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MAE WEST made the news on May 30th, adding an element of anticipation to the holiday weekend. Filled with hyperbole and hokum, this article shows how Mae was embroidering her legend early on in her career.
• • News of Mae's sensational shimmy dance spread like wildfire and the stage offers poured in, more of them, and one from Ned Wayburn, her former teacher. She was featured in his "Demi-Tasse Revue" and later in his "The Mimic World."
• • Mamma Mathilda was not able to gratify all her wishes, but her tastes in dress were so simple and the effect so charming, that Mae follows her lead, never appearing on the street in loud colors. "Mae for smart conservatives" is the way she verbalizes her amusing statement on fashion.
• • "Mae attends daily Mass, an inheritance from her devout mother" • •
• • The fact that Mae West, when studio hours do not conflict, attends early Mass daily is another inheritance from her devout mother. Why even Mae West's colored maid says that her missus never does nothing like nobody else. Even in the old days Flo Ziegfeld must have thought the same for he offered her five hundred dollars a week and her costumes! "More in 'em than of 'em!" Mae says. . . . So there she was in the vast New Amsterdam Theatre glorifying the American Girl in the "Follies" [sic] with Mamma Mathilda in a twitter of excitement and insisting on being wardrobe lady!
• • Money for vacation was plentiful but Mae (as she does to this day) refused to consider flying, horse-back riding, or going down to the sea in ships and things.
• • According to Mae, Ed Wynn — — of "The Perfect Fool" fame — — was feeling the need of a stage-mate of like inclinations. He nabbed Mae for his "Sometime" and the box office proved beyond question that neither Wynn nor West were such perfect fools after all. Mae was by this time an all-around comedienne. She could do male impersonations in a topper, spats, and cane. She could do a breakdown, sing, shimmy, and capture the crowd with her clowning. . . . She was writing a play on the side which was to get her Into trouble with the authorities and put her temporarily out of circulation. Mae didn't mind in the least. It was all In the game. ...
• • See what happens tomorrow.
• • Source: Article: "Mae West in Roads of Romance" by Harry Lee and Winfield Meggs, Side Glances columnists and illustrators for The Winnipeg Evening Tribune; published on Wednesday, 30 May 1934.
• • On Wednesday, 30 May 2007 • •
• • Christie's held this auction of a Mae West movie collectible in New York City, Rockefeller Plaza on Wednesday, 30 May 2007.
• • A costume design for Mae West, circa 1970s, by Edith Head possibly for "Sextette" [1978]. The sketch of this elegant pink gown is pictured in the auction booklet. A collector paid $900 to possess it.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • "Mae West will open casino" • •
• • Las Vegas, Monday — Mae West will open soon a gambling restaurant-casino at Las Vegas.
• • Her lawyer. Charles Catt, announced today that Mae West would be a featured attraction in the casino's floor shows.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "A dame that knows the ropes isn't likely to get tied up."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A Western Australian publication mentioned Mae West.
• • Change of Style — — 1936 Version of "Little Lord Fauntleroy."
• • . . . Since then Mrs. Hodgson Burnett's play has been performed countless thousands of times, both in England and in America, and dozens of child players, mostly girls, have played the title role. In one New York production before the war, the part was taken by no other than Mae West, then aged 7. . . .
• • Source: Article for The West Australian; published on Friday, 29 May 1936
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started nine years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2925th 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 • • in 1918 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
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As a child, MAE WEST heard fascinating recollections about New York City's Chinatown and the Bowery. Aware of the attractiveness of these lively locales, authors found creative ways to situate their narratives in these neighborhoods.
• • Charles H. Hoyt, for instance, wrote the immensely popular musical comedy "A Trip to Chinatown." The story focuses on a widow who connives and contrives to bring romance to several couples and herself in a big city restaurant [think of "Hello, Dolly!"]. 
• • Still capitalizing on the "Trip to Chinatown" craze, clever showmen reworked the play again and presented it under a new title: "A Winsome Widow."
• • Nineteen-year-old brunette Mae West was featured in the show "A Winsome Widow" as La Petite Daffy in 1912.
• • The musical was presented at the Moulin Rouge, then located at 1514-16 Broadway [West 44th Street], New York, NY. This showplace was demolished in 1935.
• • This extravaganza was produced by Flo Ziegfeld, and during its latest revision the Eastside musical was relocated to the West Coast — — to San Francisco's Chinatown.
