Mae West: Glasgow Glories

Memories of MAE WEST aroused fresh delight among her fans in Glasgow, Scotland — — where a 1927 hotel she stayed in has been lovingly restored.
• • Marianne Halavage writes: Mae West, Gene Kelly, and Cary Grant were among the stars who checked in to Glasgow's Central Hotel — — now it has been reborn. . . . Fast-forward to 2010, and Jack Dyce, 91, and Netta, 89, are sitting in their living room in Giffnock, outside Glasgow, reminiscing about how integral the Central has been to their lives. ...
• • According to Marianne Halavage: In its post-war heyday, the Central drew more than just the elite of Glasgow. Frank Sinatra, Winston Churchill, Laurel and Hardy, the Queen, John F Kennedy, Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Cary Grant and the Beach Boys, to name just a few, stayed or dined there. Netta remembers being on the desk in the 1940s when Edward G Robinson, the American actor who played gangsters in films such as Little Caesar and Key Largo, was in town. He brought her chocolate. “I was astonished to find that he had a beautiful voice and he loved paintings and was very cultured,” Netta says. “He was the opposite of the Robinson in his films.”
• • Halavage, who interviewed Netta Dyce, adds: She met other Hollywood stars as well, including Vivien Leigh (“very friendly, very nice”), Danny Kaye (“a hoot”), and Mae West. “Mae West really did walk with her hands on her hips, like in her films. I’ve a nice signed photograph from her.” Netta puts her hands on her hips and imitates West’s drawl. “She used to come by and say, ‘Hullow Nedda, howya doin'?’” . . .
• • To continue reading about the stage and screen stars who briefly stayed in Scotland, see the link below.
— — Excerpt: — —
• • Article: "Ghosts, glamour, and Hollywood greats at Glasgow’s Central Hotel"
• • By: Marianne Halavage
• • Published in: The Herald Scotland — — www.heraldscotland.com/
• • Published on: 20 September 2010
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: Herbert Baker

Herbert Baker received a screenplay credit for a motion picture starring MAE WEST.
• • Born in New York City, Mae's hometown, on 25 December 1920, Herbert Baker had parents who were in the entertainment business. His father was Maurice Abrahams [1883 — 1931], a composer who wrote special material for vaudeville performers such as Belle Baker. His mother was the vaudevillian and actress Belle Baker [1893 — 1957].
• • Encouraged by his family, young Herbert aspired to be an author and a composer-songwriter like his dad — — who died when the boy was eleven years old. Herbert received his BA degree at Yale University. After graduation he forged a career penning special material for Danny Kaye, Lena Horne, Ethel Merman, Beatrice Lillie, and also his widowed Mom Belle Baker. He also wrote for film and TV, and produced a Broadway stage score or two.
• • With this fleet-footed background, Herbert Baker somehow attached himself to the script for "Sextette" [1978] as a co-writer, when he was 57 years old and perhaps in great need of extra income.
• • During the month of June — — on 30 June 1983 — — Herbert Baker, age 62, died in Encino, California.
• • Sophie Tucker, a vaudevillian like Mae West • •
• • It took three writers to assemble a one-woman show on Sophie Tucker, who led a lively and fascinating life but, alas, the collaborators got it all wrong and even made Sophie seem dull, according to the Massachusetts-based drama critic Jenna Scherer, who refers to the vocalist as a bona fide sex symbol. That's interesting, isn't it?
• • “Sophie Tucker: The Last Of The Red Hot Mamas”
• • Jenna Scherer writes: Sophie Tucker blazed her own trail. She rose through the ranks of burlesque and vaudeville to become one of the top entertainers in America. Producers initially deemed her too fat and ugly to be a star, forcing her to perform in blackface and baggy clothes. But she defied them all to become a bona fide sex symbol. Her frank treatment of the female libido and her die-hard self-promotion made her a legend. Without Tucker, there would be no Mae West, Bette Midler, or even Lady Gaga.
• • Jenna Scherer notes: But you’d never know what an earth-shaker Tucker was from “Hot Mamas.” . . .
• • Presented by New Repertory Theatre, at Arsenal Center for the Arts, Watertown, Mass.
— — Excerpt: — —
• • Theatre Review: ‘Hot Mamas’ lacks sizzle
• • By Jenna Scherer / Theater Review: “Sophie Tucker: The Last Of The Red Hot Mamas”
• • Published in: Boston Herald
• • Published on: Monday, 28 June 2010
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• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: Steve Cochran

Steve Cochran appeared on Broadway with MAE WEST.
• • Born in Eureka, California in the month of May — — on 25 May 1917 — — he moved during the 1920s to Laramie, Wyoming thanks to his lumberjack father. Perhaps used to a lonely landscape where he often saw things tumbling down and falling, his spirit may have yearned to be hemmed in by a fixed construction such as an auditorium. In any case, upon his 1939 commencement from the University of Wyoming, Cochran began working in regional theatre and summer stock. After honing his craft at the Barter Theatre and the Carmel (California) Shakespeare Festival, he worked at Detroit's Federal Theatre, and was co-starred in the touring companies of "Without Love" and "My Sister Eileen" before his Broadway debut in the eight-performance flop "Hickory Stick."
• • During the war, Cochran [physically unfit for combat] directed Army camp shows.
• • In 1945, the Samuel Goldwyn Company had Cochran under contract. His film debut was the Danny Kaye vehicle "Wonder Man" [1945], produced by Goldwyn and released by RKO. For Goldwyn's projects, the handsome six-footer was cast in supporting roles — — often portraying a boxer or a gangster.
• • Steve Cochran said: "The big secret in playing a criminal in movies is to really believe that the character you are playing is doing no wrong."
• • Upon being released from his contract with Goldwyn in 1948, Cochran went back to The Gay White Way. Mae West cast him in the shady, hot-blooded role of Juarez in her "Diamond Lil" revival from February 5—26, 1949 at the Coronet Theatre on West 49th Street.
• • Then 36, the thrice married lady-killer is reputed to have had a heavy breathing "after-hours" relationship with his 50-something diamond-draped leading lady. [Leading ladies Cochran led to bed included Jayne Mansfield and Merle Oberon.]
• • After performing with Mae West, Cochran signed with Warner Bros. in 1949 and returned to Hollywood.
• • In 1965 Steve Cochran sailed off to Guatemala on his yacht to look for exotic filming locations. The 48-year-old perished onboard of a lung infection during the month of June.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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