Mae West: Efforts to De-Umph

"When Catherine Was Great" starring MAE WEST was in performance, reviews were mixed. In a January column — — published on 24 January 1945 — — the Boston Post was rude and dismissive, sneering "It doesn't seem that anyone over 21 would admit to having written such a play." But the play and the Broadway star found some supporters in the media, for instance, Stark Young. And the fans were in Mae's corner, buying tickets.
• • Gene Austin [1900 — 1972] • •
• • Seven years younger than Mae, Gene Austin was born on the 24th day of the month of June in Texas — — that is, on 24 June 1900.
• • Though Gene Austin was the best-selling recording artist of the 1920s, he died virtually unknown in Palm Springs at age 71 after walking away from big-time show biz in the 1930s. His very last show was at the old Jack London restaurant on North Indian Canyon Drive on New Year's Eve, 1971.
• • Phil Moody had been Mae's musical director when she did the "Mae West Revue." Gene Austin lived with Grace and Phil Moody in Palm Springs from 1971 until his death at Desert Regional Medical Center in January — — on 24 January 1972.
• • On Monday, 24 January 1938 in Time Magazine • •
• • The radio ruckus Mae West set in motion just before Christmas 1937 continued being discussed in the news. Time Magazine's issue — — dated Monday, 24 January 1938 — — focused on all those "right-thinking" citizens who penned complaint letters and the FCC's request for a transcript of the offending program. NBC was reluctant to release it, however.
• • On Monday, 24 January 1938 • •
• • According to Time, Mae West's cinema earnings in 1936 were $323,000, about as much salary as Bethlehem Steel's president, Eugene G. Grace, and the chairman of its board, Charles M. Schwab.
• • Time Magazine published a review of Mae West's latest film "Every Day's A Holiday" (Paramount Pictures, 1938). Time's critic had this to say:
• • In the peculiar idiom of show business, Mae West's art comes under the head of umph.
• • This quality is expressed by sinuous gyrating and prurient murmurings. That this sort of thing will make money is well established. Actress West's last recorded cinema earnings (1936) were $323,000, about as much salary as Bethlehem Steel's president, Eugene G. Grace, and the chairman of its board, Charles M. Schwab, draw down together. That umph sometimes shocks the public is established too.
• • For "Every Day's A Holiday" Paramount made a determined effort to de-umph Mae West by vacuum-cleaning the script, disguising Mae in a fantastic black French periwig. But, like trying to purify the water by white-washing the village pump, it did not work. To situations considerably less potential than the story of Adam & Eve, actress Mae West imparts a meaning all her own; despite all directorial and script-writing efforts to make her steer a straight course, she still writhes as she pleases. As sexless a game as selling a sucker the Brooklyn Bridge resembles, in the West vernacular, a bargain sale of great temptations. . . . [published in Time Magazine on Monday, 24 January 1938]
• • On Saturday 24 January 1948 in London • •
• • "Diamond Lil" starring Mae West toured Manchester, Blackpool, Birmingham, and Glasgow before opening at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London on Saturday night, 24 January 1948.
• • On Tuesday, 24 January 1950 in the Baltimore Sun • •
• • Sculptor Louis Rosenthal was interviewed and photographed in a Maryland hotel suite right next to Mae West. The article was: "Mae West Unaltered in 19 Years, Sculptor Finds." It's an enjoyable read and the photo of them together in a hotel room is priceless as the caption: "Rosenthal studies the Mae West profile." Terrific.
• • Mae West was performing in "Diamond Lil" at the Ford Theatre in January 1950.
• • On Sunday, 24 January 1993 in the L.A. Times • •
• • This "letter to the editor" was published in The Los Angeles Times in the Sunday paper on 24 January 1993.
• • MAE and MADONNA: Come Up and See a Real Star Sometime
• • Your article comparing Mae West and Madonna was bizarre. Writer Carl Anthony must be a Madonna groupie to elevate her to the status of Mae West. Sure, they both had works titled "Sex": Mae West wrote and starred in a Broadway hit by that name; Madonna posed for nude photos in a book by that name. Some comparison.
• • I know a bit about West. Carl Anthony was really stretching his facts. While Madonna must be credited with selling many pop records, Mae West was a star. I hope that Anthony's upcoming documentary about West won't cheapen her. Her fans are not easily fooled.
• • Letter written by L.A. Times reader James Greene, San Diego
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Maybe I ought to turn on a little more inspiration?"
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article on a boxer mentioned Mae West.
• • ESPN wrote: But as significant a boxer as Johnson was, he is often remembered more for a flamboyant lifestyle that, coupled with his skin color in "White America," inspired unprecedented controversy and even rioting.
• • ESPN wrote: He transformed himself from the docks of Galveston, Texas, to early 20th-century glitterati. He had his own jazz band, owned a Chicago nightclub, acted on stage, drove flashy yellow sports cars, reputedly walked his pet leopard while sipping champagne, flaunted gold teeth that went with his gold-handled walking stick and boasted of his conquests of whites — — both in and out of the ring.
• • ESPN wrote: Johnson kept the company of some of his era's most desired women, most of them white. Moulin Rouge star Mistinguette. German spy Mata Hari. Sex symbols Lupe Velez and Mae West. Johnson was romantically linked to all. ...
• • ESPN wrote: John Arthur Johnson was born on March 31, 1878, in Galveston. He died at age 68 in a car accident on June 10, 1946, near Raleigh, N.C.
• • Source: Article: "Jack Johnson" / Black History Month written by ESPN.com; posted on: Wednesday, 24 January 2001
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2187th 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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• • Photo: • • Mae West • • Mae with W.C. Fields & Gene Austin, 1940 • •
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Mae West: R.I.P. Phil Moody