• • As La Petite Daffy, Mae West won acclaim for her vivacity and sauciness. "Mae West assaults the welkin vigorously," applauded the New York Dramatic Mirror from their tony perch on West 42nd Street right opposite the New York Public Library.
• • Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. • • • • Born in Chicago, Illinois, Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. [1867 — 1932] was a Broadway impresario. He is best known for his series of theatrical revues, the Ziegfeld Follies [1907 — 1931], inspired by the Folies Bergères of Paris. Ziegfeld, who also built his own theatre on The Great White Way, earned a reputation as the "glorifier of the American girl."
• • At 65 years old, Flo Ziegfeld died in Hollywood, California during the month of July — — on 22 July 1932 — — from pleurisy related to a former lung infection.
• • Quote, Unquote • • • • Mae West, an expert on pillowtalk, became the first paragraph for an article on home decorating with pillows.
• • Vegas-based Domestic Diva Carolyn Muse Grant writes: "Too much of a good thing can be wonderful!" — — Mae West (1893 — 1980) American actress, playwright, screenwriter and sex symbol. I have to agree with Ms. West — — relative to home decorating, that is. And the two good things that can be wonderful, in my opinion, are pillows and books. ...
• • Source: Article: " Books, pillows enliven most spaces" written by Carolyn Muse Grant for Las Vegas Review-Journal; posted on 21 July 2011
• • 17 July 2004 — 17 July 2011 • •
• • In mid-July the Mae West Blog celebrates its seventh anniversary. Thank you to all those Mae-mavens who come up and see Mae every day.
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 1999th 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 • • winsome in 1912 • •
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Mae West.
The Red Perspex Lips Clutch by the 51-year-old British handbag designer Lulu Guinness was inspired by Salvador Dali's iconic MAE WEST Lips sofa, an original built in 1937. Created in a dazzling red poppy perspex, it is lined with black grosgrain. The Brooklyn bombshell continues to be a style icon all over the world.
• • Films to Get You in the Mood • •
• • "I'm No Angel" — Not a romantic comedy by contemporary standards, notes Jimi Izrael of NPR.org. Mae West stars as Tira, the burlesque performer with a good heart who finds love despite herself. Cary Grant sets this film off as Jack Clayton, the respectable socialite who falls for the shake-dancing lion tamer. Jimi Izrael adds: West brings a sexy performance — completely clothed — that leaves little wonder to how she pulled Paramount Studios out of bankruptcy. HOT. [Source: "Films to Get You in the Mood" by Jimi Izrael, NPR, 15 February 2011]
• • Mae West's Leg • •
• • An American group of female vocalists from the state of Washington calls the band Mae West’s Leg. The group is made up of Tina North, Kat Bula, and Amanda Kalkwarf.
• • Kathleen Clifford • •
• • Born in Charlottesville, Virginia in the month of February — — on 16 February 1887 — — Kathleen Clifford was an American vaudeville and Broadway stage and film actress of the early twentieth century.
• • As with "Baby Mae," Kathleen Clifford's career acting was initially built on the vaudeville stages as a comedienne. Renowned for her impersonations of men, Kathleen Clifford was often humorously billed as "The Smartest Chap in Town."
• • In 1912, a large cast was hired for the Florenz Ziegfeld musical production "A Winsome Widow" [staged on Broadway from April — September 1912]. Kathleen Clifford was hired to play a male role: Willie Grow. Mae West won acclaim as La Petite Daffy in the same production.
• • Miss Clifford died on 28 December 1962 at age 75.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • clutch inspired by the Mae West Sofa • •
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Mae West.
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 week-long booking that began on 6 August 1912. She shared the stagebill with several acts — — including Fields and Carroll.
• • Mae West heard Fields and Carroll perform their jaunty rag "On the Mississippi" — — on the corner of Seventh Avenue and 42nd Street. And then "Mae West and Her Boys" were on, singing a few rags and playing the bones, minstrel style.
• • Harry Carroll, a well-regarded American songwriter, pianist, and composer, was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey on 28 November 1892. Noticed by the top people, in 1912 20-year-old Carroll was hired by the Schubert brothers' Winter Garden productions as a contract writer. Sought after for Broadway shows from 1910 — 1921, he wrote musical numbers for producer Flo Ziegfeld — — for instance, for the "Ziegfeld Midnight Frolic" [1920] — — and others.
