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Though MAE WEST, by choice, decided not to do much TV work, her fans really enjoyed the chance to see her on "Mr. Ed" — — broadcast on Sunday, 22 March 1964. This interview appeared on Friday morning, 7 February 1964, and gave an advance buzz on the forthcoming episode, starring the screen siren with a most unusual "leading man" — — the popular talking horse.
• • "Mae West Makes a Bow to TV" • •
• • Hank Grant reported from Hollywood: "It was my first opportunity to take up Mae West on her famous invitation: "Come up and see me sometime." Attired in a peach negligee with a delicately lacy beige bed-jacket over it, the Hollywood temptress had advice for me as well as others.
• • "When you can be calm about sex — — smile, and even laugh — — you're not obsessed with it. It's the obsessed people who cause grave trouble for themselves," according to Miss West.
• • Hank Grant explained: Mae had just completed her first TV role as a guest star in "Mister Ed" and it's been scheduled for an airing. ...
• • According to Hank Grant, Mae had been talking to him about the selling of her Malibu property, what was called the beach home, overlooking the coast for some 20 years (that is, the broad Pacific Ocean). [Note: this section in the 1946 newspaper had faded out; more likely Mae was talking about her weekend mansion in Santa Monica.] . . .
• • Hank Grant observed: She still has that dazzling look and even-toothed smile and the sloe-eyed look that causes male necks to turn wherever she goes. Even at close range, she looked every bit as young as she did in her last movie, and that was many years ago. Did her "Mister Ed" guesting indicate a desire on her part to come out of retirement and launch a TV career? Her answer was even more pointed.
• • Hank Grant went on: "You might say Mae West is ready for television," she drawled, "but is television ready for Mae West? Frankly, I don't like the unhealthy turn television has taken. All because of a hue and cry about excessive violence and sex on TV, producers have eliminated healthy sex and substituted clinical approaches to sex that are morbid and depressing, some are even frighteningly unromantic." . . .
• • [Ed: Mae had more to say about TV and perhaps this will continue in a future post.]
• • Source: Article: "Mae West Makes a Bow to TV" written by Hank Grant, Hollywood columnist, for The Troy Record (Troy, NY); published on Friday, 7 February 1964
• • On Tuesday, 7 February 1933 • •
• • It was on Tuesday, 7 February 1933, that Mae recorded "A Guy What Takes His Time" (one of her saucy hits from "She Done Him Wrong") for Brunswick Records.
• • On Thursday, 7 February 1935 • •
• • Between 1935 — 1936 uncut movie star paper doll sets were featured once a week in the Dallas Journal newspaper. Approximately three dozen Hollywood notables appeared with an array of glamorous outfits. The paper doll published on Thursday, 7 February 1935 was Mae West. Other favorites included Ginger Rogers, Dolores del Rio, Baby Jane, Anna Sten, Phyllis Brooks, Carole Lombard, Ann Harding, Helen Vinson, Gertrude Michael, etc. On 28 March 1935 George Raft was showcased.
• • On Wednesday, 7 February 1940 • •
• • Despite the robust ticket sales for "My Little Chickadee," and the advance word that predicted a sure-fire box office hit, the Hollywood Reporter held to their narrow opinion that "the story doesn't amount to much" and printed their churlish coverage (from the sidelines) on 7 February 1940.
• • "The gags are rather slim," felt the news man from Variety, whose opinions were printed on 7 February 1940. All the same, Variety did emphasize that the considerable loyalty of Mae's followers and W.C. Fields' fan base would create a demand at the movie houses.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • "Peering into the Past" • •
• • "The House of Rothschild" collected the most green at the box office in 1934.
• • Mae West was the champ lettuce picker.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Everyone wants to be Mae West, why shouldn't I?"
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • The New Movie Magazine mentioned Mae West.
• • Herb Howe wrote: Warners haven't done right by our Joan Blondell. She could rate with Mae West and Jean Harlow as one of the three star comediennes. I foresee the boys doing better by Joan Blondell the coming year. ...