A versatile musician who worked with MAE WEST in Vegas during the 1950s has died, sad to say.
• • Recognize the name Phil Moody? The durable British-born pianist was Mae West's music director. In a recent interview, Phil Moody revealed this intriguing opinion — — that Mae West and Gene Austin were in love even when Austin was married to Moody's sister-in-law, Pony Sherrell. In fact, Gene Austin lived with his sister-in-law and brother-in-law Grace and Phil Moody in Palm Springs from 1971 until his death at Desert Regional Medical Center on 24 January 1972. He wrote his last song at their house.
• • Born in Southampton, England, Philip grew up in a musical world and is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music. Prior to coming to America, Moody was involved with the British motion picture and television industries; additionally, he was commissioned to write, arrange, and conduct for many of England’s top entertainers.
• • In this country, Phil Moody enjoyed a fruitful career as a Hollywood composer and arranger as well as a music director in Las Vegas and the MGM Grand in Reno. In the 1960s and 1970s, he directed and co-wrote material for artists as diverse as Jimmy Durante, Betty Grable, opera diva Helen Traubel, and the extraordinary film legend Mae West — — who performed a “muscle man” act with special material co-written by Moody.
• • A longtime veteran of the night club music scene in Palm Springs, California, Phil Moody died at a local hospice on Monday, 22 August 2011. His age was given as 89. A graveside service for this musician is tentatively scheduled for Friday, 26 August 2011 at Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City. Word is that a private celebration of his life will be held in autumn.
• • Phil Moody, you will be missed by all your fans.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West wrote this. "I'm a woman of very few words — — but lots of action."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Here, in the third extract from her new book The World According to Joan, Joan Collins explains why age should never be a barrier to looking good and feeling great ...
• • Joan Collins wrote: Catherine the Great was reputed to have taken younger lovers to bed. Mae West, who lived to 90 [sic], had a live-in lover 45 years younger than she was. When asked how she kept herself looking so young, Mae replied: ‘I go to bed early, I meditate, I eat all the right foods, I don’t smoke or drink alcohol and I believe in myself with a passion. You can only beat nature when you show the bitch who’s boss!’ ...
• • Source: Article: "Botox? No, it's sex that'll keep you looking young, Joan Collins reveals" published in the Daily Mail (UK); posted on 23 August 2011
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2032nd 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 • • c. 1953 • •
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Mae West: Moody Music

The radio ruckus MAE WEST set in motion just before Christmas 1937 continued being discussed in the news. Time Magazine's issue — — dated Monday, 24 January 1938 — — focused on all those "right-thinking" citizens who penned complaint letters and the FCC's request for a transcript of the offending program. NBC was reluctant to release it, however.
• • Gene Austin: Born and Died on the 24th • •
• • Mae West utilized her friend Gene Austin's musical talents in her films "Belle of the Nineties" [1934]; "Klondike Annie" [1936]; and "My Little Chickadee" [1940].
• • In addition to writing the music and lyrics for "Klondike Annie," Gene Austin also appears as a vocalist and organ player during the church service. As the collection is in progress, Gene Austin and the parishioners sing "It's Better to Give Than to Receive."
• • Seven years younger than Mae, Gene Austin was born on the 24th day of the month of June in Texas — — that is, on 24 June 1900.
• • Though Gene Austin was the best-selling recording artist of the 1920s, he died virtually unknown in Palm Springs at age 71 after walking away from big-time show biz in the 1930s. His last show was at the old Jack London restaurant on North Indian Canyon Drive on New Year's Eve, 1971.
• • Austin lived with Grace and Phil Moody in Palm Springs from 1971 until his death at Desert Regional Medical Center on 24 January 1972.
• • Recognize the name Phil Moody? The British-born pianist was Mae West's music director. Now nearing his 91st birthday, Phil Moody thinks West and Austin were in love even when Austin was married to Moody's sister-in-law, Pony Sherrell.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • with Gene Austin and W.C. Fields, 1940 • •
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Mae West: Old Gold Polished