• • From 1914 — 1917, Harry Carroll served as the director of ASCAP. He moved to Hollywood with his wife and began work on various silent films.
• • Harry Carroll died in the month of December — — on 26 December 1962, in Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania.
• • 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 was cast in "A Winsome Widow," a Broadway success in 1912.
• • Produced by Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr., "A Winsome Widow" had several numbers created by a diverse group of songwriters and composers, for instance, Jerome Kern, then 27 years old.
• • A native New Yorker like Mae West, Jerome Kern [27 January 1885 — 11 November 1945] was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music who was raised in Manhattan. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as "Ol' Man River," "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man," "A Fine Romance," "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes," "All the Things You Are," "The Way You Look Tonight," "Long Ago (and Far Away)," "Who?" — — and songs intended to be performed in "Winsome Widow" by Mae West. During his long career, Kern collaborated with many of the leading librettists and lyricists of his era, including George Grossmith Jr., Guy Bolton, P. G. Wodehouse, Otto Harbach, Oscar Hammerstein II, Dorothy Fields, Johnny Mercer, Ira Gershwin and E. Y. Harburg.
• • In the fall of 1945, Kern returned to New York City to oversee auditions for a new revival of Show Boat, and began to work on the score for what would become the musical Annie Get Your Gun, to be produced by Rodgers and Hammerstein. On 5 November 1945, he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage while walking at the south west corner of Park Avenue and 57th street, apparently in search of a drugstore for the pills he depended on, but had forgotten to bring with him. Today we mark the passing of this astonishingly talented composer.
• • On this November date, Veterans Day, we also salute those who have served this country.
• • 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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Years before she was nicknamed "The Last of the Red Hot Mamas," the 35-year-old vocalist was headlining with her Kings of Syncopation at the 44th Street Theatre (216 West 44th Street, New York, NY) at a holiday concert in 1919 that also featured a 26-year-old MAE WEST.
• • Sophie Tucker [13 January 1884 — 9 February 1966] was one of the most popular entertainers in America during the first third of the 20th century. Almost ten years older than Mae and not as controversial when she launched her career, Sophie Tucker had an ethnic appeal which upped her forward momentum and she was, in fact, a much bigger draw in vaudeville than the Brooklyn bombshell. Sophie Tucker made her first appearance in the Ziegfeld Follies in 1909, but did not last long there — — because Florenz Ziegfeld's other female stars soon refused to share the spotlight with the immensely popular singing comedienne.
• • Her towering stage persona made a big impression on Mae, still trying to find her footing and learning from those who had. Did they chat backstage, these two variety artists who were determined not to be overshadowed by the male entertainers? Or was it a chilly night behind the red velvet curtain at this 1465 -seat auditorium?
• • Operated by the Shuberts, the 44th Street Theatre was decorated in 18th Century Georgian style and above the main auditorium was a large enclosed roof theatre. In the basement, the original rathskeller became the "Little Club" during Prohibition and the Stage Door Canteen during World War II.
• • If you were not fortunate enough to be in the audience in 1919 when ticket-holders were applauding Sophie Tucker, the top-billed act, and appreciating Mae West, then you must pay close attention to this. Ninety years later, the two have reunited. Reviewers have been going crazy over this talented twosome and a splashy Las Vegas style evening has been planned for late October.
• • Make tracks to the Monticello Casino and Raceway [204 Route 17B, Monticello, NY] for the 21 October 2009 "GAUDY GIRLS" extravaganza, which kicks off at 1:00 AM. Reservations: 945-794-4100. You will want to catch this warm-hearted stage show.
• • Backstage with the Gorgeous, Talented, Bawdy GAUDY GIRLS • •
• • Anne Marie Finnie — Mae West • •
• • Anne Marie has been working as a professional actress for over 20 years. Some of her favorite roles have been in Little Shop of Horrors, Oliver, Sound of Music and A Little Night Music. Nine years ago, Anne Marie was cast in the starring role as Mae West in a professional production on Long Island. Over 150 "Mae West" shows later, she is still in demand all over the tri-state area.
• • Maggie Worsdale — Sophie Tucker • •
• • Maggie has been a professional cabaret entertainer for the past 20 years and has appeared with Bob Hope, George Burns, Mark Russell, and has sung with Les Brown and His Band of Renown.
