Mae West: Frank Buchman

It was August 1939 when MAE WEST agreed to meet with Frank Buchman for a half an hour.
• • Born in in Pennsburg, Pennsylvania on 4 June 1878, Franklin Nathaniel Daniel Buchman was a Protestant Christian evangelist who founded the Oxford Group (known as Moral Re-Armament from 1938 until 2001, and as Initiatives of Change since then). Buchman was a controversial figure throughout much of his adult life, and critics dubbed his movement as "Buchmanism" from the 1920s.
• • Buchman, who never married, went out to Hollywood in 1939 to have himself photographed with movie stars as a way to use these pictures for his own publicity.
• • In August 1939, Mae West suggested that Buchman also make a call on film comedian W.C. Fields.
• • Despite a stroke in 1942, and failing health that eventually led to blindness and immobility, he remained fairly active for the next nineteen years. Buchman died in Freudenstadt, Germany in the month of August — — on 7 August 1961.
• • Mae West & Eugene O'Neill: Off-beat Links • •
• • Historical Events for 9th April 1928:
• • Eugene O'Neill's "Lazarus Laughed" premieres in Pasadena, California.
• • Mae West's Broadway debut in her daring new play "Diamond Lil" at the Royale Theatre.
• • On Sunday afternoon, 14 August 2011 • •
• • "Mae West in Bohemia — — Gin, Sin, Censorship, and Eugene O'Neill"
• • Mae West's birthday is August 17th. Join us at 3:00 pm on Sunday afternoon, 14 August 2011. The title of this illustrated historical theme walk is "Mae West in Bohemia — — Gin, Sin, Censorship, and Eugene O'Neill." Rare vintage illustrations will show you how the buildings and blocks looked as these two theatre people saw them.
• • Where: This illustrated walking tour begins at 62 West Ninth Street, NYC (near Sixth Avenue). Join us and take a walk on the wild side next weekend.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I feel like a million tonight — — but one at a time."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Mae West is mentioned in a new book by David Wallace — — Capital of the World: A Portrait of New York City in the Roaring Twenties.
• • Slate reporter Libby Copeland writes: Capital of the World, which just came out, is a rollicking look at the outsize personalities who defined the city in the ‘20s. Tellingly, given the freedoms and irreverence of the era, there are a lot of women in the book. Some of their names are familiar (Dorothy Parker, Fanny Brice, Martha Graham) and some are less so. Wallace introduces us to Texas Guinan, a housewife [sic] turned celluloid cowgirl who parlayed her Hollywood fame into a job as a New York City speakeasy hostess. Texas Guinan’s job was to get people drunk and entertain them, and she was spectacularly good at it, making oodles of money (though a lot of it had to go to bribes). Guinan turned insult into an art form — — she liked to greet customers with the phrase “Hello, suckers!”— — and she later became the inspiration for Mae West’s brand of sass. ...
• • Source: Article: "Limited Engagement! One Night Only! A Panel Tonight on New York During the '20s and '40s!" written by Libby Copeland for Slate; posted Wednesday, 3 August 2011
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2015th 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: August at The Corner

It was 1912 when MAE WEST got her first major vaudeville break: a spot on the bill at Hammerstein's Victoria in mid-May. At last the scintillating singing comedienne could demonstrate that she was in a league with top-tiered headliners such as Eva Tanguay, Sophie Tucker, Fanny Brice, and Nora Bayes.
• • Later that year, close to her 19th birthday, Mae had been invited back to "The Corner" for a weeklong booking that began on 6 August 1912. She shared the stagebill with several acts — — including Fields and Carroll.
• • Half of the team was Arthur Fields [1888 — 1953] who was born as Abe Finkelstein in Philadelphia in the month of August — — on 6 August 1888 — — and who toured for years with Harry Carroll. Fields was just 11 years old when he turned pro, accepting singing engagements in Utica, New York and then branching out to Coney Island. Around 1908 the ambitious baritone toured with Guy Brother's Minstrel Show, and helped assemble a vaudeville novelty "Weston, Fields, and Carroll." Four years later, the partnership had been paired down to Fields and Carroll. Arthur Fields had his first hit as a songwriter with "On the Mississippi" (1912); he had composed this ragtime music with Harry Carroll, but Ballard MacDonald supplied the lyrics.
