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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Mae West: Bare Beaver

MAE WEST as the inspiration for the parody of a Sci-Fi plot? Humorist Paul Simms, stimulated by Mae's trademark line, added a new element — — vulgarity.  That's what writers sometime resort to when short on imagination or cleverness.
• • "8 Short Science-Fiction Stories" • •
• • “Why don’t you come up and see me sometime?” the holographic re-creation of Mae West said, as she uncrossed her legs and flashed us her bare beaver.
• • My mother looked away, troubled. “Is this really the proper use of the technology?” she said.
• • “Come on, lady — nobody would have loved this more than Mae herself,” the hologram of Mahatma Gandhi said. “And don’t forget: the Bacon Club Chalupa is at Taco Bell for a limited time only.”
• • Source: "Shouts and Murmurs" column written by Paul Simms for The New Yorker; issue published on Sunday, 6 September 2015.
• • On Tuesday, 15 September 1931 • •
• • The article “Mae West Returns” was printed in The New York Sun on Tuesday, 15 September 1931.
• • The review "Play 'Constant Sinner' Opens" was seen in the New York American on the same date:  Tuesday, 15 September 1931.
• • On Wednesday, 15 September 1937 • •
• • It was on Wednesday, 15 September 1937 when newsstands in the Midwest carried this headline: "Michigan Sprint Star Plays Bit in Mae West Film." The reference was to athlete Sam Stoller [1915 — 1985] who was born in Cincinnati. After winning the 100-yard championship, Sam Stoller announced that he intended to pursue a career as "a crooner Movie Star" and, subsequently, became known as "Singin' Sammy Stoller."
• • Sam Stoller's first part was in a crowd scene at the legendary New York cafe Rector's in Mae West's "Every Day's a Holiday," when he was 22 years old.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Harold Hecht, dance director of the stage and screen, has been signed by Paramount to stage the dances for Mae West's starring picture, "Ruby Red."
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said:  "I get my satisfaction from  handing others an hour of entertainment, of putting 'em out of what's bothering 'em, and in handing 'em a personally prepared motion picture."
• • Quote, Unquote • •

• • A book review mentioned Mae West.
• • Ross Reyburn wrote:  Robert Tanitch's article on the 1933 film "I'm No Angel" offers a superb portrait of the wonderful Mae West, who along with American critic and poet Dorothy Parker deserves to rank as the wittiest woman of the 20th century.    
• • Ross Reyburn continued: His array of Mae West wisecracks includes the inspired reply to the guy who made the mistake of telling her:  "I've changed my mind."  To that, Mae replied, "Does it work any better?" . . .
• • Source:  Review:  Seven decades of cinema success; At the movies: A new book that looks at success of the Blockbuster Blockbusters! By Robert Tanitch. Reviewed by Ross Reyburn for The Birmingham Post (England); published on Saturday, 20 January 2001
• • Note: That's Hollywood honcho Adolph Zukor with Mae West.
• • 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 3,200 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • • 
• • The Mae West Blog was started ten years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 3267th 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 1933 • •
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Mae West: Hollywood Heritage

Steve Stoliar, Groucho's personal secretary, enjoyed spending quality time with MAE WEST, Zeppo, Gummo, George Burns, Bob Hope, Jack Lemmon, S.J. Perelman, Steve Allen, and scores of other luminaries of stage, screen, TV, and literature. He will be sharing those memories with an audience this evening at the Hollywood Heritage Museum.
• • Theme for the event on Wednesday, 14 March 2012 is "Remembering Groucho Marx."
• • His publicity material explains that Steve Stoliar is the author of the bittersweet memoir "Raised Eyebrows: My Years Inside Groucho's House," about which, Woody Allen wrote: "It's one of the best books about a show-business icon I've ever read. It makes Groucho live so much more than the conventional bios." Steve was a young Groucho Marx fan(atic) who landed the plum job of working in the home of the legendary comedian as Groucho's personal secretary and archivist.
• • WHERE: Hollywood Heritage Museum, 2100 North Highland Avenue, Hollywood, CA 90068; T. (323) 874-2276
• • WHEN: Wednesday, 14 March 2012 from 7:30 pm to11:00 pm.
• • Diane Arbus [14 March 1923 — 26 July 1971] • •
• • In 1964, Diane Arbus [14 March 1923 — 26 July 1971] flew to Los Angeles. Her buddy Robert Brown chauffeured her to Mae West's beach house on two successive days.
• • After the session, Mae handed Diane a C-note, saying, "Thanks, honey." This was a habit dating back to the 1930s when the Paramount Pictures star would tip still photographers who snapped her on the set. [Diane returned the $100 with a gracious note.]
• • When the sharply focused black and white portraits appeared in print, however, Mae found them harsh, ugly, pitiless and directed her attorneys to sue the publisher. Her lawyers fired off a letter, calling the Mae layout "unflattering, cruel, and not at all glamourous."
• • Until Saturday, 14 March 1914 • •
• • During a well-documented divorce drama in 1935, Frank Wallace's lawyers claimed that the vaudeville hoofer was living, as man and wife, with Mae West from the time of their Milwaukee wedding on 11 April 1911 until Saturday, 14 March 1914. The choice of that date was quite peculiar. In 1914, Mae West was married to Guido Deiro and touring with him in vaudeville, with bookings for 40 weeks that year.
• • On Saturday, 14 March 1914 in The Columbus Ledger • •
• • Throughout 1914 Mae and Guido were engaged jointly as headliners on the Loew circuit. They were touring in Columbus, Ohio in mid-March when they teasingly circulated the rumor that the accordionist was really "Count Deiro" — — hey, anything to attract a reporter and set yourself apart. The spoof worked and they got a write-up in The Columbus Ledger, on Saturday, 14 March 1914.
• • Maybe Frank Wallace saw that very newspaper.
• • On Saturday, 14 March 1936 in Motion Picture Herald • •
• • An article about "Klondike Annie" (and the censorship battles over the film) was featured in Motion Picture Herald in their issue dated for 14 March 1936.
• • On Sunday, 14 March 1937 • •
• • It was Sunday, 14 March 1937 when Mae West signed a check (number 581) from her account at California Bank to Mr. William Mutara for his salary for the week of March 14th, 1937; the amount was $24.75. This check was sold to a collector for $96.
• • "Sex" in Seattle 'til 14 March 1998 • •
• • "Sex," written by Mae West and directed by Ed Hawkins, was onstage in Seattle during March 1998. Staged at the Annex Theatre, 1916 Fourth Avenue, Seattle, WA, the final performance was on Saturday, 14 March 1998.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Good sex is like good bridge. If you don't have a good partner, you'd better have a good hand.”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article about Adolph Zukor mentioned his guest Mae West.
• • James A. Frank wrote: About half an hour north of New York City, on the other (western) side of the Hudson River in New York’s Rockland County, sits a private club that until recently was called Dellwood. The property used to be owned by Adolph Zukor, who rose from poor Hungarian immigrant to founder of Paramount Pictures.
• • James A. Frank wrote: After buying the property in 1918, Zukor named it Mountain View Farm as the land rolled over several hundred acres and featured broad views of the Ramapo Mountains and the Palisades. Although he couldn’t see the river, Zukor may have escaped Manhattan by sailing up the Hudson to a nearby dock.
• • James A. Frank wrote: Among the buildings Zukor added was a small movie theater where he held private screenings. He threw lavish parties and entertained many stars of the day, from Charlie Chaplin to Mae West. Thomas Alva Edison was not only a close friend but he introduced Zukor to A.W. Tillinghast, who the golf-mad movie mogul hired to turn a nine-holer on the property into an 18-hole layout. . . .
• • Source: Article: "Paramount Country Club: Tillinghast 'Hidden Gem' To Be Restored" written by James A. Frank for JimGoFrank.com; posted on 14 March 2011
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2238th 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: Dayton Lummis

