Mae West: 130th Birthday With Love

Happy Birthday to MAE WEST, Brooklyn Bombshell, Screen Siren, Empress of Sex, Queen of Comedy, a notable and quotable comedienne who maintained a long career on stage, on screen, on the guest star circuit, and who also sizzled on the nightclub circuit.
• • Delivered by a local mid-wife, this feisty newborn drew her first lusty breaths in Bushwick on Thursday, 17 August 1893 (under the proud leonine sign of Leo) in her parents' bedroom. Little Mary Jane West always said: "I was born on a cool night in a hot month so I knew I could expect anything."

• • She trumped the income of every film actress of her generation because Mae was paid as a screenwriter as well as a box office draw.
• • Each day at least one publication in the world mentions her name. [We can verify our claim, too, because we have tracked this a-Mae-zing trend daily for the past 18 years now!]
• • No other movie queen coined so many witticisms — durable and dateless because Mae West relied on wordplay and rhetorical devices such as chiasmus.
• • Often imitated but never duplicated, the one and only Mae West endures in our hearts and memories.
• • Darling Mae, to your loyal followers, you don't look a day over twenty-sex!
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Even at the fourscore mark, she remains a remarkable figure of a woman. The well-padded frame, which inspired the Mae West life jacket in World War II, seems little changed.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West  had been 40 when she made the first of 12 films and was an important influence on the early career of Cary Grant, teaching him much about the craft of comedy in the course of appearing with him in “She Done Him Wrong” and “I'm No Angel.”
• • The death of this sex goddess from Hollywood's Golden Age was front-page news in November 1980 when she was 87.

• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Come up sometime and see me. I'm home every evening."
• • Mae West said: "I give 'em what they want to see."
• • Mae West said: “The curve is mightier than the sword.”
• • Mae West said: "You have to outfight everyone else to succeed."
• • Mae West said: "I'll never believe the worst about anyone without complete proof."
• • Mae West said: "Woman is capable of more trickery than man ever dreamed of. I am not defending the tricky woman, but if she is forced to battle for the place due to her, she cannot be condemned for using any ruse she can."   
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • "Mae West Turns Sixty" • •
• • The Horsham Times wrote: Mae West turned 60 recently. To reporters who went along to wish her many happy returns, Miss West made it plain that birthdays are one thing a lady just doesn't discuss.
• • Fluttering her inch-long eyelashes demurely, Mae West said: "You can see for yourself, a girl's just as old as she feels."
• • Source: The Horsham Times;  published on Friday, 12 September 1952
• • 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 18th anniversary • • 
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past eighteen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 5,000 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started eighteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 5,152nd 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: https://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml  
• • Be sure to bookmark or follow The Mae West Blog
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • sketched in 1932 and 1970 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest   

Mae West: As Lady Godiva

In the summer of 1951 MAE WEST was invited to mount a horse in Dubbo, Australia and recreate the famous ride of the nude Lady Godiva.  Let's investigate further.
• • "Dubbo Seeks Lady Godiva — — Mae West Refuses" • •
• • Bosomy actress Mae West and fan dancer Sally Rand have been invited to play Lady Godiva in Dubbo's Jubilee Week procession in October. In New York, Mae said she couldn't come down and see Dubbo this time. She is sorry American commitments made it impossible for her to accept the invitation. "They probably have not seen a horse out there in a long time," she said.
• • Dubbo Jubilee organiser J. Miles cabled both women, asking them to state terms on which they would be prepared to be the town's lady Godiva.
• • "The one that makes the best offer will be Lady Godiva," he said. "Appearance of either  Mae West or Sally Rand in the flesh would be a tremendous attraction, and would put Dubbo on the map," Mr. Miles said. "If neither can come, the Lady Godiva position will be advertised tthroughout Australia. ...
• • Source: Article in Singleton Argus (NSW); published on Monday, 9 July 1951.
• • On Wednesday, 2 August 1944 • •
• • It was Wednesday, August 2nd and the applause rang out from the Shubert Theatre [225 West 44th Street], signaling the gala Broadway debut of "Catherine Was Great," when Mae West portrayed the Empress of Russia. Produced by Mike Todd, the show starred Mae as the Empress of Love who handled her men as skillfully as she handled affairs of state.
• • Save the Dates: August 12th and August 17th and 18th • • 
• • What: three events timed to celebrate the 120th birthday of Mae West, born in Brooklyn, NY on August 17, 1893

