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Today brings to mind an Italian-American actor born on May 3rd who worked with MAE WEST.
• • How many knew that the Bronx native Gaspere Biondolillo took the stage-name of "Jack LaRue"? Jack LaRue [birthdate: 3 May 1902] was part of the original Broadway cast when Mae brought her hit "Diamond Lil" to the Royale Theatre in April 1928. Onstage Jack LaRue played Lil's Latin lover Juarez. [Gilbert Roland played that role, under a Russian moniker, in the film version: She Done Him Wrong in 1932.]
• • After graduating from DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx, Gaspere Biondolillo became a piano tuner. Dropping into a casting office off Broadway one morning, as he made his rounds of keyboard adjustments, he found himself hired to work as a bellhop in a film that featured actor Edmond O'Brien. For three days work, he earned $45, which sparked his interest in more acting assignments. For the next two years, he tried to get film work — — and failed. However, Otis Skinner brought him to the stage in a production of "Blood and Sand"; this was at the Empire Theatre [September — November 1921]. After his Broadway debut, many more plays came his way.
• • In 1933, George Raft was suspended by Paramount Pictures for refusing to take the unsympathetic role of Trigger in a film based on William Faulkner's novel Sanctuary — — renamed "The Story of Temple Drake" with Miriam Hopkins in the film's title role. Paramount cast Jack LaRue instead of George Raft. One job LaRue lost out on, though, was a meaty bit in "Scarface"; Howard Hawks cast LaRue as Guino Rinaldo, the killer protege of Paul Muni (height: 5' 10") — — but then Hawks decided that LaRue (height: 5' 11½") was too tall for this part. Go figure.
• • LaRue went on to make over 100 movies and many TV appearances.
• • On 13 September 1936, Carlo Roncoroni, head of the new Cines studio in Rome, flew to Hollywood to invite Jack LaRue to appear in the title role of Christopher Columbus — — of an adventure film about the world explorer. "According to tentative plans," noted The N.Y. Times, "the picture would be made by an Italian company and Roncoroni believes that, because of its subject, it would be an ideal entering wedge to the American film market."
• • Mae West had always liked LaRue, so she fished him into "Go West, Young Man" [released in November 1936]. They also worked together on other theatre projects, for instance, on Mae's theatrical production: Sextette. This comedy — — about a woman with many ex-husbands — — opened on 7 July 1961 at Edgewater Beach Playhouse in Chicago. Jack LaRue played one of her former spouses, an American gangster.
• • In 1973, when the Masquers Club honored Mae West with a "Mae Day" tribute, the ceremony was attended by Jack LaRue, George Raft, Jack Noland, and others.
• • Jack LaRue died in the month of January — — on 11 January 1984 — — of a heart attack at age 82 in Santa Monica, California.
• • New York, New York • • 
• • Mae West was born in Brooklyn, New York and was opposed to censorship and racial bias and those who would deprive others of freedom, justice, free speech, and liberty. She posed twice in the garb of The Statue of Liberty during her long career. Tyranny is not dead — — but one tyrant breathes no more after a firefight abroad.• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • New Jersey Staff Writer Chris Jordan writes: Burlesque started out in the 1860s, and the stripping element became more prevalent in the '20s and '30s when performers like Gypsy Rose Lee, Sally Rand, and Mae West popularized the form, according to the University at Albany (Albany.edu) Web site. ...
• • Source: Article: "Burlesque stages a comeback" written by Chris Jordan for MyCentralJersey.com; posted on 2 May 2011
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 1919th 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 • • co-star and friend Jack LaRue, c.1933 • •
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Mae West.
One more actor who worked with MAE WEST has entered the pearly gates after suffering a fatal heart attack on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 in Nevada.
• • Handsome Tony Curtis was in the curious motion picture directed by Ken Hughes [1922 — 2001] and released in 1978. Though Curtis was cast as a diplomat, he invariably would persist in making undiplomatic remarks about working with his legendary leading lady.