• • Mae West heard Fields and Carroll perform their jaunty rag "On the Mississippi" — — 98 years ago today on the corner of Seventh Avenue and 42nd Street. Then "Mae West and Her Boys" sang a few rags and played the bones, minstrel style. Variety slammed their routine, suggesting she return to burlesque since she lacked the refinement necessary for top-drawer vaudeville. Instead Mae once again became a solo act, purchased new material, and kept on trouping.
• • "It's better to be looked over than overlooked," Mae would often say, refusing to hear the nay-saying, and steeling herself to press ever onward. Bravo.
• • Proust said that truth is only a point of view about things. Romain, who is a fairly new toastmaster at the Mae West banquet table, shares his personal tastes with our readers.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • In commemoration of the thirtieth anniversary of Mae's burial, French follower Romain Tutak shares his journey into the heartland of Mae West country.
• • Part 2 • •
• • Romain writes: Since the Internet helped me acquire Mae West books and keepsakes, I was often trolling online for more Westiana.
• • The Mae West Color Site • •
• • Since I enjoyed the Color Site so much, I left a guestbook comment back in April 2007. Not long after, a response arrived from the webmaster Martin. He explained that he had developed the web site in collaboration with Ian, another fan, and he'd be happy to answer any questions.
• • Well, the conversation has not yet ended. I am often asking Martin's advice about items to buy. Martin told me about his experiences — — his meeting at Ian’s place filled with mountains of Mae-morablia. He clued me into other motion picture classics such as "Sunset Boulevard" and acquainted me with actresses like Bankhead, or Gloria Swanson. And, playfully, Martin called me a freak because I am so young but have old-fashioned tastes.
• • In 2007, I decided to leave Paris for Toulouse (Southern France) to study Fashion Design in a more affordable school.
• • SURPRISINGLY, this was where I stumbled across many fascinaing Mae West collectibles. No longer did I need to buy online when there were the most curious little shops — — unfortunately, some have since closed — — where I found her LPs and posters. One proprietor, a very kind man in his forties, sold me records at a discount. He'd say, "Because you seem to really like her, and that’s my only chance to sell it…!"
• • It seems to me that my modest collection is not impressive at all. I do not own anything that was hers, for instance. It's quite funny that, even when I was in Toulouse, burdened with tuition and living expenses, I always managed to have some euros to spend on Miss West, for a book, or another LP or a DVD.
• • • • The Lack of a Mae West Fan Club • • • •
• • I think it’s too bad there is no one who cares to maintain an official Mae West Fan Club or even an on-going forum on the Internet dedicated to her. A newcomer such as myself always needs a guide to check things out about Mae West. Despite the Internet, it is still difficult to get RELIABLE information. Internet information isn’t really trustworthy nor are some of the books.
• • Recently, I bought a new Mae West biography, only to discover it was filled with stupid errors; the writer made many careless mistakes, saying she died in 1978 and was buried in California, for example, and he furnished mostly the wrong dates for her films, songs, and shows. With disappointing biographies like this floating around, it becomes even more valuable to be able to check details with longtime fans, people who can answer my questions or verify details — — such as which perfume did Mae wear. Without an official fan club, where reliable information might come from, Mae's fan base is the only source. And I really want to thank these Mae experts. They know who they are and I feel blessed to "know" them.
• • Lack of Legacy Management • •
• • But it is a shame that there is no formal fan club for other reasons, too. These days my main concern is what her legal claimants are doing to keep her legacy, her memory, and her work alive. It does seem like she’s still very vivid as a character in people’s mind in the USA. With the right legacy management, Mae West could be like Marilyn Monroe or James Dean or Audrey Hepburn … though, of course, this was not half of what Miss West was!!! A fan club could help attract new FANS!!! I just don’t understand why they don’t try harder to make that happen.
• • There are plenty of things to do, to spread the word about Mae West, which would bring them loads of money. Let me ask these questions! Where are the unpublished plays?! Where is the Complete Collection of Miss West Movies? LPs? Writtings? Where is the tour operator who could design the ultimate Miss West Hollywood/ New York trip? The Mae West Official Youtube Channel, Facebook page, website (which is not a joke), forum, myspace…?!
