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The name MAE WEST is shared by other far-more-ordinary women. Normally, we don't give space to those lesser lights. But this news item is too good for the dustbin. Let us know if you agree.
• • The National Recovery Administration [N.R.A.] was a prime New Deal agency established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933. On 27 May 1935, in the court case of Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States, the Supreme Court held the mandatory codes section of NIRA unconstitutional.
• • This request for advice on hatching eggs came from an Illinois poultry farmer, who signed her letter Mrs. Mae West (during the Depression in 1934).
• • "Mae West May Hatch Eggs for Her Neighbors" • •
• • Written by Elbert L. Herron (Class of 1936) for Daily Illini • •
• • Campus reporter Elbert L. Herron wrote: Mae West need no longer worry about the N.R.A. codes preventing her from hatching eggs for her neighbors. And Dillinger's hens will be all right if he will only feed them cod-liver oil.
• • These are bona fide excerpts from the letter file of the department of animal husbandry, and except for the fact that the Mae West concerned is married, and that Dillinger's first name is George, these letters are the most unusual of the month.
• • Mae's letter was addressed to H. H. Alp, extension specialist, and it read as follows:
• • Mae West inquired: I am wondering if you could tell me something I would like to know as soon as possible and, as I don't know who to write to, will bother you as you have helped me before with chicken problems. What I want to know is: Can I hatch eggs for my neighbors in a small way the same as I have been doing for the past 12 years?
• • Mae West explained: We live on a farm and I have two incubators. After I hatch my own chicks, I hatch for three or four neighbors. Some tell me I cannot do so this year. I will be glad of anything you can tell me. — — Respectfully yours, Mrs. Mae West, Illinois.
• • Prof. L. E. Card of the department of animal husbandry wrote Mrs. Mae West and informed her that there is nothing to prevent you from doing custom hatching during 1934 if you wish to do it. . . .
• • Source: News from The Daily Illini; published on Saturday, 14 April 1934.
• • On Sunday, 14 April 1912 • •
• • This was the Sunday that the RMS Titanic hit an iceberg and began sinking.
• • Meanwhile, in New York City the musical "A Winsome Widow" was staged on The Gay White Way from 11 April 1912 — 7 September 1912 at Moulin Rouge [1514 — 1516 Broadway at W. 44th St.]. Mae West was performing as Le Petite Daffy on that date a century ago.
• • On Saturday, 14 April 1973 in Hollywood • •
• • It was an SRO celebration on Saturday night, 14 April 1973 when the Masquers Club honored the Empress of Sex with a "Mae Day" tribute. Unlike previous honorees, Mae had insisted on performing a shimmy and singing "Frankie and Johnny." The ceremony was attended by Sidney Skolsky and many other notables.
• • For instance, Mae's "Myra Breckinridge" cast mate Jim Backus attended the Masquers Club's salute as one of her "Gentlemen in Waiting" (along with George Raft, Jack Larue, Steve Allen, Lloyd Nolan, etc.).
• • When the 1973 event was reborn in an audio format as "Mae Day: The Masquers Club Salutes Mae West CD" [1998], Mae-mavens could hear Jim Backus offering an amusing 4-minute tribute [exactly 4 minutes and 16 seconds long, if you want to get technical] to the buxom blonde guest of honor.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West did her first autograph for Snuff Garrett when she affixed her signature to their two-page agreement. By signing Mae was giving her commitment to "Autograph 2,000 Prints As Follows: Sin-cerely Mae West — — At A Time And Place Mutually Agreeable To You And Me."
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • New York Magazine mentioned Mae West.
• • The staff wrote: Marilyn Michaels is a female impressionist. She impersonates Diana Ross, Mae West, Marlene Dietrich, Barbra Streisand, and other famous persons. At Les Mouches. April 8-11, 1981.
• • Source: Item in New York Magazine; published on Monday, 13 April 1981
• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 10th anniversary • •
• • Thank
you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during this
past decade. The other day we entertained 1,430 visitors. We reached a
milestone recently when we completed 3,100 blog posts. Wow!
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started ten years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 3156th 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/
________
Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • news in 1934 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
NYC Mae West
MAE WEST shattered all attendance records at Chez Paree. Here's the entertainer with co-owner Jay "Jack" Schatz at The Chez Paree in 1955 after a night of performing.
• • During its glory days, this popular supper club was the place to catch performances by Lena Home, Sophie Tucker, and (of course) Mae West, always backed by its in-house chorus line.
• • When Mae brought her show to Chicago's Chez Paree, Variety reviewed the act on Wednesday, 16 February 1955.
• • Variety wrote "The femme ringsiders give blushing gasps of admiration to the musclemen, while their paunchy or anemic escorts cringe before the display of physical excellence." . . .
• • Source: Review in Variety; published on Wednesday, 16 February 1955
• • On Wednesday, 16 February 1927 in The N.Y. Times • •
• • One of the NYC vice squad detectives giving evidence against Mae West, Inspector A. Bolan informed the magistrate he was in possession of wondrously detailed notes that he jotted down in shorthand in the dark while watching "Sex" at Daly's Theatre. But when he had to read from his "cheat sheet" in front of ladies and the D.A., the man in blue balked.