• • If you saw "Sextette," perhaps you remember the scene when newly wed Marlo Manners (now Lady Barrington) and her groom Sir Michael Barrington finally are snug inside their hotel suite. However, the lovebirds are unable to go beddy-bye and celebrate their marital bliss because of noisome botherations. Coitus interruptus (sort of)! These cinematic intrusions are provoked by the demands of milady's career (such as interviews, dress fittings, and photo sessions). Additionally, there are entreaties and knock-knocks from men, including some ex-husbands. Apparently, the vast enrollment of membership in the Marlo Manners Fan Club includes: diplomat Alexei Andreyev Karansky (Tony Curtis), director Laslo Karolny (Ringo Starr), gangster Vance Norton (George Hamilton), and an entire athletic team from the USA, all of whom desire to have sex with Marlo. And, after all, Mae West once did tell an interviewer she had a special interest in foreign affairs.
• • Born on 3 June 1925, the Bronx native started out in life with the ho-hum ethnic moniker Bernard Schwartz. The five-foot-nine leading man enjoyed spreading urban legends about his Herculean feat of doing his cameo as "sexy Lexei" [Alexei Andreyev Karansky] — — and Mae's difficulties on the set.
• • In a kind-hearted obituary, Associated Press had this to say: Tony Curtis, an actor who rose to movie stardom in the 1950s by blending street attitude with near-pretty looks, gave compelling dramatic performances in "Sweet Smell of Success" and "The Defiant Ones" and became a comic icon as a cross-dressing Jazz Age musician in "Some Like It Hot," died of cardiac arrest Wednesday at his Las Vegas-area home. He was 85.
• • Associated Press also noted: Tony Curtis was a veteran of more than 100 films of wildly varying quality. ... He also had a minor role in Mae West's final movie, "Sextette" (1978) . . . . Curtis attributed his long career slump to alcohol and cocaine addictions spurred by alimony payments to his ex-wives and anger toward his peers, whom he felt never accepted him as an actor. ...
• • Two Jewish old-timers gone in the space of a week: Eddie Fisher and Tony Curtis.• • 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.
In early September 1928, as the Broadway run of "Diamond Lil" was coming to a close, MAE WEST went to the Bronx to pay her respects.• • In the month of September — — on 7 September 1928 — — Fanny Leitzbach had died. Shortly afterward, the funeral proceeded from her residence and the Bavarian native was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery. Fanny's devoted daughter was Mae's frequent writing partner.
• • Adeline M. Leitzbach [c1884 — 1968] • •
• • After Mae West read the play Following the Fleet (written by J.J. Byrne and Ted McLean), it did not suit her idea of a vehicle that would make the most of her talents. So once again she contacted a female playwright of German descent who was often hired to collaborate.• • In 1922, Mae had first contacted this ghost writer, who helped her put together a full-length, three act play: "The Hussy."
• • The author was living in the Bronx with her widowed mother Mrs. Maximilian Leitzbach and had worked on projects such as adapting a woman's novel Wife in Name Only [1923] for the screen. Soon Mae West, age 32, and Adeline M. Leitzbach, age 38, would be revising the script that would become Sex and be staged in April 1926.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West• • Photo: • • Mae West • • none • •• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
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Octogenarian Tony Curtis was in one motion picture with his favorite fellow New Yorker MAE WEST. 
• • If you saw "Sextette," perhaps you remember the scene when newly wed Marlo Manners (now Lady Barrington) and her groom Sir Michael Barrington finally are snug inside their hotel suite. However, the lovebirds are unable to go beddy-bye and celebrate their marital bliss because of noisome botherations. Coitus interruptus (sort of)! These cinematic intrusions are provoked by the demands of milady's career (such as interviews, dress fittings, and photo sessions). Additionally, there are entreaties and knock-knocks from men, including some ex-husbands.
• • Apparently, the vast enrollment of membership in the Marlo Manners Fan Club includes: diplomat Alexei Andreyev Karansky (Tony Curtis), director Laslo Karolny (Ringo Starr), gangster Vance Norton (George Hamilton), and an entire athletic team from the USA, all of whom desire to have sex with Marlo. And, after all, Mae West once did tell an interviewer she had a special interest in foreign affairs.
• • Born during the month of June — — on 3 June 1925 — — the Bronx native started out in life with the ho-hum name of Bernard Schwartz. The five-foot-nine leading man enjoyed spreading urban legends about his role as Alexei Andreyev Karansky and Mae's difficulties on the set.