• • Despite my being a tyro who still does not know much about her, Miss West has become part of my life. And she will stay a part of it for a long time, and I hope more people of my generation will be attracted to her… so that we’ll keep her work, her image, and her message of tolerance, acceptance, and humor still alive!! Though she is dead, this is not over. Her fascination and her impact will continue. I know this.
Written by: Romain Tutak, Paris, France
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• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: 47th Street

There's so much MAE WEST history on certain blocks in her hometown that there ought to be a signpost or two.
• • What is it, for instance, about West 47th Street? Not only does this block have numerous sites with an intriguing back-story, it is also notable for its links to Mae West and Sophie Tucker. In honor of Mae’s upcoming birthday, here is a self-guided tour of West 47th in midtown Manhattan.
• • 412 West 47th: Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant launched The New Yorker here in 1925, a weekly that often reviewed the shows Mae West and Sophie Tucker were in.
• • 345 West 47th: The New York City Police Department's 16th Precinct sent a Black Maria to haul in Mae West after undercover officers raided her play "Sex" in February 1927. This scene was repeated after the cops raided Mae's gay play "Pleasure Man" in October 1928. Mae West had to arrange bail from West 47th Street.
• • 339 West 47th: Actors Temple [Congregation Ezrath Israel] was founded in 1917 and became a spiritual home for Jews working on Broadway such as Sophie Tucker, Jack Benny, Edgar G. Robinson, Red Buttons, Shelley Winters, The Three Stooges, and other vaudevillians who were also colleagues of Mae West.
• • 261 — 265 West 47th: The Biltmore Theatre was raided when Mae's gay play "Pleasure Man" had its opening night here in October 1928.
• • 1580 Broadway at West 47th: In the 1920s it was the Palais Royale, with the Moulin Rouge in the basement. Then from 1936 to 1940 it was the Cotton Club's post-Harlem home, featuring stars like Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, all of whom worked with Mae West. From 1942 to 1969, it was the Latin Quarter nightclub (run by Lou Walters, Barbara Walters' father). During the 1950s, both Sophie Tucker and Mae West were booked here.
• • 1568 Broadway at West 47th: Doubletree Guest Suites Times Square Hotel, built in 1991 as the Embassy Suites to a Fox & Fowle design, envelopes the old Palace Theater, built in 1913 by Kirchoff & Rose. During its heyday it was every vaudevillian's dream to play The Palace. Among those who made it were Sophie Tucker, W.C. Fields, Fanny Brice, Will Rogers, Eddie Cantor, Bob Hope, the Marx Brothers, and Mae West (accompanied by pianist Harry Richman), who starred here in 1922.
• • 707 Seventh Avenue at West 47th: "Introduced with great success by Mae West" announced the song sheet for "Cuddle Up and Cling to Me," with lyrics by Stanley Murphy [1875 — 1919] and music by Henry I. Marshall, which was newly distributed in 1912 by Charles K. Harris. The celebrated composer and music publisher from Chicago was now running his Manhattan operation from the Columbia Theatre Building at 707 Seventh Avenue.
• • West 47th Street's Diamond District: This block ranks with Antwerp, Belgium, and Ramat Gan, Israel, as one of world’s major diamond trading centers. Sophie Tucker's success as an entertainment headliner financed a personal treasure chest of gems at a time when performers wore their own jewelry onstage. Mae West's love of sparklers inspired her most successful stage play "Diamond Lil." Pick any scene in the 1933 motion picture "She Done Him Wrong" (based on the play) and watch those solitaires and brilliants flash onscreen.
• • • • West 47th Street on 14 August 2010 • • • •
• • And the live entertainment will flash and sparkle also on Saturday August 14, 2010 when two swell broads head back to Broadway — — Sophie Tucker along with Mae West.
• • Continuing her custom of commemorating the birthday of Mae West, playwright LindaAnn Loschiavo has a most exciting late-night treat in store this year: The Gaudy Girls, two talented beauties who perform the best-loved songs made famous by Sophie Tucker and Mae West. As part of their repertoire, the ladies will spotlight a tribute to the NYC-based composers and lyricists who created popular numbers such as "My Yiddishe Momme," "Red Hot Mama," "Everybody Shimmies Now," "My Old Flame," "Baby, It's Cold Outside," and more.
• • It's one night only so plan to come up and see Mae — — and Sophie. Details below.
