Mae West: Morse Coded

MAE WEST sang “Smooch Around” and a drawing of her appeared on the song sheet. Let’s find out more about the husband and wife songwriting team (who were also NYC music publishers).
• • “Smooch Around” [composer Theodore Morse, lyricist D.A. Estrom; 1913] • •
• • Performer: Mae West
• • First line of verse:     Little Willie Green loved a little queen …
• • First line of chorus:     Then he would smooch around …

• • Theodore F. Morse [13 April 1873 — 25 May 1924] was an American composer of popular songs.
• • Born in Washington D.C., Morse was educated at the Maryland Military and Naval Academy. He went on to study both violin and piano.
• • He and his wife, Theodora Morse, became a successful songwriting team for Tin Pan Alley. Listed as Terriss and Morse, they were one of the earliest Tin Pan Alley husband-wife songwriting teams.
• • Alfreda Theodora Strandberg [11 July 1883 — 10 November 1953] was born in Brooklyn, New York.
• • On Thursday, 7 March 1907, she married Theodore F. Morse, who was ten years older.
• • Alfreda Theodora Strandberg hid her identity with pen-names. Professionally, she often used these pseudonyms: Dorothy Terriss, Dolly Morse, and D. A. Esrom [i.e., Morse spelled backwards].
• • Versatile and talented, Theodora not only wrote with her husband — — but she also collaborated with other composers on wildly popular hits such as “Hail, Hail, the Gang’s All Here.”
• • After they teamed up, the married couple also became music publishers. Theodore Morse Music Company was located here: 143-145 West 40th Street, New York, NY.
• • On Sunday, 25 May 1924, Theodore F. Morse died in New York City. He was 51.
• • Almost 30 years later, on Tuesday, 10 November 1953, Alfreda Theodora Morse died in White Plains, NY. She was 70.
• • On Monday, 21 April 1975 • •
• • Released in a hardcover edition on Monday, 21 April 1975 was "Mae West on Sex, Health and E.S.P." written by Mae West.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West has taught radio a lesson.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “I’m supposed to be a good woman and my fans don't like to see me in certain kinds of pictures."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article in The Chicago Tribune in April 1945 mentioned Mae West.
• • The Chicago Tribune wrote: "Mae West has Chicago's Hotel Stevens in a dither over her widely-broadcast invitations to friends to come up for a spiritualistic seance some time." . . .
• • Source: The Chicago Tribune; published on Friday, 13 April 1945
• • 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 15th anniversary • • 
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past fifteen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 4,400 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fifteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,457th 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 • • song sheet in 1913 • •
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