Mae West: Still Current

Jill Watts, biographer of MAE WEST, distinguished professor at CSUSM, and talented author of books on Father Divine [1879—1965] and Hattie McDaniel [1895—1952], which has inspired a bio-pic about the Oscar winner, has kindly consented to an exclusive interview with The Mae West Blog. This is Part 23.
• • College Students Embraced Mae West • •
• • JILL WATTS:  I may have mentioned this before but last year in my film history class I showed “She Done Him Wrong” and was a little concerned that the students may find it dated this time around.  Most of the class had never heard of Mae West.  But they adored Mae West — they were instantly converted.  They found her empowering and some of them commented on how modern she seemed to them.  Several appreciated how she dealt with issues that are still current — her commentary on the double standard applied to men and women, her rejection of conventional women’s roles, her strength, and her independence.  
• • JW: This generation — the millennials — are looking for role models both current and from the past as they push forward with the #MeToo movement.  Additionally, I think they find Mae West's alliance with the LBGT community (although, as we've discussed, she wasn’t always consistent when it came to Lesbian women) to be ahead of its time and they are correct.  

Jill Watts

• • JW:  The trick is that Mae West does all of this using mostly comedy.  But the laughter is the veneer that covers the more serious commentary that she makes on gender, sexuality, class, and race, which remain some of the most important issues we still face.
• • JW: Thank you again for the interview — — and thanks to your readers and all the Mae mavens out there for their continued interest in Mae West. 
• • Recommended Reading: “Mae West: An Icon in Black and White” by Jill Watts [Oxford University Press; paperback edition, 2003]; 400 pages.
• • Photo:  Prof. Jill Watts, the biographer of Mae West.
• • On Wednesday, 31 August 1938 • •
• • An article complimenting Mae West and applauding her newest motion picture "Every Day's a Holiday" was published in The Queenslander (Brisbane, Australia) on Wednesday, 31 August 1938.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Comedienne actress Mae West, who was born 125 years ago, was trying to do the same thing in the early 1930s, but in a severely sexually restrictive era.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “Don’t make the same mistake twice — — unless it pays.”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article on Gold’s Gym and Joe Gold mentioned Mae West.
• • David Davis wrote: After enlisting in the Navy during World War II, Joe Gold opened his first gym in New Orleans. When that gym closed, he joined Mae West’s nightclub revue and performed alongside fellow strongmen Irvin “Zabo” Koszewski, Gordon Mitchell, and Mickey Hargitay, Gold eventually returned to Southern California to find that the original Muscle Beach had disappeared in part due to a scandal involving the arrests of five bodybuilders on rape charges in 1958. …
• • Source:  Article in Deadspin; published on Thursday, 23 August 2018
• • 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 14th anniversary • •  

• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past fourteen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 4,000 blog posts. Wow!  

• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fourteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4035th 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 • • Jill Watts — author, historian, educator • •
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Mae West: Memorial

MAE WEST had many fans in the military.
• • Her 1926 play "Sex" featured actors clad as sailors.
• • A flotation device was famously nicknamed "the Mae West."
• • Mae never liked to make her humor political nor bipartisan. For all that, Mae West was proudly all American. How many actresses dressed in a Statue of Liberty outfit – – twice?
• • Edith Head designed this iconic costume for Mae West in 1970 for the film "Myra Breckinridge."
• • On Memorial Day, we salute a unique creation that was made in the United States of America: Mae West.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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• • Photo: • • Mae West costume • • 1970 • •
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Mae West.

Mae West: May 1997

On 1 May 1997 Interview Magazine saluted MAE WEST. This May-timed issue focused on a new biography that had made a splash – – penned by the California poet Emily Wortis Leider.
• • Here's how Interview Magazine [published in NYC, Mae's hometown] led off the article:
• • Actress Mae West was popular in the 1920s as a vaudeville performer and was well-known for her sexuality. She created a theater show, 'Sex,' that made the most of her sexiness and it appealed to the public because of its raunchiness. She tried to take credit for introducing sex to the public.
• • Mae West made sex synonymous with her name, and in the process, provided the censors with a new target.
• • In her new book, Emily Wortis Leider examines West's transformation from Brooklyn baby to American icon. Here's a sneak peek, plus a few words from another taboo-terrorizer, . . .
• • Source: Interview Magazine | Publication Date: May 1, 1997
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • none • •
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Mae West.