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• • WHERE: ACTORS TEMPLE, 339 West 47th Street, New York, NY 10036 [where SOPHIE TUCKER was one of their first vaudeville members in 1923]
• • WHO: MAE WEST [Anne Marie Finnie], SOPHIE TUCKER [Maggie Worsdale], presented and introduced by playwright LindaAnn Loschiavo
• • WHAT ELSE: Shimmy lessons, raffle prizes, goodies, and a chance to win deluxe European scarves featuring MAE WEST’s quotes.
• • SUBWAYS: IND: C, E to West 50th Street station; BMT: N, R, W to West 49th Street station — — exit on the West 47th Street side.
• • GENERAL ADMISSION: $15. VIP service and Group Sales available.
• • URL: TheGaudyGirls.com
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• • Tell them you heard about it on the MAE WEST BLOG.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: Hooray for Mercer

MAE WEST did not fill her household with any remnants from old wedding albums, even though she was legally married twice. But she did not mind playing the oft-married blushing bride Marlo Manners, who enters a posh London hotel lobby on the arm of her sixth husband, only to be greeted by an adoring mob of Marlo fans in "Sextette" [1978]. There is a very impressive rendition of "Hooray for Hollywood" by a large cast of performers. The iconic song was written by Johnny Mercer, who died in the month of June — — on 25 June 1976 — — from a brain tumor at age 66.
• • Unlike Mae West, the singer—songwriter has been honored by the United States Postal Service with his portrait placed on a stamp in 1996. Amazing who gets on an American postage stamp and who does not, eh?
• • Born in Savannah, Georgia, Johnny Mercer [18 November 1909 — 25 June 1976] was an American lyricist, songwriter, and singer. Though he is best known as a lyricist, he composed music, too. He was also a popular singer who recorded his own songs as well as those written by others. From the mid-1930s through the mid-1950s, many of the songs Mercer wrote and performed were among the most popular hits of the time. The prolific musician wrote the lyrics to more than fifteen hundred songs, including compositions for movies and Broadway shows. He received nineteen Academy Award nominations, and won four. Mercer was also a co-founder of Capitol Records.
• • "Hooray for Hollywood" • •
• • "Hooray for Hollywood" is a film song first featured in the motion picture "Hollywood Hotel" [1937], a number that has since become the staple soundtrack element of any Academy Awards ceremony. Curiously enough, "Hooray for Hollywood" is even frequently played during non-American movie ceremonies, e.g. the French César Awards. The popularity of the song is notably due to the lyrics by Johnny Mercer, which reference the American movie industry and satirize the illusory desire of many people to become famous as actors. Richard A. Whiting [1891 — 1938] composed the music, then had a heart attack at the height of his fame.
• • When I die, you are going to be very surprised! • •
• • In connection with a special Pride show on Thursday, 24 June 2010 in Manhattan, Joan Rivers got a column devoted to her in The Villager, whose hard-working reporter asked the Botoxed-to-death comedienne if there was anything yet to be revealed. “Only for you,” Joan Rivers said, referring our plea for an exclusive nugget: “I am a man. Mae West did that all her life. Mae would say to her audiences, ‘When I die, you are going to be very surprised!' Then she died and there was no surprise — — but how clever.” [Source: The Villager, Volume 80, Number 4 | June 23 - 29, 2010.]
• • 25 June 1926 • •
• • Speaking of Benefits and good deeds that were scheduled right after the first day of summer, on 25 June 1926, Mae West appeared with Houdini and other entertainers (such as George M. Cohan, Fanny Brice, the Marx Brothers, Al Jolson, Ann Pennington, Hazel Dawn, Eddie Foy, etc.) at the Polo Grounds on West 155th Street in Manhattan's Washington Heights area [zipcode 10032].
• • The fundraiser, organized for the benefit of the United Jewish Campaign, was staged by Mae's old dancing teacher Ned Wayburn.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: Fanny Brice

MAE WEST appeared at the same Big Apple fundraiser with a comedienne who died at the end of May.
• • Born on New York's Lower East Side, Fanny Brice [29 October 1891 — 29 May 1951] was a popular and influential American illustrated song "model," comedienne, singer, theatre and film actress, who made many stage, radio and film appearances but is best remembered as the creator and star of the top-rated radio comedy series: The Baby Snooks Show. Thirteen years after her death, she was portrayed on the Broadway stage by Barbra Streisand in the musical "Funny Girl" and its 1968 film adaption.
