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Pack sunscreen, a beach towel, and a MAE WEST paperback for maximum mid-June enjoyment. Several years ago, I managed to get a copy of George Baxt's enjoyable novel: "The Mae West Murder Case." It was a delicious romp.
• • Here is a general plot summary that a few book sites had posted.
• • The year is 1936, and Mae West has all of Hollywood wrapped around her little finger: a place many a man would kill to be. The legendary screen siren has, however, one critic — — one with deadly fangs in place of a poison pen — — who is knocking off Mae West impersonators along his way to the real thing. But if there's one thing Mae West knows, it's that no no-account vampire is going to upstage Tinseltown's most celebrated vamp.
• • Brought back larger than life as only George Baxt can do it, Mae herself takes charge of the investigation in an adventure brimming with her doubles and her double entendres. This time she's hoping he won't have a gun in his pocket, and that he won't be glad to see her.
• •Armed with glamour, gossip, and curves of every kind, Mae leaps headlong into a web of blackmail and corruption without so much as a trace of fear.
• • Says Mae West: "You don't know danger until you've faced the New York critics on an opening night." And when a Hallowe'en party at one of Hollywood's spookiest, seamiest clubs brings hunter and hunted together, it's no longer clear who is after whom. What is clear, however, is that once Mae West gets in on the act, no sucker is safe.
• • On Saturday, 15 June 1935 • •
• • It was on Saturday, 15 June 1935 that Mae West made headlines in The Hutchinson News [Hutchinson, Kansas]. Here's the story: A controversy developed over Hollywood starlet Mae West's sometimes marriages. Her latest film "Goin' to Town" at the air-conditioned Fox Theatre, featured West as a married woman taking two husbands and the third — — who had met an untimely demise — — all to get her clutches on the one she actually wanted.
• • On Friday, 15 June 1951 in New York, NY • •
• • According to the pre-trial coverage, Sarah Allen had appeared in the cast of "Diamond Lil" during its 1949 tour. She then developed her own act impersonating Mae who, at first, was so charmed that she gave the younger woman permission to include the number "Come Up and See Me Sometime." But after Miss Allen "wowed them in Bayonne, NJ with a stand-out performance," Mae's admiration cooled.
• • Taking her beef to the New York Supreme Court, and claiming she was slandered, Sarah Allen slapped a million dollar suit against the screen queen.
• • On Friday, 15 June 1951 there was an examination before trial in Manhattan.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West is the only person I ever saw who could decline to answer a question without loss of poise or some defensive bristling.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "To-day, the people of the world have become brutal and cruel and given themselves up to destruction, murder and violence.” [from a letter written to the Jewish Home for the Aged in August 1940 with a donation]
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A book review site mentioned Mae West.
• • Mary Ward Menke wrote: Reflecting the moral standards of the day, Louella Parsons also helped damage the careers of Mae West (for her overt sexuality), Charlie Chaplin (for leaning too far to the left), and Ingrid Bergman (for becoming pregnant with director Roberto Rossellini's child while married to another man). . . .
• • Source: Item from January Magazine; posted in May 2006
• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 11th anniversary • •
• • Thank
you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these
past eleven years. The other day we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we
reached a milestone recently when we completed 3,400 blog posts. Wow!
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started eleven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 3464th
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/
________
Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • postcard in 1949 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
NYC Mae West
MAE WEST tried to fight the racists and bigots by including black performers and black music in her projects. She would have beamed at this headline printed on Saturday, 5 February 1938.
• • "Storm Theatre for Mae West Film, Benny Goodman Band" • •
• • New York, Feb. 3. (A.N.P.) — Unlike some Southern audiences and censors who violently object to white and colored together on what they call "terms of social equality,” a crowd of 1,500 persons stormed the Paramount theatre on Wednesday to hail the return of Benny Goodman and his band featuring Teddy Wilson and Lionel Hampton, and see the new Mae West comedy film, “Every Day’s a Holiday,” in which Louis Armstrong plays his trumpet.
• • Last week the Memphis board of censors cut out all scenes from a new film showing the Goodman quartet because Wilson and Hampton were present, but this same quartet was one of the reasons for the unprecedented Paramount crowd. Lines started forming outside the theatre at 5 a.m., and the management had to call special police to care for the throng of 1,600 on hand when doors were opened at 7:30, a half-hour before scheduled time. The box office was forced to close at 10:30 with a line extending a block away, and the entire house of 3,664 seats had been sold out by nine.
• • When the Goodman band appeared on the stage, the audience roared a hearty greeting and couples began dancing in the aisles, with some of the more venturesome even going up on the stage.