• • Source: The New Movie Magazine; issue dated for January 1935
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started nine years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2849th 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 • • 1964 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
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When MAE WEST met Mister Ed [aired on 22 March 1964], her makeup artist was Jack Pierce. Let's go behind the scenes, shall we?
• • Jack P. Pierce [5 May 1889 — 19 July 1968] • •
• • Born in Greece on Sunday, 5 May 1889 was a little charmer named Janus Piccoulas. Intrigued by natural materials he picked up on the road, as he accompanied his father (a goatherd) on his rounds, the little boy fashioned masks, horns, and other disguises that astonished and delighted his family and neighbors.
• • Hoping for a better life, the Piccoulas clan emigrated to America, living in NYC, then The Windy City, and finding a climate more to their liking in California.
• • Attempting to pass himself off as a native, Janus Piccoulas simplified his name to Jack Pierce, despite his father's disapproval. Off to Los Angeles he went, to try his luck within the busy film industry. He took any job available, working as a projectionist, stunt double, and an actor. He usually played a villain. But Jack Pierce was short, only 5' 5"; to compensate, he devised elaborate make-up and outstanding disguises for his nefarious characters.
• • During a glorious decade during the silent era, 1915 — 1925, he found employment as an actor, a director, and a make-up artist for Vitagraph, Lasky's Famous Players, and Universal. Thanks to the popularity of sci-fi monster scripts, Pierce was able to channel his formidable talents into fashioning the look for the silver screen's epic unworldly protagonists: Dracula, Dr. Frankenstein's creature, the Wolf Man, and the Mummy.
• • In the IMDb, his Make-Up Department credits list 155 titles, projects for the movies as well as TV.
• • From 1961 — 1964, he held his last position as make-up department head for the popular TV show "Mister Ed" where he applied his skill for 104 episodes. He was delighted to be Mae's make-up artist on the episode "Mae West Meets Mister Ed," which aired on 22 March 1964. When he met Mae, he was 74 years old; shortly after his 75th birthday, he retired.
• • As unseemly and unfair as this sounds for a man who had such a vibrant and visible career in the movie business, Jack Pierce died in virtual obscurity in Hollywood, California on Friday, 19 July 1968. He was 79.
• • On Monday, 6 May 1935 in Time Magazine • •
• • Milwaukee clerk Myrtle Lorraine Sands, while helping to re-index official records in Wisconsin, chanced upon a marriage certificate showing that Mae West had married a fellow on 11 April 1911. The groom was Frank Wallace. Was that 1911 bride the Paramount Pictures movie star herself?
• • Already famous for her wiggling and shimmying, Mae tried every move to wriggle out of this tight spot by emphatically denying it all. However, "the great fact-finding machinery of the U.S. Press began to hum," according to the May 6th, 1935 issue of Time Magazine.
• • When New York reporters located the scrawny, unprepossessing vaudevillian, who was staying "in a theatrical hotel with his dancing partner, Trixie LeMae," Frank Wallace was quite happy to talk. He affirmed the marriage was real. "The nerve of a brass monkey," was Mae West's response.
• • On Saturday, 6 May 1944 • •
• • Syndicated columnist Earl Wilson reviewed "Catherine Was Great" and his comments were printed in the Los Angeles Daily News on Saturday, 6 May 1944.
• • On Thursday, 6 May 1976 • •
• • In conjunction with the news that "Sextette" starring Mae West was going into production, a light went on in City Hall. Tom Bradley, mayor of Los Angeles, announced that he was creating a special Mae Day and issuing a proclamation in the movie queen's honor. Bradley presented West with a scroll validating her "valuable and important role" in the movie industry on Thursday, 6 May 1976.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "People with careers are too busy to spend enough time on their marriage. I have seen several marriages which should have been happy fail — chiefly because of that lack of time."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • The foreign fashion press mentioned Mae West on May 6th.
• • "London Says Mae West Curves Are Fashion's Whims" • •
• • Writing from London, Nell Murray wrote: Just to demonstrate that there must be some truth in the announcement from America that the female form divine for 1934 would weigh at least 12 pounds heavier than it did last year (in order to accommodate the threatened Mae West curves), a London dress designer ...
