Mae West: Ted Allan

Ted Allan worked with MAE WEST when she starred in "Belle of the Nineties" [1934] as the still photographer. His portraits of Ruby Carter (Mae), and her gaudy retinue, were used on lobby cards and other promotional material for Paramount Pictures.
• • Born in Clifton, Arizona in 1910 as Theos Alwyn Dunagan, by the age of 24 the photographer had shortened his name to Ted Allan, and was employed in Tinseltown in the Camera and Electrical Department of Paramount, MGM, Columbia, and other movie makers. From 1934 — 1965, he was attached to 16 projects on the big screen, though often uncredited. Later on, he also did TV work.
• • Ted Allan died in Burbank, California in the month of December — — on 20 December 1993. He was 82 years of age.
• • In December, Let's Remember Calvert Vaux [1824 — 2009] • •
• • Born in London in the month of December, Calvert Vaux [20 December 1824 — 19 November 1895] was an architect and landscape designer. He is best remembered as the co-designer (with Frederick Law Olmsted) of New York's Central Park. Nearly forgotten is the sad fact that this successful man committed suicide by drowning himself in a lake in Brooklyn en route to visit his son's house in Bensonhurst.
• • Jefferson Market Judicial Complex, situated on a curious triangular plot, was a stately group of structures co-designed by Frederick Clarke Withers and Calvert Vaux.
• • Now re-purposed as the Jefferson Market Branch of the New York Public Library, but still familiar to New Yorkers as the former Jefferson Market Court, this handsome landmark is located at 425 6th Avenue (SW corner of West 10th St) in Greenwich Village, New York City. This remaining building was originally erected as the Third Judicial District Courthouse between the years 1874 — 1877.
• • The stage play "Courting Mae West" dramatizes Mae's hearing, trial, and imprisonment here on Sixth Avenue during several tense dates in 1927. It was in this courtroom that Mae was found guilty and sent back to jail, then to the Women's Workhouse.
• • The next time "Courting Mae West" will be seen is on 28 January 2012 in Melboune, Australia.
• • On 20 December 1926 • •
• • It was on 20 December 1926 that the controversial tabloid Evening Graphic printed a publicity picture of Mae West onstage, costumed as Margy LaMont, actor Barry O'Neill sprawled out in a chair, under her. In her 1926 Broadway play, Mae wanted to depict a woman who has power over her men, a novel idea at the time for theatrical dramas.
• • PHOTO: Mae with Barry O'Neill performing onstage in "Sex" at Daly's West 63rd Street Theatre, New York, NY in 1926.
• • On 20 December 1937 in Hollywood • •
• • In their review of "Every Day's a Holiday," The Hollywood Reporter praised the movie set fashioned to resemble Rector's as "sumptuous in atmosphere and setting." The critic noted, with appreciation, "Mae is Mae as always, sartorially magnificent in the stunning wardrobe designed for her by Schiaparelli." Remarking that it was more conservative than her previous screen efforts, the California critic added that this comedy was, nevertheless, "a robust piece of entertainment, lush and colorful, displaying Mae West's unmatched burlesque gifts luxuriantly." No doubt Mae was delighted to see that coverage on 20 December 1937, especially because other publications were not as warm-hearted about the picture.
• • On 20 December 2004 in NYC • •
• • In connection with the stage play by LindaAnn Loschiavo, "Courting Mae West," New Yorkers mounted an effort on December 20th to draw attention to the need to commemorate Mae West on a stamp. The press release's headline read: "Come Up and Lick Mae: Some New Yorkers Are Busting to Have Mae West Celebrated on a Postage Stamp." A petition was submitted to the USPS but no stamp was issued. Awwww.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I hate to spoil a good story but I don't believe in secret marriages. Whenever I take a husband I'll be the first one to know it. And I'll tell the world."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article about favorite dishes of movie stars in the 1930s mentioned Mae West.
• • Sydney Morning Herald wrote: Most of the motion picture stars have particular dishes that delight their fancy. Some of these date back to a childhood preference. Some they have concocted in their own kitchens, and served with proper pride when friends gather round. One group of restaurants — — the famous Brown Derbies — — have long been the haunt of the motion picture colony.
• • Sydney Morning Herald continued: In the course of time, these cafes learned of the gastronomlcal pet dishes of their patrons. Surreptitiously they queried here, they questioned there. For instance, when Joan Bennett and Carole Lombard drop in for lunch, they are naturally served ice-box cake for dessert. On the other hand, the appearance of Gary Cooper, Fred MacMurray, Jackie Cooper, and even Herbert Marshall, calls immediately for a generous platter of potato pancakes.