Musician Gene Austin, at the request of MAE WEST, wrote several new pieces for her — — including “I'm an Occidental Woman (in an Oriental Mood for Love),” featured in "Klondike Annie." This motion picture was released in the month of February — — on 21 February 1936.
• • Word comes that Grammy-winning Americana-guitar virtuoso Duke Robillard and singer Sunny Crownover polished this old gold on "Tales from the Tiki Lounge" (Blue Duchess Records).
• • One reviewer gave his opinion: “Tales from the Tiki Lounge” is a quirkier proposition, with the recording atmosphere evoking vintage radio shows. The old tunes can seem odd now, such as Gene Austin’s slinky movie exotica for Mae West: “Occidental Woman (in an Oriental Mood for Love).” Sunny Crownover’s voice is usually the essence of womanly calm (the opposite of Mae West’s sexual relish), but she manages to evoke her own, cooler sort of naughtiness. ...
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: Love Gene

A former assistant of MAE WEST claims that the Brooklyn blonde remained Gene Austin's "one true love." Mae utilized her Texas friend's musical talents in her films "Belle of the Nineties" [1934]; "Klondike Annie" [1936]; and "My Little Chickadee" [1940].
• • In addition to writing the music and lyrics for "Klondike Annie," Gene Austin also appears as a vocalist and organ player during the church service. As the collection is in progress, Gene Austin and the parishioners sing "It's Better to Give Than to Receive."
• • Seven years younger than Mae, Gene Austin was born in Texas on 24 June 1900 and was heavily influenced by the black blues musicians he enjoyed while growing up.
• • David Christopher, who wound up working as Mae West's assistant after meeting her in Los Angeles, is producing a cabaret series that will honor Austin.
• • A fascinating and revealing interview was skillfully done by Bruce Fessier for The Desert Sun.
• • Fessier writes: David Christopher's Palm Springs home is a shrine to two icons of the 20th century.
• • Framed posters, album covers and photos of Mae West and Gene Austin dominate the singer's living room. He keeps Austin's last piano in his bedroom, which he calls “My Blue Heaven Room.”
• • Mae West was the greatest female comedy film star of the 1930s, a blonde bombshell who co-starred with Raquel Welch in “Myra Breckinridge” at age 77.
• • Gene Austin was the best-selling recording artist of the 1920s, but he died virtually unknown in Palm Springs at age 71 after walking away from big-time show biz in the 1930s. His last show was at the old Jack London restaurant on North Indian Canyon Drive on New Year's Eve, 1971.
• • Christopher, 63, grew up listening to Austin records collected by his grandmother, a dancer in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1916. He developed a sweet tenor similar to Austin's by singing along to his records on a wind-up Victrola.
• • Christopher wound up working as Mae West's assistant after meeting her after a concert in Los Angeles. When he sang with her longtime guitarist, Otto “Coco” Heimel, West would swoon, “Oh, dear, it sounds just like Gene.”
• • Christopher moved to Palm Springs after West's death in 1980 and got a job with Phil and the late Grace Moody in The Moody Singers cabaret troupe.
• • Phil Moody had been Mae West's music director • •
• • He didn't know Grace Moody had toured with Austin under the guidance of Elvis Presley's future manager, Tom Parker, or that Phil Moody had been Mae West's music director for her Las Vegas “muscle men” act. Grace's late sister, Pony Sherrell, also was married to Austin in the 1940s, and she and Phil wrote musical comedy material for Mae West.
• • Austin lived with the Moodys in Palm Springs from 1971 until his death at Desert Regional Medical Center on Jan. 24, 1972. He wrote his last song at their house on a piano Phil Moody recently gave to Christopher. It was called “I'm All In, I'm Out and I'm Down” — — and it chronicled how he had lost or given away his multimillion-dollar fortune and now, no one seemed to know him.
• • “He made it, he spent it, he gave it away, he enjoyed it and he had no regrets,” TV producer Paul Henning said at his eulogy. “He didn't reminisce about his glorious, affluent past. As he used to say, ‘Gotta be where the action is. Look ahead; don't look back.'”
• • Christopher will sing that song at his tribute to Austin [22 November 2009] at Lyons English Grille in Palm Springs. It's part of a cabaret series he's producing that will run from Jan. 10 through April.
• • It will feature Bobby Furgo, a Snuff Smith-influenced violinist who toured with Eric Burdon; jazz guitarist Hal Brane and pianist Ron Snyder.
• • Christopher performed an Austin salute in 2006 featuring Austin's biggest hits, such as “My Blue Heaven,” the best-selling record of the 1920s and '30s; “Ramona,” the first million-selling movie theme song; and “Bye Bye Blackbird,” named to the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1978. He also sang Austin's version of “Are You Lonesome Tonight,” which Parker liked so much, he asked Elvis to record it.
• • This show, titled “I'm In A Mellow Mood: Gene Austin, the Later Years,” holds more national interest because it focuses on a part of his career that foreshadowed Elvis. ...
• • Mae West was Gene Austin's "one true love" • •
• • Gene Austin opened a Los Angeles nightclub in the 1930s and also made some films with Mae West, whom he met in the 1920s.
• • Christopher feels Mae West remained Austin's one true love through his five marriages to other women.
• • “I always thought the love songs he wrote were written with Miss West in mind,” said Christopher. “It was a sad love affair because Miss West was so concentrated on her career, she would not let any one person interfere with her life. She denied herself happiness with any other person because she was so career driven.”
• • Phil Moody, 88, thinks West and Austin were in love even when Austin was married to Moody's sister-in-law, Pony Sherrell.
• • “It's just a thought,” he said. “I never asked about people having an affair, but now I can speak openly about it.” ...
• • Turn to The Desert Sun to savor the rest.
— — Excerpt: — —
• • Article: "Singer's legacy kept alive through fans, memories"
• • BY: Bruce Fessier
• • Published by: The Desert Sun — — www.mydesert.com
• • Published on: 22 November 2009
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • with Gene Austin and W.C. Fields, 1940 • •
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Mae West: Colorful