• • According to the Bay Area Reporter, the aged matinee idol — — not far from decrepitude's door yet still so chatty about his Hollywood hustling — — once shared an amusing memory of the iconic Mae West, with whom he worked in the notorious "Sextette" (1978). The sex goddess was then 87 years old, and still strutting her stuff!
• • "I played a Russian ambassador," he recalled. "We shot in her very opulent 'boudoir,' but she made her environment work. My call was for 8 a.m. Miss West came in, looked at her clothes, had breakfast, and was dressed by 11 a.m. But before she could shoot, she had to have her enema! I lived 20 minutes from the studio, and would have them call me when the enema was beginning, so I wouldn't have to sit around all morning!"
• • Interestingly, more than a few of "Sextette's" cast members have a link to the month of June. Meet them in future installments of the MAE WEST BLOG.• •
Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/________
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1978 • •
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Mae West.
In many ways Adeline Leitzbach was the ideal ghostwriter for MAE WEST — — hard-working, experienced, flexible, self-effacing, and willing to shed her byline.
• • Sweet Adeline comes to mind in August because on 10 August 1918 the scriptwriter left Fox Films.
• • Adeline M. Leitzbach • •
• • A female author of German descent, who was often hired to collaborate on silent movie scripts as well as Broadway plays, Adeline was born in 1887 and raised in Manhattan, living in genteel circumstances in Greenwich Village — — until her father died.
• • In 1922, Mae had first contacted this hired pen, who helped her put together a full-length, three act play: "The Hussy."
• • During the World War I era, the unmarried woman was living in the Bronx with her widowed mother Mrs. Maximilian Leitzbach, and had many high-profile projects to her name. When she was 30 years old, Adeline Leitzbach had co-written the Broadway play "Success," staged at the Harris Theatre [254 West 42nd Street] from January — March 1918.
• • Building some momentum and increasing her visibility, Adeline kept busy supporting herself and her mother. Her credit was appearing frequently on screenplays for the silent cinema, too. In 1918, several of her projects made it to the big screen: "The Liar," "Her Price," "The Heart of Romance," and "Stolen Honor." Interestingly, one silent film she had scripted — — "Diamonds and Pearls" [1917] — — featured actor Curtis Cooksey in the role of Jack Harrington. Eleven years later, Cooksey would be on stage opposite Mae in "Diamond Lil" in the plum role of Captain Cummings.
• • Miss Leitzbach was also tapped to adapt a woman's novel "Wife in Name Only" for the screen; it was filmed as "Counterfeit Love" [1923] by Murray W. Garsson Productions.
• • Not long after, Mae West, age 32, and Adeline M. Leitzbach, age 38, would be revising the manuscript that would become "Sex" and would debut in April 1926 in the legit. The authorship would be attributed to "Jane Mast" (wink wink).• • 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.
Handsome Tony Curtis was in one motion picture with MAE WEST.
• • If you saw "Sextette," perhaps you remember the scene when newly wed Marlo Manners (now Lady Barrington) and her groom Sir Michael Barrington finally are snug inside their hotel suite. However, the lovebirds are unable to go beddy-bye and celebrate their marital bliss because of noisome botherations. Coitus interruptus (sort of)! These cinematic intrusions are provoked by the demands of milady's career (such as interviews, dress fittings, and photo sessions). Additionally, there are entreaties and knock-knocks from men, including some ex-husbands. Apparently, the vast enrollment of membership in the Marlo Manners Fan Club includes: diplomat Alexei Andreyev Karansky (Tony Curtis), director Laslo Karolny (Ringo Starr), gangster Vance Norton (George Hamilton), and an entire athletic team from the USA, all of whom desire to have sex with Marlo. And, after all, Mae West once did tell an interviewer she had a special interest in foreign affairs.
• • Born during the month of June — — on 3 June 1925 — — the Bronx native started out in life with the ho-hum name of Bernard Schwartz. The five-foot-nine leading man enjoyed spreading urban legends about his role as Alexei Andreyev Karansky and Mae's difficulties on the set.
• • Perhaps Tony Curtis was feeling a bit spiteful after reading Vincent Canby's review, printed on 8 June 1979, five days after the actor celebrated his 54th birthday.
