She was free because both Joan Crawford and Stanwyck had been fired from the latest Bette Davis movie, "Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte."
• • “the most closeted dyke in Hollywood” • •
• • Elvis and Barbara Stanwyck hated each other on sight. On the second day of the shoot, Stanwyck overheard Elvis telling some of his Memphis Mafia boys that she was “the most closeted dyke in Hollywood.”  She never spoke to him again except when delivering her lines in front of the camera. When the picture wrapped, Stanwyck told Wallis, “As an actor, Mr. Presley is pathetic. He has no star quality.” She stormed off the sound stage.
• • "Roustabout" had its American release on Wednesday, 11 November 1964.   Elvis died thirteen years later on 16 August  1977 in Memphis, Tennessee. He was 42.
• • Darwin Porter • •
• • Born in 1937, Darwin Porter became America’s leading travel writer, producing numerous titles, mostly for the Frommer Guidebook series, over a 50-year career span. In the 21st Century, he became a pop culture journalist-historian, the leading celebrity biographer in America in terms of volume of works produced.
• • This was Part 5, the finale. Used with permission. We hope you enjoyed all five excerpts; this material was written some time ago by Mr. Darwin Porter.
• • On Wednesday, 7 March 1934 • •
• • The Hollywood Reporter's issue dated for Wednesday, 7 March 1934 reported that there were sixteen stories in the March 1934 Movie Mirror "and they all, individually, are worth the price of the magazine." Mae West appeared on the front cover of Movie Mirror. Inside, Harry Lang, the Boswell of Tinseltown, concluded his three-part series of the life story of Mae West. This fan magazine was 96 pages and cost a dime.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Paramount certainly hands Mae West the poor stories. No wonder the trade papers are saying she's all washed up.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said:  "Don't be dumb when it comes to men."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An argument in front of the Senate in Washington, D.C. mentioned Mae West.
• • "To the statement of Pettijohn that the producers cannot help if the Mae West pictures draw the public, he [Walter Littlefield] stated that he himself showed the pictures, but afterwards he had to admit to his patrons that he had made a mistake and apologized to them ...
• • Source: Item quoted in Harrison's Reports; dated for March 1936
• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 12th 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 3,500 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started ten years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 3654th 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 • • Elvis Presley with Barbara Stanwyck, 1964 • •
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