Mae West: Hot Number

The hot number that MAE WEST performed with Rock Hudson during the annual Oscar ceremony in 1958 — — "Baby, It's Cold Outside" — — was a pop standard with words and music created fourteen years earlier by Frank Loesser.
• • In 1944, Loesser wrote the contrapuntal duet and premiered the song with his wife at their Navarro Hotel house-warming party. The female voice in the song is called "The Mouse" and the male "The Wolf." The lyrics consist of The Wolf's attempts to convince her to stay with him at the end of a date; her indecisive protests reveal that although she feels obligated to go home, she is tempted to stay, partially because, as the title suggests, "it's cold outside."
• • It's a bit ironic that a cool guy born at the end of a very hot month [June 1910 was a scorcher in The Big Apple] is most known for the refrain "it's cold outside."
• • A native New Yorker like Mae West, Frank Henry Loesser [29 June 1910 — 26 July 1969] was a versatile composer and lyricist.
• • Frank never studied music formally, though he couldn't help coming under its influence in his childhood. His father was a distinguished German-born teacher of classical piano and his older brother, Arthur, was a renowned concert pianist, musicologist, and music critic. Frank wrote his first song at the age of six.
• • During World War II, he wrote 1942's "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition." Formerly a successful lyricist in collaboration with other composers, this was the first song for which Loesser composed the melody in addition to the lyric.
• • Frank Loesser was awarded a Grammy Award in 1961 for Best Original Cast Show Album for "How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying."
• • However, he wrote well-known number for several Broadway musicals including hits for "Guys and Dolls" (1950).
• • A lifelong smoker, Frank Loesser died of lung cancer at age 59.
• • "Myra Breckinridge" came to the wide screen in June 1970 • •
• • The novel begins, "I am Myra Breckinridge whom no man will ever possess."
• • The very busy Leticia Van Allen character, who sang "You've Gotta Taste All the Fruit," was costumed by Edith Head. This gown was designed for Mae West.
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • In August 1950 "Sunset Boulevard" was released in the USA.
• • Adam Jahnke writes: Today, it's impossible to picture anyone as faded silent film star Norma Desmond other than Gloria Swanson. Try to imagine how different the film would have been with Wilder's first choice, Mae West. Mae West turned it down, claiming she was too young, and after considering such luminaries from the silent era as Mary Pickford and Pola Negri, Wilder found the perfect choice in Swanson. . . .
• • Source: Article: "An Honor To Be Nominated: Sunset Blvd." written by Adam Jahnke, Columnist, The Morton Report; posted on 27 June 2011
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 1976th 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: Charles Pierce

The photo shows Charles Pierce costumed for his stage work as MAE WEST. He often drew attention to Mae's false teeth in his act and frequently he would don a foolish hat with a silly feather dangling from it, which he'd blow out of his way as if to say, "See what I have to put up with when they dress me as Mae!"
• • Born in Watertown, New York, Charles Pierce [14 July 1926 — 31 May 1999] was a leading female impersonator, particularly noted for his eerily convincing imitations of popular motion pictures actresses. Eschewing the term drag queen, which he found incorrect and demeaning, he billed himself as a male actress.
• • Breaking in by doing small gay clubs in New York City, Pierce watched his fame spread. When he relocated to San Francisco, California, his act became well-known to Hollywood stars. His imitations were even mimicked by other female impersonators. Along with his Mae West impression, his roles included Bette Davis, Tallulah Bankhead, Gloria Swanson, Carol Channing, Katharine Hepburn, and Joan Crawford — — which became the drag queen canon.
• • At the age of 72, Charles Pierce died in North Hollywood, California on the last day in May eleven years ago.
• • "You've Got to See Your Mama Every Night [or You Can't See Your Mama at All]" • •
• • Catch his take on Mae West on YouTube, and notice how often Pierce will punctuate his Westian oooohs and mmmmmms and eye-rolling with a refrain from "You've Got to See Your Mama Every Night [or You Can't See Your Mama at All]."
• • This 1923 hit was a collaboration between two nice Jewish guys from Mae's hometown, New York City: Con Conrad (music) and Billy Rose (lyrics).
• • It is quite curious that Charles Pierce braided this sassy song into his Mae West impersonation when this number has long been linked to Sophie Tucker — — not Mae. The amusing lyrics focus on a suspicious gal who insists her boyfriend include her in his plans or "you can't see your mama at all." One familiar section is: "Monday night you took your bath, Tuesday night you dodged my path. Wednesday night you had a date, and by the looks of everything I guess that I don't rate . . . ." And clearly the sentiment is all wrong for Mae, who would never intimate that she doesn't rate.
• • Con Conrad [birthname: Conrad K. Dober, 1891 — 1938 ] formed a partnership with music publisher Henry Waterson and had his first big chart-topper by 1920.
• • Billy Rose [birthname: William Samuel Rosenberg, 1899 — 1966] was an American impresario, theatrical showman, and lyricist.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: Quizzed