• • Sydney Morning Herald commented: Mae West always has a salad, which has been named after her.
• • Sydney Morning Herald added: The chefs of the Brown Derbies have supplied the following recipes for the dishes favoured by well-known film people: ...
• • Source: Article: "Some Favourite Dishes of the Stars — — Spaghetti Astaire and Mae West Salad" written by the editors of The Sydney Morning Herald [Australia], page 8; published on 17 November 1936
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2151st 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 • • illustration in 1934 • •
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Mae West: Court Short

In 1927 Mae West was prosecuted here on Sixth Avenue for obscenity — — particularly because of the homosexual content of her shows. But more recently the nineteenth century landmark was about to be raped by the pencil-pushers who rule The New York Public Library. Fortunately, Greenwich Village residents rallied in the name of justice and won.
• • The Villager recently published this news about the beloved Jefferson Market Courthouse turned library.
• • In his front page feature "Long-overdue library facade repairs finally fully funded," staffwriter Albert Amateau explained the cause for jubilation. He wrote: "Villagers who have long been demanding the renovation of the Jefferson Market Library’s exterior celebrated the announcement on Tuesday [21 August 2007] that new city funding has assured the project.
• • Council Speaker Christine Quinn joined State Senator Tom Duane, New York Public Library President Paul LeClerc and Village leaders in the community room of the landmarked library to announce that the new funding brings the total allocation to more than $7 million for renovating the facade, windows, roof, and tower of the landmarked building erected in 1877 as a courthouse.
• • The beginning of construction is planned for June 2009 and is expected to be completed in two years. A two-month design phase includes review by the Landmarks Preservation Commission because the building is a designated New York City landmark. A final design and development of construction documents will follow and be submitted to contractors for bidding.
• • Several Greenwich Village Block Associations ... renewed the call for preserving the deteriorating exterior of the library. Since 2003, the Sixth Avenue and West 10th Street sides of the library have been obscured by a sidewalk shed erected to protect people from fragments of limestone and brick falling from the facade.
• • “We all know that the Jefferson Market Library is one of the great library buildings in the city,” Quinn said. “In 1880, it was cited as one of the 10 most beautiful buildings in the country. But in the past few years you had to squint to see it because of the scaffold.”
• • Quinn recalled that when Duane was city councilmember for the Village in 1992 — — and she was then on his staff — — he was able to get more than $700,000 allocated for restoring the building. Added to that, Quinn this year allocated $2.7 million in addition to $1.39 million she earmarked in previous years. Also this year, Mayor Bloomberg provided matching funds of $2.2 million for the library restoration.
• • It was uncertain last year whether previous funds appropriated for a redesign of the library’s interior could be reallocated for facade and structural work. But in February 2007, LI/ Salzman Architects completed a report funded by Quinn and Duane that concluded that because of significant deterioration of the sandstone and brickwork, plus open mortar joints and cracked stone, water had penetrated the facade causing the stonework to shift and settle and allowing the building’s iron structure to rust.
• • In addition, it was found that the Sixth Avenue portico has detached slightly from the facade and leans slightly toward the street.
• • All but $184,000 — — spent for interior design work [a design that would have reconfigured the library's reference room into a music lounge for teens] — — of more than $2 million previously funded will be transferred to the exterior project. The work includes shoring up deficiencies that contributed to the deterioration and returning the building to its original splendor.
• • Community Board 2 called the library "the most iconic building in the Village.”
• • Designed by Frederick Clark Withers and Calvert Vaux in 1875 and completed two years later, the courthouse was where Harry K. Thaw was found guilty of murdering the architect Stanford White and where Mae West was prosecuted for the sexual content of her shows.
• • The courthouse was erected on the site of the Jefferson Market, where a 100-foot-tall wooden fire tower kept watch over the Village. The courthouse tower is also 100 feet tall and holds the original fire bell from its wooden precursor.
• • By 1945 the building was no longer used as a courthouse and other agencies had occupied it. A 1958 decision to demolish the building was fought by Village advocates . . .
— — excerpt — —
• • Source: The Villager — — www.TheVillager.com
• • Byline: Albert Amateau
• • Published on: 23 August 2007
• • Unfortunately, this landmark has not preserved the building's cultural history via a plaque nor a permanent exhibition inside, where there's lots of space for it — — and now the funding. MAE WEST and a heap of women's history-makers tramped through these corridors. Maybe. . . .
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Illustration: • • Mae West on trial • • 1927 • •
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Mae West.