• • As a precautionary measure doors were scheduled to open a half hour earlier during the band’s engagement there.
• • Source: Article written by A.N.P. for the Indianapolis Recorder; published on Saturday, 5 February 1938.
• • On Sunday, 5 February 1933 in New York World Herald • •
• • In an interview with New York World Herald in their Sunday issue, on 5 February 1933, Mae West boasted about discovering Cary Grant and getting him the role of Captain Cummings for her motion picture.
• • On Monday, 5 February 1934 in Scandinavia • •
• • "I'm No Angel" starring Mae West made its debut in Denmark on 5 February 1934.
• • On Saturday, 5 February 1949 on Broadway • •
• • Mae West fused herself to the persona of "Diamond Lil" like no other character she had ever played.
• • In the month of February, a Broadway revival of "Diamond Lil" opened at the Coronet Theatre [show dates: 5 February 1949 — 26 February 1949].
• • However, this hugely successful revival was interrupted, alas, after a few weeks. Mae West broke her ankle on February 26, causing performances to halt after she slipped on a rug in her midtown Manhattan hotel room. Ouch!
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West, in her own words, is an American legend and institution, one of our living classics.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I've always been aware of sex, and it's always been aware of me."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Columnist Mike Connolly mentioned Mae West.
• • Prentice-Hall handed Mae West one of the biggest advance royalties in publishing history for her autobiography, "The Queen of Sex." [Obviously, the title was changed along the way to the printer.]
• • Source: Gossip column item in Desert Sun; published on Wednesday, 5 February 1958
• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 11th anniversary • •
• • Thank
you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these
past eleven years. The other day we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a
milestone recently when we completed 3,300 blog posts. Wow!
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started ten years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 3371st 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/
________
Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • in 1949 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
NYC Mae West
MAE WEST's boldness inspired Quinn Lemley, who's been trouping with her glamourous boa-toting brigade for three years, winning accolades from The Village Voice, Vanity Fair, and Asbury Park Press.
• • Stephanie Simon of NY1 wrote: When the women of "Burlesque To Broadway" entertain, it's hard to not be a fan. This theatrical concert celebrates the history of American Burlesque. NY1 caught a recent rehearsal as it prepares for a run at Gramercy Theater.
• • “It really celebrates the journey of the icons that went from burlesque to Broadway and beyond like Gypsy Rose Lee, Mae West, Sally Rand, Fanny Brice,” said Quinn Lemley. ...
• • Quinn's extravaganza will bring warmth and fun to The Big Apple next month (when we need it) from February 5th — 8th in Manhattan at the Gramercy Theater, 127 East 23rd Street. Good luck, ladies.
• • On Saturday, 21 January 1950 • •
• • When the revival of "Diamond Lil" left the Plymouth Theatre on Saturday night, 21 January 1950, Mae West immediately took the show on the road. The hard-working performer has never let an understudy substitute for her onstage. How many actresses can say that?
• • On Tuesday, 21 January 2003 • •
• • Ben Southwell directed the episode "Living Famously — Mae West," which was part of a television series originally broadcast in Great Britain from 2002 — 2003. Starring W.C. Fields, Cary Grant, Mickey Hargitay, et al, this footage originally aired in the United Kingdom on Tuesday, 21 January 2003.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • When the Motion Picture Theater Owners of America held their convention in our fair city, Mae West talked to them over a phone from her sick bed, rather than disappoint the gentlemen.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • To Mark Linder, Mae West said: "Atmosphere and locale! You can't copyright atmosphere and locale! There isn't even a name in 'Diamond Lil' that was in your play except that of Chick Clark — — and I think I'll take that out!"
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Reuters mentioned Mae West.
• • "Paris auction opens closet of Schiaparelli, 1930s fashion doyenne" • •
• • Reporting from France, Alexandria Sage wrote: Matador jackets in pink and blue, 18th century tapestries, tunics from China, Japanese kimonos and Ottoman kaftans, elegant turbans and exotic tabletop items made from horns are all on offer in the auction expected to raise about 800,000 euros.
• • Alexandria Sage wrote: So too is a series of Jules Cheret posters from the Belle Epoque, fashion sketches from French illustrator Christian Berard and a plaster figure of Mae West, whose curvaceous form inspired the bottle for Schiaparelli's "Shocking" perfume. ...
• • Source: Article written by Alexandria Sage for Reuters; published on Friday, 17 January 2014
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started nine years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2836th 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/
________
Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • sketched in 1949 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
NYC Mae West
