Mae West: Jose Alex Havier

MAE WEST grooved to employees who were Filipino. More than a few of her drivers had been born in the Philippines.
• • Jose Alex Havier [10 January 1911 — 18 December 1945] • •
• • During the mid-1930s, J. Alexander Havier was employed by Mae West as her chauffeur.
• • Occasionally, Havier’s signed checks noted as “salary” have turned up on auction sites. These cancelled checks [see below] are proof that Alex Havier really was on her payroll during a certain interval.
• • Born on Tuesday, 10 January 1911 in Manila, Philippines, Havier came to Los Angeles as an aspiring actor. A few years after he stopped driving for Mae, he realized his dreams and was cast in a motion picture.

• • Havier participated in 20 motion pictures filmed between 1942 – 1945.
• • Havier played the role of Sani in “Isle of Missing Men” [1942]; two former co-stars of Mae West were in this film, too. Gilbert Roland had the role of Thomas 'Dan' Bentley and Dewey Robinson played a prisoner.
• • Havier played the role of Sanson in “The Adventures of Smilin' Jack [1943]; ]; two former co-stars of Mae West were seen in this film, too. Philip Ahn had the role of Wu Tan and Nigel De Brulier played Lo San.

• • Sadly, when Havier was 34 years old, he fatally shot himself on Tuesday, 18 December 1945 in Los Angeles, California. His last film was released in 1946, after his death. Ironically, it was called “Nobody Lives Forever” in English a.k.a. “Telesfero” [1946].
• • According to the site Find a Grave, Alex Havier was the husband of Dorothy Anita Whisner [1922-2017]. His wife Dotty was born and raised in Ohio and they became the parents of two children, Dottie and Clayton.
• • After Alex Havier committed suicide, Dottie, his 23-year-old widow buried her husband in California’s Calvary Cemetery. What drove him to this desperate act, and leaving two young children behind, we shall never know.
• • On Saturday, 18 December 1937 • •
• • "Every Day's a Holiday," a Gay Nineties motion picture comedy film starring and co-written by Mae West, was released in the USA in December — — on Saturday, 18 December 1937.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • In 1937, French designer Elsa Schiaparelli modeled her wasp-waisted bottle on the figure of Mae West.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “Eugene O'Neill wrote a play about life on a barge, but nobody assumed he was a barge-hand.”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article about a restaurant mentioned Mae West.
• • Ben McCormack wrote:  If any proof were needed of Mae West’s belief that “too much of a good thing can be wonderful,” then the two courses of foie gras I ate at La Poule au Pot is it. Oof!  . . .
• • Source: The Telegraph [U.K.]; published on Monday, 10 December 2018
• • The evolution of 2 Mae West plays that keep her memory alive • • 
• • A discussion with Mae West playwright LindaAnn LoSchiavo — — 
• • http://lideamagazine.com/renaissance-woman-new-york-city-interview-lindaann-loschiavo/

• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 14th anniversary • •  

• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past fourteen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 4,100 blog posts. Wow!  

• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fourteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4107th 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 • • chauffeur Alex Havier circa 1942 • •
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