When Helen Lawrenson came up to see MAE WEST, Esquire's first female journalist was closing in on her sixtieth birthday and the Brooklyn bombshell was 73. A color photo by Diane Arbus flashed across the double-page-spread, hunched under half the title as if warding off a punch in the nose.
• • In honor of Helen Lawrenson's October birthday, enjoy her seldom seen interview. This is Part 10 of 46 parts.
• • "Mirror, Mirror, on the Ceiling: How'm I Doin’?" • •
• • Not bad, Mae, for a woman of seventy-three • •
• • Mae West: At 73, Mae bragged she still looked like 26 • •
• • Helen Lawrenson wrote: I followed her to the kitchen, where she pointed to a large glass tank of Puritas water. “When I was actin’ I always had a bottle of Poland water in my dressin’ room. Regular water’s terrible for your skin. See how nice mine is.”
• • Helen Lawrenson wrote: She held up a plumpish white arm for me to inspect. It did, indeed, look smooth and youthful. “You know,” she went on, “if you didn’t know how old I am, a person’d think I’m twenty-six.”
• • Helen Lawrenson wrote: She gave me a rhadamanthine glance and waited.
• • Helen Lawrenson wrote: “You’re doing all right,” I said.
• • Helen Lawrenson wrote: At her peak she was called the greatest box-office champ of all time.
• • Mae West: Best-known woman • • . . .
• • Helen Lawrenson's interview will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: Esquire; published on Saturday, 1 July 1967.
• • On Friday, 23 October 1931 • •
• • It was on Friday, 23 October 1931 that the New York City tabloid Evening Graphic reported on the very strange fan letters Mae West was receiving.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae says “erster” for “oyster“ • •
• • Mae West has always said "appernt-ment" for appointment and "erster" for oyster and I suspect she always will. I have never seen her when she wasn't wearing thick artificial eyelashes, be it during the pre-midnight hours or by day's early light.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I cut down on physical sex when I'm writing or plotting a play."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Vanity Fair mentioned Mae West.
• • Meryl Gordon wrote: A quote by Mae West sounds like good advice — — “Keep a diary and one day it'll keep you." But the secret diaries of dramatist Moss Hart were full of negative remarks, spiteful sniping, or bitter predictions about people he knew. His wife kept these notebooks private for decades. No wonder.
• • Moss Hart [24 October 1904 — 20 December 1961] • •
• • Meryl Gordon wrote: Had Moss Hart been publishing movie reviews during this period rather than confiding his thoughts to his diary, he would have been the scourge of stage and screen. After attending a screening of "On the Waterfront," Hart writes that “Marlon Brando had become a caricature of himself.”
• • Meryl Gordon wrote: Moss Hart had a prudish reaction to a live performance by Mae West, feeling repulsed by her and describing the show as “horrendous.” . . .
• • Source: Vanity Fair; published on Wednesday, 30 May 2012
• • 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 4,588th 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 1969 • •
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