• • Here's a jetstream's worth of hissing from The New York Times film critic:
• • Movie Review — — Sextette (1978) • •
• • "SEXTETTE" is a disorienting freak show in which Mae West, now 87 years old, does a frail imitation of the personality that wasn't all that interesting 45 years ago. The movie, which opens today at the Victoria and other theaters, is a poetic, terrifying reminder of how a virtually disembodied ego can survive total physical decay and loss of common sense.
• • The character we see in this peculiar film looks less like the Mae West one remembers from even "Myra Breckinridge" than like a plump sheep that's been stood on its hind legs, dressed in a drag-queen's idea of chic, bewigged, and then smeared with pink plaster. The creature inside this getup seems game but arthritic and perplexed. She walks with apparent difficulty. One eye sometimes sags and the voice, despite Hollywood's electronic skills, cracks like the voice of the old lady she really is. Under these circumstances, the sexual innuendos are embarrassing. Granny should have her mouth washed out with soap, along with her teeth.
• • The story, based on a play written some years ago by Miss West, is about a world-famous movie star and her attempts to consummate her sixth marriage to Sir Michael Barrington (Timothy Dalton) despite repeated interruptions by former husbands, lovers, dress designers, secret agents, publicity people and delegates attending an international peace conference just upstairs. It's a plot that Miss West has often favored, and it freely reprises a lot of lines from earlier pictures.
• • The movie was directed by Ken Hughes ("The Small World of Sammy Lee," "Cromwell" and so on), a fellow you might think had better things to do than to prop up the Tower of Pisa. In addition to Mr. Dalton, "Sextette" features a number of other people who, in happier circumstances, are decent actors. These include Tony Curtis, George Hamilton, Ringo Starr, and the incomparable Dom DeLuise. There are some original songs and some old ones, a couple of which sound as if they'd been lip-synched by Miss West to old recordings.
• • The real problem with "Sextette" is . . . .
— — Excerpt: — —
• • Movie Review: "Sextette" (1978)
• • Screen: "Mae West, 87, Does an Encore:Trying for 6th Marriage"
• • Byline: By Vincent Canby | Film Critic
• • Published in: The New York Times — — www.nytimes.com
• • Published on: 8 June 1979
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • Mae-maven Mark Desjardins weighs in on Canby's commentary with a tertium quid.• • According to Mark Desjardins: Vincent Canby certainly was savage in his verbal attacks on Myra Breckinridge and Sextette in general — — and Mae West in particular. However, to his credit he did made somewhat of a deathbed apology for his bile filled comments.
• • When Canby reviewed the play Dirty Blonde and an off Broadway revival of Sex in the NYT in February, 2000, he mellowed sufficiently to admit that the plays kept alive he legacy of a vivid performer who appeal was really based on good humor and common sense.
• • Prior to his death, Canby reassessed is earlier view of Sextette that is was an affront to both man and beast and wrote that the film was Mae West's equivalent to the biblical epic about Salome in which Norma Desmond intended to make her return to the screen in Sunset Boulevard. He admitted to being embarrassed about the puritanical view he held of the film and West, and expressed his admiration for her tenacity in completing the film.
• • Mae's spirit must have been beaming that day! • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• • 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.
MAE WEST once said, "His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork."
• • As the Bronx-born entertainer Jennifer Lopez, age 39, prepares to ditch her hispanic hubby Marc Anthony, who no longer rules her heart, she is welcome to borrow that line.• • 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.
Octogenarian Tony Curtis has the fondest memories of his many legendary co-stars including his favorite fellow New Yorker MAE WEST.
• • According to the Bay Area Reporter, the aged matinee idol shared an amusing memory of the iconic Mae West, with whom he worked in the notorious Sextette (1978). The sex goddess was then 87 years old, and still strutting her stuff!
• • "I played a Russian ambassador," he recalled. "We shot in her very opulent 'boudoir,' but she made her environment work. My call was for 8 a.m. Miss West came in, looked at her clothes, had breakfast, and was dressed by 11 a.m. But before she could shoot, she had to have her enema! I lived 20 minutes from the studio, and would have them call me when the enema was beginning, so I wouldn't have to sit around all morning!"
• • When Tony Curtis [born as Bernard Schwartz in the Bronx, New York on 3 June 1925] takes to the stage of the Castro Theatre on 18 November 2008, he will share these memories and many others.