• • Source: Sunday Mail (Brisbane, Queensland); published on Sunday, 6 May 1934
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started eight years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2642nd 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 • • 1964 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
NYC Mae West
MAE WEST on Valentine's Day! The publication was the Watertown Daily Times and the issue was dated for Friday, 14 February 1964. The bold headline (on page 5) was: Mae West Lures "Mr. Ed" To Equine Dream House.
• • "I've vamped a lot of males in my time," purred the 72-year-old veteran of stage, screen, and night clubs, "but this is the first time they've asked me to charm a horse!"
• • As the reporters watched the handsome hunk of equine flesh trot in and sniff the blonde bombshell in his stall, Mae joked, "I don't know if either of us will finish this thing alive. But from what I'm reading it should turn out to be a riot of laughter."
• • The article is an exceedingly peppy piece, filled with Mae quotes and sass. Agreeing with the news man about how desirable she still is, Mae ventured this: "Guess I was way ahead of my time. And maybe the time is right now for a Mae West comeback." Good horse sense.
• • Zolya Talma [14 February 1895 — 26 November 1983] • •
• • The last revival of "Diamond Lil" — — written by and starring Mae West — — staged at the Broadway Theatre [1681 Broadway, NYC] closed during the month of November in 1951.
• • One of the performers who portrayed Russian Rita was Zolya Talma. Born in California in February — — on 14 February 1895 — — the actress appeared numerous times on The Great White Way as well as on TV in two Alfred Hitchcock episodes; she also appeared in "The Rose Tattoo" and other major motion pictures during the 1950s. Zolya Talma died in Los Angeles, California on 26 November 1983. She was 88. Today we pay tribute to this Broadway mainstay.
• • On Tuesday, 14 February 1933 • •
• • Variety's reporter "Bige" wrote an article on "She Done Him Wrong." The magazine ran it on pages 12 and 21 in their issue dated 14 February 1933.
• • Dated for the week of 14 February 1949 • •
• • Spotted for sale: Mae West on the cover of a "Diamond Lil" Playbill from the Coronet Theatre. It was dated for the week of 14 February 1949. What a Valentine!
• • On Friday, 14 February 1986 • •
• • The news sheet Winslow Mail announced on 14 February 1986 (on the front page) "Doll Show Begins Monday." The vast collection included character figures. Visitors would see Mae West and W.C. Fields in authentic clothes from their movie "My Little Chickadee," for instance.
• • On Wednesday, 14 February 2001 in Brazil • •
• • It was reported in the news on Wednesday, 14 February 2001 that Coca-Cola was to relaunch the 237 ml bottle in 4,500 restaurants in Sao Paulo and Campinas. The 237 ml bottle, known as Mae West, would be distributed in the region supplied by Panamco do Brasil, one of the main Coca-Cola bottling companies in Brazil.
• • Until Wednesday, 14 February 2001 in NYC • •
• • In December 1999, Hourglass Group presented the first New York City revival of Mae West's notorious 1926 play "Sex," the show that helped land West in jail and made her (in)famous. Directed by Elyse Singer, the play starred Carolyn Baeumler in the role of Margy LaMont, originally created by West and featured music by Steven Bernstein's Sex Mob. "Sex" ran Off-Broadway to standing room only audiences at the Gershwin Hotel until Wednesday, 14 February 2001.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Women with pasts interest men. They hope history will repeat itself."
• • Mae West said: “I have found men who didn't know how to kiss. I've always found time to teach them.“
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A Florida reader asked a question about Mae West.
• • The Orlando Sentinel wrote this reply: Mae West lived to the ripe age of 87. She wasn't a classic beauty by any means. She was short, about 5-foot-1 and, some thought, overly buxom. But she made the best of what she had. What she had for most of her life was good health. She never smoked or drank. As she confided to a friend, she also took an enema every day. When someone suggested this unorthodox regimen would not be approved by any doctor, Mae retorted: ''Naturally. It kept me from going to any of them.'' ...
• • Source: Column: Q&A written for the Orlando Sentinel; posted on 14 February 1988
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2209th 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 1964 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
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Mae West.