• • On August 16th you can walk in the footsteps of two of the 1920s "gaudy gals" — — Texas Guinan and Mae West — — and win a special prize donated by those lovable GAUDY GIRLS. See below.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • Join us for a lively afternoon focused on Mae West & Texas Guinan!
• • On 16 August 2009, come up and enjoy an a-MAE-zing experience — — a walking tour of historical sights in the Times Square area. This year the Annual Mae West Birthday Tour also commemorates speakeasy hostess Texas Guinan, the generous friend who backed all of Mae’s Broadway shows during the 1920s.
• • During April 1929, the Feds padlocked the CIub Intime at the Hotel Harding, where Texas Guinan was the principal attraction. On August 16th, attendees will visit this speakeasy, which is doing brisk business these days.
• • Walking Tour: "Gaudy Girls on The Gay White Way: Mae West & Texas Guinan in the Theatre District"
• • When: 4:00 PM on Sunday — — 16 August 2008 — — rain or shine
• • Meet: Shubert Alley, 44th Street, West of Broadway, New York, NY 10036
• • Price: $10 [this walking tour lasts about 90 minutes]
• • Subway: N or R [BMT] train to West 42nd Street; 1 [IRT] train to Times Square
• • Attire: why not wear a Mae West-inspired hat?• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • "Gaudy Girls" Show in October 2009 • •
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Mae West.
As a child, MAE WEST heard fascinating recollections about New York City's Chinatown and the Bowery. Aware of the attractiveness of these lively locales, authors found creative ways to situate their narratives in these neighborhoods.
• • Charles H. Hoyt, for instance, wrote the immensely popular musical comedy "A Trip to Chinatown." The story focuses on a widow who connives and contrives to bring romance to several couples and herself in a big city restaurant [think of "Hello, Dolly!"].
• • Still capitalizing on the "Trip to Chinatown" craze, clever showmen reworked the play again and presented it under a new title: "A Winsome Widow."
• • Nineteen-year-old brunette Mae West was featured in the show "A Winsome Widow" as La Petite Daffy in 1912.
• • The musical was presented at the Moulin Rouge, then located at 1514-16 Broadway [West 44th Street], New York, NY. This showplace was demolished in 1935.
• • This extravaganza was produced by Flo Ziegfeld, and during its latest revision the Eastside musical was relocated to the West Coast — — to San Francisco's Chinatown.
• • As La Petite Daffy, Mae West won acclaim for her vivacity and sauciness. "Mae West assaults the welkin vigorously," applauded the New York Dramatic Mirror from their tony perch on West 42nd Street right opposite the New York Public Library.
• • Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. • • • • Born in Chicago, Illinois, Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. [1867 — 1932] was a Broadway impresario. He is best known for his series of theatrical revues, the Ziegfeld Follies [1907 — 1931], inspired by the Folies Bergères of Paris. Ziegfeld, who also built his own theatre on The Great White Way, earned a reputation as the "glorifier of the American girl."
• • At 65 years old, Flo Ziegfeld died in Hollywood, California during the month of July — — on 22 July 1932 — — from pleurisy related to a former lung infection. • • 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.
Only one of MAE WEST's motion pictures received an Academy Award nod. Alas, a wink is not a win. The Brooklyn bombshell's big box-office for "She Done Him Wrong" left no impression on the gold-plated statuette's baby-sitters. And so, anticipating the season of Oscar, New York Times writer Dave Kehr offers his analysis about the tug-of-war between wowing the audience versus winning the laurels.
• • According to Dave Kehr: One of the enduring traditions of the Academy Awards is that the Oscar for best picture almost invariably goes to a film that isn’t. This will not be news to anyone who has sat through some genuine groaners from Oscars past: pictures like Frank Lloyd’s 1933 “Cavalcade,” Robert Z. Leonard’s 1936 “Great Ziegfeld” and Cecil B. DeMille’s 1952 “Greatest Show on Earth.”
• • But even when good movies win, the other nominees are usually of equal or even greater interest. Most famously there was the banner year of 1941, for which John Ford’s magnificent “How Green Was My Valley” was named what the academy then termed “outstanding motion picture” (a more modest, defensible claim and perhaps one the academy should revive) while Orson Welles’s game-changing “Citizen Kane” went home with only the original screenplay award.