• • "A Tribute to Tony Curtis" — — live on stage, plus film screening & book signing: Tuesday, 18 November 2008 at 7 p.m., Castro Theatre, 429 Castro Street, San Francisco, CA 94114.
• • Tickets will be available at A Different Light Books (489 Castro Street), San Francisco.
— — Excerpt: — —
• • Byline: David Alex Nahmod
• • Published in: Bay Area Reporter [Issue: Vol. 38 / No. 46 / 13 November 2008]
• • 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.
When New York City's Mayor Jimmy Walker went out-of-town briefly, he left Joseph V. McKee in charge — — and his deputy's first act was to have three actresses arrested on 9 February 1927 and the third Broadway headliner was MAE WEST. 
• • The raid and arrest in 1927 are dramatized in the play "Courting Mae West."• • Since the month of November focuses on voting and going to the polls — — here's how we remember "Holy Joe" on 7 November 1933, when he was casting his ballot for himself on Morris Avenue in the borough of the Bronx. Fortunately, Fiorello LaGuardia won the mayoralty instead of this humorless would-be censor who wanted to scrub all the "dirt plays" off Broadway.
• • Bronx-born Roman Catholic Joseph V. McKee, Sr. [8 August 1889 — 28 January 1956] was originally a teacher at DeWitt Clinton High School and a lecturer in Latin and Greek at Fordham University. Eventually, he became a politically active Democrat.
• • Joseph McKee married Cornelia Kraft on 27 November 1918.
• • He served as a New York State Assemblyman for the 7th Assembly District (Bronx County) from 1918 — 1923, and was a Municipal Judge from 1924 — 1926. In 1926, he was tapped to serve as President of the New York City Board of Aldermen with James J. Walker as Mayor.
• • Joseph McKee was appointed Acting Mayor of New York City after the resignation of Mayor Walker on 1 September 1932.
• • On 31 October 1933, Samuel Seabury, chairman of the Fusion campaign committee, declared in an address from radio station WFAB that the voters had already determined to get rid of both Mayor O'Brien and Joseph V. McKee. Seabury called Mr. McKee the representative of a "sinister group" of Tammany leaders.• • Though Mae West was not living in The Big Apple during November 1933, she was certainly relieved to hear that the man who made her spend the night in Jefferson Market Jail was finally ousted from City Hall.• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West's censor • • Joseph V. McKee • •
NYC
Mae West.
Octogenarian Tony Curtis is not dead yet — — and on Tuesday 18 November 2008 he will be dishing about MAE WEST and others.
• • In San Francisco, the Castro impresario Marc Huestis will be teaming up with the Mill Valley Film Festival to present a special tribute to the once handsome film legend at the venerable Castro Theatre — — featuring Tony Curtis live in person, being interviewed by Jan Wahl.
• • Here's the event forecast — — Tony Curtis [born as Bernard Schwartz in the Bronx, New York on 3 June 1925] will be coaxed into sharing intimate details about working with such icons as Mae West, Marilyn Monroe, Burt Lancaster, Gregory Peck, Cary Grant, Elizabeth Taylor, and Frank Sinatra. The event will offer the attendees film clips, surprise guests, a screening of "Some Like It Hot," and a presentation of the MVFF Award for Lifetime Achievement. Afterward, Tony Curtis will be in the Castro lobby signing copies of his new book: American Prince — A Memoir.
• • Event info: (415) 863-0611.• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • none • • NYC
Mae West.
In early September 1928, as the Broadway run of "Diamond Lil" was coming to a close, MAE WEST went to the Bronx to pay her respects.
• • On 7 September 1928, Fanny Leitzbach had died. Shortly afterward, the funeral proceeded from her residence and the Bavarian woman was buried in Woodlawn. Fanny's devoted daughter was Mae's frequent writing partner.• • Adeline M. Leitzbach • •• • After Mae West read the play Following the Fleet (written by J.J. Byrne and Ted McLean), it did not suit her idea of a vehicle that would make the most of her talents. So she again contacted a female playwright of German descent who was often hired to collaborate.
