Mae West: Wanted Control

Was the heavily air-brushed memoir that MAE WEST published in 1959 “scandalous”? Vanity Fair seems to think so. See if you agree. This is Part 9 of 14 segments.
• • “When I’m Bad, I’m Better” — — Mae West’s Sensational Life in Her Own Words • •
• • PBS’s Mae West: Dirty Blonde delves into the life of a savvy sexpot—but even it is not half as scandalous as West’s 1959 autobiography.
• • Mae West:  I enjoyed my success • •
• • Hadley Hall Meares wrote: Unlike most golden age movie stars, West knew her worth. “I enjoyed my success with no false humility, and no coy hiding of my ego under a basket,” she writes in her autobiography.
• • Hadley Hall Meares wrote: According to an anecdote that was recounted in “Mae West: Dirty Blonde,” Paramount head Adolph Zukor discovered this while negotiating her contract. West wanted to write her own scripts, to control costume design—and to get paid. When Adolph Zukor asked her how much, she said, “Well, how much do you make?” Zukor told her. “I want a dollar more,” Mae West allegedly replied. Supposedly, she got it.
• • [Editor: Hmmm. Maybe. Maybe not.]
• • Mae West got her desired leading man • •  ...
• • This 14-part article will be continued tomorrow.
• • Source: Vanity Fair; published on Tuesday, 16 June 2020.  
• • On Friday, 3 September 1937 in Film Daily • •
• • Hollywood — Jack Linder, formerly New York stage producer and one of the leading vaudeville bookers there, has entered the motion picture agency field here at 8741 Sunset Boulevard. Linder has produced such shows as Mae West in "Diamond Lil," "The Squealer," "Cortez," "The Honor Code" and others. Jack Linder also plans to produce legitimate shows on the Coast in the fall.
• • Though Jack Linder was still trumpeting his association with the Paramount star, just four months later, Mae West was back in court with his contentious brother Mark Linder, wrote Film Daily on Friday, 3 September 1937.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •

• • Mae West was featured in the animated cartoon "The Coo-Coo Nut Grove" [1936]. The script took the audience on an amusing tour of a fashionable Hollywood night club.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said:  "When you make the right demands, the studios are delighted."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • The Daily Variety mentioned Mae West.
• • According to Variety, the Wall Street crash clobbered the box office. When "Sex" starring Mae West enjoyed a ten-week engagement at the Garrick Theatre in Chicago, Variety noted that The Windy City had only three other plays in production during that interval.  
• • Variety's issue dated for Wednesday, 3 September 1930 noted that a dozen legitimate Chicago playhouses had gone dark.  It was a lucky break for Mae, all the same.  . . .
• • Source: Variety; published on Wednesday, 3 September 1930
• • 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 16th 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 4,500 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fifteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,554th 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 1936 • •
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