MAE WEST worked with several stage performers who transitioned into TV series focused on The Old West. Handsome Dayton Lummis, however, was garbed as a Russian when he appeared on The Great White Way with the Empress of Sex.
• • Born in Union City, New Jersey in the month of August — — on 8 August 1903 — — Dayton Lummis was an American actor of film and television who specialized in the genre of anthology and western series, often playing authority figures. He was seen on every major TV western from "The Lone Ranger" [1953] to "Gunsmoke" [1975], his final chance to sport a gunbelt and spurs on the small screen. But when he wore a younger man's clothes, he went to the West Coast and studied theatre at the Martha Oatman School, Los Angeles. His first professional engagement, at age 24, was with the Russell Stock Company, of Redlands, California.
• • Dayton Lummis remained a regional actor until his Broadway bow in 1944 opposite Mae West in "Catherine Was Great," where he was cast in the role of Chechkofski.
• • He died in Santa Monica on 23 March 1988. He was 84 years old.
• • Mae West & Eugene O'Neill: Off-beat Links • •
• • Eugene O'Neill's roommate Barney Gallant opened a speakeasy on Washington Square South. O'Neill went there often (because he could drink for free). Mae West also went to this night spot with her friend Texas Guinan, one of Barney's closest pals.
• • On Sunday afternoon, 14 August 2011 • •
• • "Mae West in Bohemia — — Gin, Sin, Censorship, and Eugene O'Neill"
• • Mae West's birthday is August 17th. Join us at 3:00 pm on Sunday afternoon, 14 August 2011. The title of this illustrated historical theme walk is "Mae West in Bohemia — — Gin, Sin, Censorship, and Eugene O'Neill." Rare vintage illustrations will show you how the buildings and blocks looked as these two theatre people saw them. At the final stop on West Third Street, you will see how caricaturist Al Hirschfeld sketched O'Neill and his stage plays from the 1920s on.
• • Where: This illustrated walking tour begins at 62 West Ninth Street, NYC (near Sixth Avenue). Join us and take a walk on the wild side this coming Sunday on August 14th.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Don't keep a man guessing too long — — he's sure to find the answer somewhere else.
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Mae West is mentioned in Adolph Zukor's autobiography.
• • Adolph Zukor recalls: "When you speak of eras, I'd say Mae West was in command during the depression years. Mae surprised us, and maybe herself. But Mae knew her talents in relation to the audiences which is always what counts better than we did." .... Meanwhile we went ahead making pictures, and here I must pay tribute to another durable trouper, Mae West, for the powerful lift she gave us out of the depression mire. Neither the sweet ingenue nor the glamor girl fit the depression years. Mae did. She was the strong confident woman, always in command. And that was the real Mae. Except for her strength of character she would not have become the sensation she was perhaps would never have appeared on the screen at all. Mae had scored many hits on the stage as the embodiment of lusty sex, But picture makers had shied away, not knowing exactly how to use her. Certainly no one believed that the Mae West of the stage could be transferred almost intact to the screen. In 1930 we had, however, signed her for an important role in George Raft's Night After Night. ...
• • Source: Book excerpt: "THE PUBLIC IS NEVER WRONG: The Autobiography of Adolph Zukor" [NY: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1953]
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2016th 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 • • as Catherine the Great, 1944 • •
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