• • In 1922, Mae had first contacted this ghost writer, who helped her put together a full-length, three act play: "The Hussy."• • The author was living in the Bronx with her widowed mother Mrs. Maximilian Leitzbach and had worked on projects such as adapting a woman's novel Wife in Name Only [1923] for the screen. Soon Mae West, age 32, and Adeline M. Leitzbach, age 38, would be revising the script that would become Sex and be staged in April 1926.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • none • • NYC
Mae West.
Since MAE WEST had her eye on Tammany Hall perhaps for the entire time she lived in New York, she could spot a fixer. 
• • "Big" Tim Sullivan [23 July 1862 — 31 August 1913] was a fixer extraordinaire and a born ward-heeler. This New York politician who controlled Manhattan's Bowery and Lower East Side districts as a prominent figure within Tammany Hall was the model for Mae's character Gus Jordan in "Diamond Lil."
• • Similarly, in "She Done Him Wrong" [1933] the bejeweled chanteuse and brash entertainer Lady Lou (Mae West) works in the 1890s Bowery saloon of her boss and benefactor Gus Jordan (Noah Beery, Sr.), who has given her many diamonds.
• • Unbeknownst to Lady Lou, slick and sleazy Gus Jordan trafficks in white slavery (prostitution) and runs a counterfeiting ring (to help finance Lou's expensive rock collection). He also sends young women to San Francisco to be pickpockets. Gus works with two other crooked entertainer-assistants, Russian Rita (Rafaela Ottiano) and Rita's lover, the suave Serge Stanieff (Gilbert Roland).
• • Not as handsome as Beery and certainly far heavier, "Big" Tim Sullivan was born to poor Irish parents in the notorious Five Points neighborhood. Determined to be successful, 
"Big" Tim Sullivan cultivated careers in business and politics. Over the course of 25 years beginning in 1886, Sullivan assembled a political machine that ruled the districts of lower Manhattan. A legitimate entrepreneur in the world of entertainment, Sullivan forged an effective brand of urban politics by fusing the traditional tactics of the machine with his influence in commercial leisure and organized crime.
• • Staging theatrical entertainments and athletic competitions, handing out food and clothing to constituents, and offering employment and social services to ordinary citizens won him many followers, but Sullivan's protection of key figures in the vice economy of the Lower East Side made him a rather controversial figure. Despite his frequent use of physical intimidation, "Big" Tim nonetheless worked to expand the franchise and give the disadvantaged a voice in municipal politics.
• • Both Mae West's character Gus Jordan and Tim Sullivan were active in a number of illegal activities including prostitution, white slavery, gambling, and extortion.
• • On 31 August 1913, "Big" Tim's body was found on the tracks in the Eastchester area of the Bronx, New York.
• • Sullivan's wake was held at his clubhouse — — located at 203 Bowery.
• • More than 25,000 people turned out for his funeral at St. Patrick's Old Cathedral, New York on Mott Street. Perhaps some "mourners" turned up solely to make sure this politico was dead.
• • Tim's clubhouse was down the block from the notorious Bowery "resort" near Houston Street, namely McGurk's Suicide Hall [295 Bowery]. The second chapter of "Diamond Lil" (a 256-page novelization of the play published by Macaulay in 1932) is Suicide Hall.— — Source for some of this information: — —
• • Article: "Underworlds and Underdogs: Big Tim Sullivan and Metropolitan Politics in New York, 1889 — 1913"
• • Byline: Daniel Czitrom
• • Published in: The Journal of American History, vol. 78, no.2
• • Published on: September 1991
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1933 lobby card• • Artwork: Big Tim Sullivan was drawn by artist Pat HamouNYC
Mae West.
Born in the Bronx on 4 March 1933, gorgeous Richard DuBois caught Mae West's eye in 1954. The 6-foot-one stunner 
— — who had just won his "Mr. America" title — — was hired to be the lead bodybuilder for "The Mae West Revue." Off the set, 21-year-old Dick DuBois and the 61-year-old Brooklyn bombshell enjoyed a steamy relationship. (When DuBois left the show, Mickey "Mr. Universe" Hargitay took his place as the lead gladiator.)
• • In 1957, when DuBois was crowned Mr. USA at the Shrine Auditorium, Muscle Power Magazine praised his "good biceps," "well proportioned figure" and "greatly improved posing." Four years earlier, DuBois had won the Amateur Athletic Union Mr. America bodybuilding contest — — and scooped the Mr. America trophy the next time around.