• • On 25 June 1926, Mae West appeared with Houdini on the same stage for the last time. The star of "Sex" was performing with the magician and other bold-faced named entertainers (such as Fanny Brice, George M. Cohan, the Marx Brothers, Al Jolson, Ann Pennington, Hazel Dawn, Eddie Foy, etc.) — — where? — — at the Polo Grounds on West 155th Street in Manhattan's Washington Heights area [zipcode 10032].
• • The fundraiser, organized for the benefit of the United Jewish Campaign, was staged by Mae's old dancing teacher Ned Wayburn.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: Ned Wayburn

Eighteen-year-old brunette MAE WEST got her first big break when she was cast in the legitimate show "A la Broadway" at New York's Folies Bergere Theatre. Ned Wayburn — — Mae's former dancing teacher — — who was staging this, pulled her in. The revue premiered 22 September 1911 and lasted eight performances.
• • The New York Times applauded Mae's debut, however, the theatre's limited seating capacity made it financially foolish to mount such an expensive entertainment there.
• • Ned Wayburn, born Edward Claudius Weyburn, was the most famous and influential choreographer in the early twentieth century.
• • Ned Wayburn [30 March 1874 — 2 September 1942] was born in Pennsylvania but spent much of his childhood in Chicago where he was introduced to theater and studied classical piano. At the age of 21, he abandoned his family’s tradition of manufacturing and began teaching at the Hart Conway School of Acting in Chicago.
• • After leaving the school, Wayburn spent many years in theater staging shows for producers. He worked with such teams as Oscar and William Hammerstein, and Marc Klaw and A.L. Erlanger.
• • In 1906, Ned Wayburn began his own management group called the Headline Vaudeville Production Company. Through his own firm he staged many feature acts, while collaborating with other producers such as Lew Fields, William Ziegfeld, and the Shuberts. In 1915, he began working with Florenz Ziegfeld and created the incredibly successful Ziegfeld Follies [1907 — 1931].
• • Ned Wayburn’s choreography was based on six idioms or techniques: musical comedy, tapping, stepping, acrobatic work, modern American ballet, toe specialties, and exhibition ballroom. His choreography was greatly affected by social dances of the time. His dancers moved in units of two or four, following popular trends. He also used a group of dancers to form shapes, as inspired by the Cotillion. He also was famous for taking dances such as the tango, the Turkey Trot, the Grizzly Bear, the Black Bottom, and the Charleston, and re-creating them for stage performances by using strong exaggerations of movement.
• • Ned Wayburn taught Mae West to do the Grizzly Bear, a dance craze that started in San Francisco (along with the Bunny Hug and Texas Tommy). The Bear dance (as it was also called) was done on the Staten Island ferry boats in the 1900s. It has been said that dancers John Jarrott and Louise Gruenning introduced this dance as well as the Turkey Trot at Ray Jones Cafe in Chicago around 1909.
• • The Bear Goes Bigtime • •
• • The Grizzly Bear was first introduced to New York's Broadway audiences in the 1910 show "Over the River" via the song "Everybody's Doin' it Now." That song contained the repeated phrase "It's a Bear!" Later the Ziegfeld Follies of 1911 would feature the Bear dance by Fanny Brice. The dance was rough and clumsy since the Grizzly Bear step was imitating the movements of a dancing bear. After a very heavy step to the side, there was a decided bending of the upper part of the body from one side to the other, a deliberately ungraceful and undignified movement when performed as a dance.
• • In 1910, Sophie Tucker was arrested for singing the Grizzly Bear and the "Angle Worm Wiggle."
• • In addition to incorporating "scandalous dances" for the stage, Ned Wayburn was the one who created steps such as the “Ziegfeld Walk” and the “Gilda Glide” (for Mae's rival Gilda Gray), and worked with many well-known performers of the time such as Mae West, Fred Astaire, Marilyn Miller, Ann Pennington, Barbara Stanwyck, Clifton Webb, Evelyn Law, Fanny Brice, Gilda Gray, and others.
• • Some of his best remembered shows were Phantastic Phantoms (1907), The Daisy Dancers (1906), The Passing Show (1913), and all of the Ziegfeld Follies.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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