Wordplay wizards armed with pointy pencils faced off with MAE WEST this weekend.
• • New Yorkers got clues from Jim Horne, "Wordplay" blogger for The New York Times. In last week's column, Jim Horne teased crossword-addicts with his opening paragraph: “Honorary title bestowed on Bill Clinton, Muhammad Ali, and Mae West” has to be in serious contention for best clue of the year. Even better, the answer is outstanding too. I learn something with every crossword, and this little factoid is amazing. What do I need to do to become so honored? It’s my new personal mission. There is a lot to love in this collaboration by Doug Peterson and Barry C. Silk. ...
• • Jim Horne was referring to what is known as the Premium Crossword [or the Friday Puzzle for 17 July 2009] created by Doug Peterson and Barry C. Silk, a feature available to Times subscribers.
• • In Madison, Wisconsin, a local publication launched a quiz on July 5th, "Hidden in Plain Sight," challenging locals to I.D. local landmarks by their architectural details.
• • One photo showed a place where Mae West hung her hat once or twice in America's Dairyland. The Loraine, 131 W. Washington Avenue, completed as a $1.1 million hotel during 1924, was a chic structure converted 50 years later to a ho-hum state office building, then retro-fitted as a condo dwelling. In its heyday, The Hotel Loraine had been a hotspot whose notable guests included Mae West, Gloria Swanson, Ethel Barrymore, Dwight Eisenhower, Adlai Stevenson, Eleanor Roosevelt, and John F. Kennedy.
• • We have a quiz: list seven NYC addresses where Mae West lived. You can't? Then come up on August 16th, enjoy the Mae West walking tour, and eyeball a few of these places yourself.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: 40 Lbs of Bling

MAE WEST turned up in a Canadian column devoted to new books on being fabulous and fashionable.
• • Here is what Nathalie Atkinson had to say about a reissued title by Edith Head that discusses costumes designed for Mae West's movie character Lady Lou in "She Done Him Wrong" [Paramount Pictures, 1933].
• • The Dress Doctor: Prescriptions for Style A to Z [Collins Design, 2008]
• • What's in it: Hollywood's most famous costume designer, the late Edith Head, was the winner of eight Academy Awards. The book itself is a gorgeous repackaging of Head's 1959 original bestseller, offering dress directives interspersed with reminiscences of dressing top silver screen names. It's alphabetical: A is for Audrey (as in Hepburn), B is for Bowling, and so on.
• • The good: Redesigned to include Bil Donovan's watercolour illustrations, the layout is innovative: one spread shows a pair of Edith Head heads saying things like: "Designers are inclined to make people look like models. But essentially, a model is anonymous, she's a living form to show off clothes. A person wears clothes to express personality." A great detail? Edith Head designed forty pounds of costume jewellery for Mae West to wear with her skintight costumes — — as Diamond Lil [sic] in "She Done Him Wrong." Mae West needed a reclining board between takes.
• • The bad: Even if the tone and content are often anachronistic (she advocates completely different outfits for each domestic task, such as grocery shopping and housekeeping, so that an average day has at least five wardrobe changes), the icons Head singled out as examples back in 1959 — — Gloria Swanson, Katharine Hepburn, Marlene Dietrich — — still stand up today.
• • Say what? What to wear as.... a dog handler? And to the circus?
• • Words of wisdom: "Don't be afraid to wear a becoming costume many, many times ... The modern approach is to change accessories." Anna Wintour does it, and in these dark economic times, so should we all. Sing it, sister!
• • Grade: A for effort but, alas, C for practicality.
— — Excerpt: — —
• • Article: "Don’t have natural style? Read these!"
• • Byline: Nathalie Atkinson
• • Published in: The National Post — — www.nationalpost.com
• • Published on: Friday, 28 November 2008
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1932 • •
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Mae West: Noah Beery, Sr.