• • If the Oscars aren’t a reliable guide to artistic accomplishment, they provide an infallible index to how the leaders of the motion picture industry want their business to be seen in any given year. In 1933, for example, pressure was mounting from civic and religious groups for Hollywood to clean up its act — — pressure that would result in the renewed enforcement of the Production Code in 1934.
• • By selecting “Cavalcade” — — a numbing historical pageant, derived from a Noël Coward play, about a wealthy couple (Diana Wynyard and Clive Brook) stiff-upper-lipping their way through 40 years of English history — — the members of the academy distanced themselves from the racy entertainments that then dominated the box office.
• • Hollywood's 1932 — 1933 Season of O
• • Among the other nominees of the 1932 — 1933 season: the flesh-baring, garter-snapping backstage musical “42nd Street”; Mae West’s “She Done Him Wrong” — — the film in which she sings the innuendo-laden ballad “Where Has My Easy Rider Gone?” [sic]; and Frank Borzage’s adaptation of Ernest Hemingway’s “Farewell to Arms,” a film so forthright in its depiction of premarital sex that 12 minutes had to be cut when it was reissued into the more prudish, post-Code world of 1938. . . .
• • For most of the ’30s the academy whipsawed between popular entertainments (“It Happened One Night,” 1934) and prestigious literary adaptations (“Mutiny on the Bounty,” 1935) meant to assure would-be censors that Hollywood was a dignified, pipe-smoking kind of place, tirelessly working for the moral improvement of American audiences. . . .
— — Excerpt: — —
• • Article: "Big, Important Picture? Sure. But Is It Best?"
• • Byline: DAVE KEHR
• • Published in: The New York Times
• • Published on: 31 December 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.
MAE WEST was fascinated by New York City's Chinatown and the Bowery. And a hundred or so years ago, other authors were also intrigued and inspired by these neighborhoods. 
• • Charles H. Hoyt, for instance, who was born in Concord, New Hampshire in July — — on 26 July 1859 — — wrote the immensely popular musical comedy "A Trip to Chinatown" (featuring a score by Percy Gaunt). Fifty years later, "A Trip to Chinatown" was turned into a silent film that starred the beautiful Anna May Wong. And that's not all. In 1891, the play premiered at Broadway’s Madison Square Theater and enjoyed a run close to two years (or 657 performances). Two of the most popular numbers from the show are still known: "The Bowery" and "Reuben and Cynthia."
• • The plot of "A Trip to Chinatown" is centered on a widow who connives and contrives to bring romance to several couples and herself in a big city restaurant [think of "Hello, Dolly!].
• • Still capitalizing on the "Trip to Chinatown" craze, clever showmen reworked the play again and presented it under a new title: "A Winsome Widow." Nineteen-year-old and fresh-faced Mae West was featured in the show "A Winsome Widow" as La Petite Daffy in 1912.
• • This extravaganza was produced by Flo Ziegfeld, and this time the Eastside musical was relocated to the West Coast — — to San Francisco's Chinatown.
• • As La Petite Daffy, Mae West won acclaim for her vivacity and sauciness. "Mae West assaults the welkin vigorously," applauded the New York Dramatic Mirror from their tony offices on West 42nd Street right opposite the New York Public Library.
• • Drawing inspiration from her past and the NYC neighborhoods that she always loved, Mae West set her hit play "Diamond Lil" [1928] along the entertaining stretch of the Bowery closest to Chatham Square, the liveliest mile in New York at one time. The song "The Bowery" was featured, performed by the character Ragtime Kelly.
• • In Mae West's novelization of "Diamond Lil," she situates scenes right on Chinatown's exotic side streets, for instance, Mae's amusing chapter "A Night on Division Street."
• • Not through yet with Chinatown's local color, Mae West opens her screenplay for "Klondike Annie" in Chinatown. The Paramount Pictures film set the mood in San Francisco's Chinatown, however, not in New York.
• • To learn more about Mae West's eastside productions, come walk on the WEST side, starting right on Broadway on Friday evening 17 August 2007, when a guided tour will explore Manhattan's WEST-side during the "Mae West Side Story" walking tour. The event — — open to the public — — is timed to salute Brooklyn's own sexpot on her birthdate. [See the Annual Mae West Gala posting below for details and ticket pricing.]• • Only 17 more days until Mae's birthday!
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West immortalized Suicide Hall at 293 Bowery • • 1914 • •
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Mae West.