• • During the 1950s and early 1960s, DuBois was a much sought-after pin-up and physique model who appeared in magazines often.
• • Comes word today that native New Yorker Richard DuBois died in a Santa Monica hospital.
• • This obituary was circulated by The Associated Press.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• • Richard Dubois, 1950s bodybuilder and pin-up, dies at 74 in California
• • SANTA MONICA, Calif.— Richard DuBois, a bodybuilder whose brawny physique landed him parts in 1950s movies and Mae West's stage act, has died. He was 74.
• • DuBois died Wednesday [26 September 2007] at Saint John's Health Center, his wife Marcy said. She said an autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of death. He lived in Santa Monica.
• • The winner of Mr. America and the Mr. USA bodybuilding contests in the mid 1950s, DuBois' Herculean frame landed a contract with MGM and a role in the 1954 movie "Athena" with Debbie Reynolds and Jane Powell. He appeared in the musical comedy under the stage name Richard Sabre.
• • DuBois later appeared with Mae West in her nightclub act as it toured across the country.
• • Dubois eventually abandoned his show business pursuits to become an evangelist, his wife said. He spent the last 19 years preaching as pastor of Gospel Lighthouse in West Los Angeles.
• • Besides his wife of 47 years, DuBois is survived by his son Elijah, daughter-in-law Carol, granddaughter Jasmine, and sister Marcy.
• • A memorial service was scheduled for next weekend.
• • Source: The Associated Press
• • Published: 9 September 2007
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West and Dick DuBois • • 1954 • •
NYC
Mae West.
Jerry Orbach, a friend of MAE WEST, just had a New York City street corner dedicated to him.
• • In Manhattan, a stretch of West 53rd Street at Eighth Avenue has been renamed for the 6' 2" actor who was respected on Broadway, on the silver screen, and on the tube. Like Mae, Jerry was a native New Yorker — — and his widow, Elaine Orbach, unveiled the new street sign in his hometown on Monday 17 September 2007.
• • Jerome Bernard Orbach was born in the Bronx [on 20 October 1935] to a Polish Catholic mother from Pennsylvania and a German Jewish father whose ancestry was Spanish Sephardic.
• • In 1952, the 17-year-old had just graduated from high school when he appeared in summer stock at the Chevy Chase Playhouse in Wheeling, Illinois. Orbach's first troupe mates were Mae West, Vincent Price, and John Ireland.
• • In 1960, he created the role of El Gallo in "The Fantasticks,'' singing the catchy theme song "Try to Remember'' that opened this off-Broadway musical, which ran for 40 years at the Sullivan Street Playhouse.
• • For awhile Orbach worked as a chauffeur for Mae West in Hollywood.
• • In 2004, after a long battle with cancer, Jerry Orbach died at age 69.
• • Put that sad thought aside. Envision your favorite September, when you were young. . . when many American households had a copy of the soundtrack to "The Fantasticks" . . . and when this song would play on the radio, filling the room with Orbach's powerful tenor.
— — — — — — — — — — — —
• • "Try to Remember" • •
Try to remember that time in September
When grass was green
And grain was yellow
Try to remember . . .
When you were a young and callow fellow . . .
— — excerpt from the theme song sung by Jerry Orbach in "The Fantasticks" — —
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • none • •
NYC
Mae West.
• • How many knew that the Bronx native Gaspere Biondolillo took the stage-name of "Jack LaRue"? Jack LaRue [birthdate: 3 May 1902] was part of the original Broadway cast when Mae brought her hit "Diamond Lil" to the Royale Theatre in April 1928. Onstage Jack LaRue played Lil's Latin lover Juarez. [Gilbert Roland played that role, under a Russian moniker, in the film version: She Done Him Wrong in 1932.]
• • After graduating from DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx, Gaspere Biondolillo became a piano tuner. Dropping into a casting office off Broadway one morning, as he made his rounds of keyboard adjustments, he found himself hired to work as a bellhop in a film that featured actor Edmond O'Brien. For three days work, he earned $45, which sparked his interest in more acting assignments. For the next two years, he tried to get film work — — and failed. However, Otis Skinner brought him to the stage in a production of "Blood and Sand"; this was at the Empire Theatre [September — November 1921]. After his Broadway debut, many more plays came his way.