• • On Monday, 12 August 2013 at the Hudson Sq Library • • 
• • One afternoon only! • •
• • When: Monday, August 12, 2013 from 4:00pm — 5:45pm [Seating from 3:45pm]
• • Where: Hudson Branch Library, 66 Leroy St., New York, NY 10014; NOT accessible to wheelchairs 
• • Who + What: "Diamond Lil" by Mae West as a Reader's Theatre Experience with words and period songs and live music — a unique, unforgettable presentation
• • Cast: Costumed in 1890s Bowery style, actress Darlene Violette and actor Sidney Myer present the 1932 novel "Diamond Lil" written by Mae West in Mae's words — enhanced with period songs and live music by Brian McInnis.  At intervals, historian and playwright LindaAnn Loschiavo leads an "Armchair Tour" through the boisterous Bowery and Chinatown of the 1890s with rare vintage images you have never seen before. 
• • What else: The ever-popular Mae West Raffle. 
• • August 12th Admission and Raffle Tickets: FREE. 
• • RSVP:  Email  MaeWestDiamondLil (at) gmail  (dot) com
• • Closest MTA subway stations: Christopher St. or West Fourth St.; or the M7 bus. 
• • Closest PATH station: Christopher St. 
• • The public is invited (suitable for age 18 and over)
• • The library has a spacious auditorium so tell your fun-loving friends about this!
• • All of the sex and none of the censorship . . . • • 
• • The novel "Diamond Lil" closely follows the 3-hour production Mae performed onstage from 1928 — 1951, and it is much more exciting than the family-friendly screen version. Playwright LindaAnn Loschiavo massaged Mae's 1928 Bowery melodrama in three acts into a pared-down 85-minute adaptation featuring all of the sex and none of the censorship. No intermission. 

• • There will be two stagings of "Diamond Lil" on Saturday, August 17th and on Sunday, August 18th in Manhattan, both in midtown. Tickets will go fast. Don't miss out.
• • Find out more details (both addresses, performance times, ticket prices, cast) here: http://maewest.blogspot.com/2013/07/mae-west-3-events-in-august.html 
• • Updates: facebook.com/MaeWestDiamondLil
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Sex is good for you."
• • Mae West said: "No slapping, grabbing, or pinching for me — — when I see a man slapping or pinching a woman I'm disgusted. So unnecessary."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Bangor Daily News wrote about Mae West.
• • "Mae West played Bangor’s Bijou" • •
• • Wayne E. Reilly wrote: Hardeen, the handcuff king, also known as Harry Houdini’s brother, was the headliner at the Bijou in Bangor in mid-December, 1912, a century ago. The next week, the top billing went to Mae West, fresh from Hammerstein’s Victoria Theater in New York.
• • Wayne E. Reilly wrote: The teenage “singing comedienne” impressed audiences with her cleverness and her fancy gowns, but not her singing ability. Mae, then a brunette, was still perfecting her art. Bangor folks were used to the best Broadway had to offer — — up around the corner at the Bangor Opera House on Main Street.
• • Wayne E. Reilly wrote: Hardeen and Mae West were just two examples of the acts topping the playbill at Bangor’s plush new vaudeville theater, which opened for business on Exchange Street in late August.  ...
• • Wayne E. Reilly continued:  A local review in the BDN declared Mae to be “a butterfly transplanted” from The Great White Way to Exchange Street. “She is typical of the gay life of Broadway. You see her prototypes in the feverish, scintillating, clever entertainments of the Winter Garden and the Moulin Rouge. In short, she is a certain New York type personified. Now please don’t gather from this there is anything in her act to disturb our chilled New England propriety; for there isn’t — — no, not in the slightest degree. It is a very good little act, clever, pretty and refined,” wrote a Bangor Daily News reviewer on 17 December 1912. He was probably trying to convince himself as much as the police who undoubtedly had taken a look for themselves.
• • Wayne E. Reilly concluded: Mae West topped the bill that night over an acrobat with “a little snow-white fluffy dog who seems almost human,” a trio “snappy and bright,” and a playlet entitled “‘Bixby’s Baby,’ which is perhaps above the average.” Steve Bogrett, the manager, had seldom offered up a better-balanced show, declared the reviewer.
• • Source: Wayne E. Reilly’s column in Bangor Daily News; published on Friday, 23 December 2012
• • By the Numbers • • 
• • The Mae West Blog was started nine years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2707th 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 • • 3 Diamond Lil events • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
NYC  Mae West