Born under the sign of Leo, MAE WEST enjoyed being onstage and on display. Noticing people bunched down, burying the urges, she shimmied to the microphone and spelled a new name for everything.
• • Many individuals took her picture — — or tried to catch the Empress of Sex with a charcoal stick, pencil, chalk, oil paints, or mixed media. Recently, book designer Nancy Vala tried her hand at sketching Mae.
• • Born under the sign of Leo, Nancy Vala spends her working hours focused on designing, illustrating, and writing. In her spare time, she relaxes by enjoying motion pictures and museums and going kayaking,
• • Nancy Vala posts her artwork here — — http://walkingsatellite.blogspot.com — — so come up sometime and admire her colorful creations.
• • The 24th of June was memorable for Mae West and men she knew. Her lover, heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey was born on this date. So was a singer/ songwriter Mae admired and worked with at Paramount: Gene Austin.
• • Mae-mavens already know that the curious motion picture "Myra Breckinridge" was released on 24 June 1970.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • drawn by Nancy Vala • •
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Mae West: June 24th

MAE WEST utilized her friend Gene Austin's musical talents in her films "Belle of the Nineties" [1934]; "Klondike Annie" [1936]; and "My Little Chickadee" [1940].
• • In addition to writing the music and lyrics for "Klondike Annie," Gene Austin also appears as a vocalist and organ player during the church service. As the collection is in progress, Gene Austin and the parishioners sing "It's Better to Give Than to Receive."
• • Seven years younger than Mae, Gene Austin was born in the month of June in Texas on 24 June 1900.
• • World heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey came up to see Mae onstage at the premiere of "The Mimic World of 1921." One of the characters Mae played was "Shifty Liz."
• • After the performance, the champ and the actress enjoyed their own private performance in her dressing room. Jack Dempsey retained the title from 1919 —1926 but he may have held Mae's heart a little longer.
• • Two years younger than Mae, the dashing prizefighter was born in Colorado on 24 June 1895.
• • 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: Gene Austin

MAE WEST utilized her friend Gene Austin's musical talents in her films "Belle of the Nineties" [1934]; "Klondike Annie" [1936]; and "My Little Chickadee" [1940].
• • In addition to writing the music and lyrics for "Klondike Annie," Gene Austin also appears as a vocalist and organ player during the church service. As the collection is in progress, Gene Austin and the parishioners sing "It's Better to Give Than to Receive."
• • Seven years younger than Mae, Gene Austin was born in the month of June in Texas on 24 June 1900.
• • 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.