Mae West: Dancing School

MAE WEST dictated a fanciful retelling of her life to her secretary Larry Lee. The material was reshaped by ghostwriter Stephen Longstreet and published as "Goodness Had Nothing to Do With It" in 1959. For Mae mavens interested in a factual, insightful account, The Mae West Blog recommends the riveting biographies written by Jill Watts and Emily Wortis Leider. Meanwhile, enjoy these (uncorrected) excerpts below from the pen of Mae West.
• • "Goodness Had Nothing to Do With It" by Mae West • •
• • Chapter 1: Take the Spotlight — — Part R • •
• • Express your true feelings • •
• • Mae West wrote:  A person with a great personality never has to act, he just does what he feels. All the training you may get will simply teach you how to express what you feel.
• • Mae West wrote:  It's love, too — love and respect for yourself first, then logically for others.
• • Mae West wrote:  All my concentrating on personality and my efforts to develop it got put to a test when I was seven years old, going on eight, and went to "Professor" Watts' dancing school on Fulton Street, Brooklyn, New York. In those days they called any man who was a card sharp, or a teacher of anything, "Professor."
• • Mae West wrote:  After two weeks at his studio I had impressed him enough for him to put me on at a Sunday concert at the Royal Theatre, which was also on Fulton Street in Brooklyn.
• • Amateur Talent • •  . . .
• • To be continued on the next post.
• • Source: The Autobiography of Mae West [N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1959].
• • On Thursday, 20 February 1936 in Hollywood • •

• • There is a Joseph Breen PCA office memo, dated Thursday, 20 February 1936, in the "Klondike Annie" PCA case file. Alas, Joseph Breen felt that Mae West was "censorable" and he never let up.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Zola's Nana is, like Mae West, a song and dance lady.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I'm too busy to fall in love."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article about Dolly Parton mentioned Mae West.
• • Madison Medeiros wrote: When Mae West said, "Too much of a good thing can be wonderful," I can only assume she was somehow referencing Dolly Parton, who's suddenly ruling 2019. The Queen of Country has been on a publicity spree lately . . .
• • Source: refinery29; published on Sunday, 10 February 2019

• • 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 4153rd 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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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • in 1936 • •
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