Mae West: Hot Month

When MAE WEST was writing the screenplay for "I'm No Angel," she wove a tiny strand of her own bio into the playful narrative — — including a reference to her shimmy, her belief in the occult, her love of animals, and her birthday in August.
• • "I'm No Angel" Cast • •
• • Mae West as Tira
• • Cary Grant as Jack Clayton
• • Gregory Ratoff as Benny Pinkowitz
• • Edward Arnold as Big Bill Barton
• • Mae-centered morsels • •
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • Tira, who performs in a circus sideshow, is famous for her hootchie-cootchie style — — a gal who discovered you don't have to have feet to dance. Tira goes to the resident gypsy to have her fortune told.
• • Rajah [played by Nigel de Brulier], the astrologer reads her horoscope.
• • Rajah: You were born in August.
• • Tira: Yeah, one of the hot months.
• • Rajah: It was on the 17th under the sign of Leo, the Lion.
• • Tira: Aw, King of the Beasts, huh.
• • Tira [pronounced TY-rah] is warned to be careful that night — — because she could be unlucky. Tira tells him that she'd like to know her future (because she knows all about her past).
• • Rajah: Ah, you have a wonderful future. I see a man in your life.
• • Tira: What — — only one?
• • Rajah: But this is one very particular man. He is very wealthy, enormously wealthy.
• • Tira: ... What does he look like?
• • Rajah: I see he has brown eyes. In fact, I see two men... two different men. In the near future, I see a change. ... I see a change of position.
• • Tira: Sitting or reclining? . . .
• • Rajah: The horoscope — — keep this where you may consult it frequently.
• • Tira: All right, I'll take it to bed with me.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
— — excerpt from "I'm No Angel" written by Mae West — —
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
________
Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1933 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
NYC
Mae West.

