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The MAE WEST BLOG is celebrating a special anniversary this week — — in honor of blog post # 1893. To mark this occasion, a number of Mae-mavens offered their Westian wisdom inspired by the Brooklyn bombshell who was born in the year 1893.
• • • What is Mae West's legacy, in your opinion, and is she still relevant?
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • Quinn O'Hara, actress, Los Angeles, California [born in Scotland] 
• • Regarding her LEGACY and her relevance — — She was the first real feminist movie star. She was never a clinging vine type who would say, "Oh honey, I need you so much." She was open about her feelings. If she liked you, you knew it. And she made stars of some our great actors, i.e., Cary Grant. She knew how to pick her men and what to do with them after she had them. She made money investing in real estate and had her own fortune that SHE earned, with hard work and using her talents to get what she needed and got done what was essential. There was nothing weak-kneed about her. She was feminine and used it in her wonderfully humorous way. It is often said that Mae West could read the phone book and make it sound intriguing and naughty.
• • She was one of a kind. And so very witty and sharp. She didn't miss a beat. There is so much to say, but it still comes out to she was the one and only Mae West, sharp, business savvy, and sexy with a terrific sense of timing.
• • Mae West was such a treat to meet in 1977, recalls the effervescent redhead Quinn O'Hara, who had starred in a motion picture "A Swinging Summer" [1965] with a newcomer to the cinema — — Raquel Welch. Quinn recalls: The announcements read ". . . and introducing Raquel Welch, the Hollywood Palace billboard girl!" With many frames jammed with bikini-clad fillies, this movie got attention for director Robert Sparr and is now a collector's item selling for $195 (if you can find it).
• • Quinn O'Hara clearly remembers the warm humid day when she met Mae West at a Hollywood hoe-down given by the director of "One Day at a Time" — — Herbert Kenwith. "I had just done one of the episodes and Herb Kenwith was such a lovely person, too," she explained. Listen to the eternally beautiful Quinn O'Hara recount this special evening event exclusively for the MAE WEST BLOG.
• • When I met Mae, she was very nice to me. My hair is simply frightful in humid weather, so I had to do "the Mae West thing" of patting my hair, to keep it in place.
• • Since I had been following her around like a puppy, I wanted to apologize to Mae and explain that I wasn't trying to imitate her.
• • Mae West looked at me and smiled — — and said, as only she could — — "My dear, you have beautiful hair!"
• • Several guests nearly fainted. I discovered that she rarely ever complimented a woman. Then I took a chance and asked if I might have my picture taken with her, and voila! Here is the photo I treasure. There will always be no one like Mae West!!
• • The photograph is the personal property of Quinn O'Hara. Please do not "steal" it for your blog or web site. Thank you for the courtesy.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • More guest commentators to follow tomorrow!
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • British movie maven Stephen Cole began a review with this first sentence: “To clear my head, I went to a nude beach,” announces Smith, teen hero of Gregg Araki’s aptly titled Kaboom, a film with enough sexy one-liners to tempt Mae West from the grave. ...
• • Source: Movie review "Kaboom: Dating, ritual murder and magic cookies" written by Stephen Cole for The Globe and Mail, UK; posted on 8 April 2011
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 1894th 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 • • a keeper of the eternal flame • •
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Mae West.
On 1 December 1977 MAE WEST was very busy.• • "Sextette" began production on that date.• • Synopsis: Marlo Manners is enjoying her honeymoon with Sir Michael Barrington, husband number six. As Lady Luck would have it, an international conference is taking place in the same hotel and the Russian delegate (one of Marlo's former husbands) is threatening to derail the negotiations unless he can have one more fling with his ex.• • "Sextette" was released on 3 March 1978.• • Mae West attended the screening of that film with her longtime buddy Herb Kenwith — — who remembered that the leading lady said very little afterwards except that she had to move on. Tsk.• • 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.
It's said that the 1930s screen vixen MAE WEST was one of the first Westerners to understand 
karmic energy — — that she took all the lustful male thoughts directed her way and cultivated them like a garden.
• • Writing in The Sydney Morning Herald, Tim Elliott's article [published on 23 August 2008] actually was focused on his thoughts about actress Eva Mendes, who has "Raquel Welch hair" and who was recently cast in a remake of the classic 1930s motion picture "The Women."
• • How many think the newer version will trump the original? Raise your hand, please!
• • OK. And now we have a sweet little bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • photo courtesy of the wonderful Quinn O'Hara • • circa 1975 • •NYC
Mae West.
Mae West was such a treat to meet, recalls the effervescent actress Quinn O'Hara.
• • Quinn O'Hara remembers the warm humid day when they met at a Hollywood hoe-down given by the director of "One Day at a Time" — — Herbert Kenwith. "I had just done one of the episodes and Herb Kenwith was such a lovely person, too," she explained. Listen to the eternally beautiful Quinn O'Hara recount this special evening event exclusively for the Mae West Blog.
• • When I met Mae, she was very nice to me. My hair is simply frightful in humid weather, so I had to do "the Mae West thing" of patting my hair, to keep it in place.
• • Since I had been following her around like a puppy, I wanted to apologize to Mae and explain that I wasn't trying to imitate her.
• • Mae West looked at me and smiled — — and said, as only she could — — "My dear, you have beautiful hair!"
• • Several guests nearly fainted. I discovered that she rarely ever complimented a woman. Then I took a chance and asked if I might have my picture taken with her, and voila! Here is the photo I treasure. There will always be no one like Mae West!!
• • The photograph is the personal property of Quinn O'Hara. Please do not "steal" it for your blog or web site. Thank you for the courtesy.• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • with Quinn O'Hara and Paul Novak, 1977 • •
NYC
Mae West.
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
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • none • •
NYC
Mae West.