MAE WEST worked in one project with a character actor who died on April Fool's Day.
• • In "She Done Him Wrong" [1933] the bejeweled chanteuse and brash entertainer Lady Lou (Mae West) works in the 1890s Bowery saloon of her boss and benefactor Gus Jordan (Noah Beery, Sr.), who has given her many diamonds.
• • Unbeknownst to Lady Lou, slick and sleazy Gus Jordan trafficks in white slavery (prostitution) and runs a counterfeiting ring (to help finance Lou's expensive rock collection). He also sends young women to San Francisco to be pickpockets. Gus works with two other crooked entertainer-assistants, Russian Rita (Rafaela Ottiano) and Rita's lover, the suave Serge Stanieff (Gilbert Roland).
• • Kansas City, Missouri native Noah Beery, Sr. [17 January 1882 — 1 April 1946] pursued a theatrical career from a young age.
• • Noah and his younger brothers William Beery and the legendary Wallace Beery all became Hollywood actors.
• • His much more successful younger brother, Academy Award winning Wallace Beery [1 April 1885 — 15 April 1949], was once wed to Gloria Swanson.
• • After a number of years touring on the stage, in 1915 Noah joined his brother Wallace in Hollywood to make motion pictures — — where he became a respected character actor adept at playing the role of the heavy.
• • Then, after years of working in silent films, he successfully made the transition to talking pictures. One film historian dubbed him "the villain's villain."
• • During a career that spanned three decades, Noah Beery, Sr. appeared in almost two hundred motion pictures.
• • In 1946, Noah Beery, Sr. died — — on his brother Wallace Beery's April 1st birthday — — in Beverly Hills, California of a heart attack at age 64.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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• • Photo: • • Mae West • • Noah Beery, Sr. on the right • • 1933 • •
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Mae West: Herbert Kenwith

In Hollywood, a very close friend of MAE WEST has passed away.
• • Herbert Kenwith, a director and producer for both Broadway and TV, and also a former summer stock director at McCarter Theatre in Princeton, NJ, died 30 January 2008 at his home in Los Angeles, California. He had been battling prostate cancer.
• • The birthdate that had been given for Herbert Kenwith was 14 July 1923. However, according to the Princeton Packet, he was 90 when he died.
• • During six summers, from 1947 — 1952, Kenwith produced and directed all 65 productions for McCarter Theater. The stars in his productions included MAE WEST, Lucille Ball, Charlton Heston, Shelley Winters, Cesar Romero, Walter Matthau, Maureen Stapleton, Eve Arden, Constance and Joan Bennett, Paul Muni, Miriam Hopkins, Gloria Swanson, Jeanette MacDonald, Zazu Pitts, and Nancy Davis.
• • Born in New Jersey, he started his career as an actor and appeared in several Broadway productions. He took his final Broadway bow in “I Remember Mama” with Marlon Brando, produced by Rodgers and Hammerstein.
• • Herbert Kenwith was interviewed for television celebrity profiles of Mae West and Joan Crawford. He appeared in "Intimate Portrait: Mae West" [1995] and — — more recently — — in footage devoted to the career of Mae West aired by The Biography Channel.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: Dressed

The Scotsman printed an interesting article about the designer who dressed MAE WEST for the screen — — Edith Head.
• • Reporter Jackie McGlone wrote that "Edith Head believed modesty was unbecoming and that you could have anything you wanted in life, so long as you dressed for it. And, boy, did she know about dressing. The legendary designer saw all the Hollywood greats stripped down to their knickers (or even less), from Mae West and Audrey Hepburn to Robert Redford and Paul Newman."
• • Prolific Head had her finger in most movies, it would seem. During a 60-year career, Edith Head designed clothes for 1,131 films — — about 35 a year — — and dressed virtually every star who shimmered on screen in the golden age of film. She won more Oscars than the actresses she clothed.
• • According to Jackie McGlone:
. . . Always discreet about the size and shape of the stars' backsides, she knew about all the skeletons in their closets but she was never one to gossip, although she did reveal that full-figured Clara Bow was known as "a sausage," that Claudette Colbert was "mean-spirited," and that Barbara Stanwyck was "frumpy" until she took over her designs.
. . . Of course, Head knew what she was talking about — — she was, after all, the woman who knew the intimate secrets around Mae West's vast bosom, Gloria Swanson's wide waist and small feet (size two-and-a-half), and swan-necked Audrey Hepburn's broad shoulders. Which is presumably why she often boasted that she was a magician, who "accentuated the positive and camouflaged the rest". . . .
• • Read the rest for yourself: - http://living.scotsman.com/
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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• • Photo: • • Mae West dressed by Edith Head • • 1932 • •
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Mae West: Nun in California

Can you picture MAE WEST as a nun?
• • Writers Bruce W. Gilray and Richard T. Witter could. Borrowing liberally from Agatha Christie's murder mystery "Ten Little Indians," they devised a campy take-off for movie buffs: " … And Then There Was Nun."
• • Their sacrilegious sisterhood includes Sisters Mae (West), Hattie (McDaniel), Vivien (Leigh), Joan (Crawford), Bette (Davis), Tallulah (Bankhead), Gloria (Swanson), Katharine (Hepburn), Marilyn (Monroe), and Judy (Garland with Toto).
• • Cory Watkins portrays the raunchy Sister Mae.
• • Californians take note: "... And Then There Was Nun" is onstage now at the Huntington Beach Playhouse [Library Theater, 7111 Talbert Avenue, Huntington Beach, California].
• • Hmmm, how about a blue nun?
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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