Mae West: Raise a Toast

Go WEST, young men has been their clarion call for sixteen years now. In Los Angeles, California a group of Mae West celebrants are among the faithful who congregate, annually, on August 17th to remember her unique presence.
• • Usually the festivities are organized by Hollywood resident Ramfis Diaz — — a 40-ish musician adorned by impressive, a-Mae-zing tattoos inspired by the Brooklyn bombshell herself. A lifelong hoarder of Mae West memorabilia, Mr. Diaz has his walls peppered with spicy images of the movie queen at her most liquorous, frisky, and engaging.
• • The merrymakers — — usually 40 to 50 guests — — track back to the "come up and see me sometime" gal via various connections.
• • Los Angeles Times reporter Kevin Thomas, a close comrade of the late icon, always attends along with Chris Basinger (a good buddy of Mae's during the 1970s, who worked at the Ravenswood and lived across the street from her), and Damon Devine, a Mae-West-iana collector since age 11 and, like Mae, born under the zodiac sign of Leo.
• • According to the divine Mr. Devine, "The rest of the revellers are mostly there out of curiosity, or attracted by the food, cake, and booze. Also a red-headed nudist seems to show up each year!"
• • A toast to Mae West [1893—1980] — — and the a-Mae-zing memories she stage-managed for each of her fans.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • On Sunday afternoon 17 August 2008, during the "Mae West's Walk on the Wild Side" walking tour, Mae-mavens and walk-abouts will visit several locations in Greenwich Village linked to the stage career of the Empress of Sex. Music associated with Mae will be sung live.
• • Walking Tour: "Mae West's Walk on the Wild Side"
• • When: 1:00 PM on Sunday — — 17 August 2008 — — rain or shine
• • Meet: Village Restaurant, 62 West Ninth Street, New York, NY 10011
• • Price: $20
• • Subway: E or F [IND] train to West Fourth Street; PATH to 9th Street station
• • Attire: why not wear a Mae West-inspired hat?
• • Info: Seesaw864@juno.com
• • This event — — which is part of the Annual Mae West Birthday Gala — — is open to the public.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
________
Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • private L.A. invite courtesy of Damon Devine and Ramfis Diaz • •
NYC
Mae West.

Mae West: Tony Pastor

In her youth, MAE WEST was often taken to the theatre.
• • Clearly, the variety artists fascinated her because she enjoyed imitating them. In amateur competitions, "Baby Mae — Song and Dance" impersonated Bert Williams, Eddie Foy, Eva Tanguay, and many others. After seeing these performers again and again, Mae perfected their individual gestures and mastered their timing along with other nuances. Mae and her mother became very familiar with the trends set by Tony Pastor.
• • Born in Brooklyn, New York, Antonio Pastor [28 May 1837 — 26 August 1908] was the son of a theatre violinist. While still a youngster, Tony sang on the temperance circuit, then gave his first professional performance as a child prodigy at Barnum's Museum in 1846. Often considered the father of modern American vaudeville, he was involved in show business as an actor, impresario, and theatre owner.
• • After appearing in minstrel shows and with circuses, Pastor made his variety debut in 1861. At the time, variety still had rough edges. Most theatres had bars that actively pushed the sale of liquor and attracted low-class males. The ambitious Roman Catholic set out to elevate the tone and quickly succeeded. When he opened his first theatre in 1865, he discouraged alcohol, attempted to clean up off-color acts, and solicited family trade.
• • In 1881, Pastor leased the Germania Theatre on 14th Street in New York City that became widely known as Tony Pastor's Theater. He alternated his theater's presentations between operettas and family-oriented variety shows, creating what became known as vaudeville. His theater featured performers such as Ben Harney presenting a new style called "ragtime" as well as other up-and-coming talents such as Lillian Russell, May Irwin, and George M. Cohan.
• • A small, stocky, mustachioed man, Pastor regularly appeared on his own bills.
• • In the musical Hello, Dolly!, the song "Put On Your Sunday Clothes" includes the line, "We'll join the Astors at Tony Pastor's."
• • On Sunday 17 August 2008, during the "Mae West's Walk on the Wild Side" walking tour, the group will visit a location linked to Tony Pastor and a tune associated with the father of vaudeville will be sung live by a vivacious actress, a native New Yorker who has performed in many musicals.
• • Walking Tour: "Mae West's Walk on the Wild Side"
• • When: 1:00 PM on Sunday — — 17 August 2008 — — rain or shine
• • Meet: Village Restaurant, 62 West Ninth Street, New York, NY 10011
• • Price: $20
• • Subway: E or F [IND] train to West Fourth Street; PATH to 9th Street station
• • Attire: why not wear a Mae West-inspired hat?
• • Info: Seesaw864@juno.com
• • This event — — which is part of the Annual Mae West Birthday Gala — — is open to the public.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
________
Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • none • •
NYC
Mae West.

Mae West: 4 August 1913

It was a hot summer attraction — — on 4 August 1913 — — and the crowds may (or may not) have recalled that in 1912 and 1913 Hammerstein had booked the vivacious teenager MAE WEST for eleven week-long engagements at his vaudeville playhouse situated in Longacre [later Times] Square. The location was popularly known by New Yorkers as "the corner."
• • On 4 August 1913, however, Mae West was there to open for a world-famous star: Evelyn Nesbit [1884 — 1967]. Despite a low-cut gown and provocative songs, Mae failed to fire up the audience.
• • The critic from The New York Tribune [whose coverage ran on 5 August 1912] commented that even Mae's low neckline and raunchy bumps and grinds were not enough to sway the hoi polloi.
• • Though most of the reporters ignored the 19-year-old's attempts to woo the crowd and did not even mention her name in their reviews, at least Variety's columnist Joshua Lowe [whose critique was published on 8 August 1913] noticed how hard she was working. "Mae West sang loud enough to be distinctly heard in the rear," wrote Lowe.
• • Clearly, Hammerstein's ticket-holders had come to worship Evelyn, the showgirl who had shied away from the spotlight for several years after the infamous Sanford White trial. "Anything's a good act that will make 'em talk," insisted Willie Hammerstein, who was a magician when it came to commandeering media interest and a big box office.
• • Evelyn's appearance was quite the ticket. Willie Hammerstein was so pleased at his box office bonanza that he had his sign painters create this come-on in four-foot-high letters — —

"Modern Ballroom Dancing," screamed the marquee,
"Performed by EVELYN NESBIT THAW!"

• • Readers of The New York Times saw these headlines Tuesday morning on 5 August 1913:
• • Evelyn Thaw Appears; Then Thanks Audience that Applauds Dancing at Hammerstein's.
• • According to the Times: Although it was reported at the time that Evelyn Nesbit arrived on the Olympic that she had said she would not dance unless the name of Thaw was eliminated from the signboard in front of Hammerstein's, she did appear yesterday afternoon, and the sign remained unchanged until after the performance, when "Thaw" was thinly covered with white paint.
• • A packed house tested her and applauded so persistently that she was forced forward finally by her dancing, . . . and expressed her thanks briefly for the reception. The sight of her face peeping through the mauve curtains masking the back of the stage started the applause. Then she and Mr. Clifford did three "trotting" turns, with evolutions that have been made familiar in the cabarets and public dancing places. She wore an ecru gown of light fluffy material bound in at the waistline with a broad black sash, and, with her hair loose about her neck and shoulders and a smile lighting her features, created an agreeable impression. Her dancing was of an average qualIty — — neither remarkably good nor the reverse. . . .
• • In 1899, Oscar Hammerstein built his fifth showplace — — the Victoria Theatre — — at the corner of West 42nd Street and Seventh Avenue. Stars like MAE WEST, Will Rogers, W.C. Fields, Charlie Chaplin, Ethel Barrymore, Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor, Buster Keaton, Harry Houdini, Evelyn Nesbit, and Eva Tanguay were among the thousands of performers who made Hammerstein's Victoria the vaudeville "nut house" of Times Square.
• • Mainly, it was Oscar's son Willie Hammerstein who deserves credit for the playhouse's 17-year successful run. Willie had the knack for booking crowd-pleasing stagebills along with a peacock's genius for public relations.
• • In 1906, Evelyn's millionaire husband Harry Thaw shot architect Sanford White. The "trial of the century" was held at Jefferson Market Court — — the same celebrated Sixth Avenue courthouse where Mae West would wind up in 1927. Mae's censorship trial is dramatized in the play "Courting Mae West."
• • The 19th century Greenwich Village landmark designed by Withers and Vaux is one stop on the annual Mae West walking tour that will take place on her birthday, specifically, on Sunday 17 August 2008: "Mae West's Walk on the Wild Side."
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
________
Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • Hammerstein's Victoria circa 1901 • •
NYC
Mae West.