• • Broadcast on Thursday, 16 February 1950 • •
• • From "Mae West On The Air" [Sandy Hook LP and CD SH 2098]
• • "Little Red Riding Hood" performed by Mae West (from "The Chesterfield Supper Club" program aired on Thursday, 16 February 1950).
• • "The Chesterfield Supper Club" was broadcast by NBC and sponsored by Chesterfield.
• • On Thursday, 16 February 1950 in Rochester • •
• • Rarely did Mae West miss a performance. When she did, however, it made the news.
• • On Thursday, 16 February 1950, Mae was starring in her popular Bowery drama "Diamond Lil" at the Auditorium Theatre in Rochester, NY — — when she collapsed onstage. At first it was thought that she was suffering from food poisoning.
• • A news reporter wrote: Mae West collapsed on the stage at Rochester last night, but the show went on. She was unable to continue with the third act of the play,
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West warbles four numbers, one, "Scandalizin' My Name," counter-pointed with Negro spirituals being particularly effective to eye and ear. Leo McCarey's direction has flavor and distinction. Exploited smartly, "Belle of the Nineties" should do Golden West business even though repeat bookings may or may not be so abundant.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I had to have the spotlight more than anything else, shining full on me. I ached for the spotlight — — which was like the strongest man's arm around me, like an ermine coat."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • The N.Y. Times mentioned Mae West.
• • On Tuesday, 15 February 1927, in the West Side court, Mae West and her producers were offered the possibility of an 'implied immunity' in return for pulling the show. They turned it down.
• • Source: Article in The N.Y. Times; published on Wednesday, 16 February 1927
• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 10th anniversary • •
• • Thank
you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during this
past decade. The other day we entertained 1,430 visitors. We reached a milestone this week: 3,100 posts. Wow!
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started ten years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 3115th 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/
________
Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • in 1955, Chez Paree • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
NYC Mae West
He was a drama critic who had written about MAE WEST several times. When she was Diamond Lil on Broadway, Stark Young described her "as remote and purely theatrical as Sarah Bernhardt in 'La Tosca'."
• • Born in Mississippi, Stark Young [11 October 1881 — 6 January 1963] was an American teacher, playwright, novelist, painter, literary critic, and essayist.
• • In her book "Mae West: An Icon in Black and White" [2001], author Jill Watts discusses Stark Young's reaction to Mae West onstage. 
• • According to Jill Watts, critic Stark Young viewed the character Diamond Lil and the actress Mae West as a riddle. Jill Watts wrote: Here is a stage figure who is not one of those players, however admirable, with whom we can feel at home, knowing that they are the same sort of human beings as we are, save for a desire to imitate or to exhibit themselves, or both. You watch Miss West without this easy understanding and also without falling asleep. Whatever ideas or conceptions she may or may not have, she is alive on the stage as no one is in life, she shines, she astonishes — — shocks, if you like — — engages and puzzles you.
• • Jill Watts includes another remark about Mae West's portrayal of Diamond Lil by Stark Young: "You may watch her performance and take it any way you like," Stark Young wrote. "The theatre, you perceive is a place for your pleasure."
• • Stark Young compared the gritty realism of "Sex" [in 1926 — 1927] with the more nostalgic theatricality of the Suicide Hall setting of "Diamond Lil" [1928]. Young writes: "Diamond Lil" is as daring in the end [as "Sex"], the same sexy morsels, embraces, and interventions of the law with rank suspenses, frank speeches, underworld, and so on. But it is more covered, continuous, and studied than the other production, and the crowd of characters, the costuming and vaudevillistic intervals, pull the whole of this later play into a more familiar style, less crudely, and sheerly singular than "Sex" appeared to be. ...
• • Source: Article: "Diamond Lil" written by Stark Young, drama critic [New Republic, 27 June 1928]
• • In 1959, a stroke derailed his life and livelihood. Stark Young died in the month of January — — on 6 January 1963. He was 81 years old.
• • Si Jenks [1876 — 1970] • •
• • Born in Norristown, Pennsylvania on 23 September 1876, Si Jenks played a Country Bumpkin in "Go West Young Man" [1936].
• • The former vaudevillian was usually cast in motion pictures as a bewhiskered curmudeon type. Seen in hundreds of westerns, the bit part player usually added a few chuckles to the scene as a toothless old codger.
• • Si Jenks developed heart diseasse and died in Woodland Hills, California in the month of January — — on 6 January 1970. Jenks was 93 years old.
• • Mickey Hargitay, "Mae West Revue" • •
• • Bodybuilder Miklós Hargitay was born in Budapest, Hungary in the month of January — — on 6 January 1926. He was selected for the first group of gentlemen who appeared onstage in the successful "Mae West Revue." On 27 June 1954, Mae West launched her innovative show at the Sahara Hotel in Vegas (built in 1952). Hargitay was 28 years old when they opened.
• • Mickey Hargitay died in Los Angeles of multiple myeloma on 14 September 2006.
• • Mae West in Lyrics • •
• • Mae West is referenced in the lyrics of "Let's Face It" by Cole Porter:
• • • • "Farming, that's the fashion,/
• • • • Farming, that's the passion/
• • • • Of our great celebrities of today./
• • • • Kit Cornell is shellin' peas,/
• • • • Lady Mendl's climbin' trees,/
• • • • Dear Mae West is at her best in the hay." ...
• • Starring Danny Kaye, the playful musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter had a successful production on Broadway at the Imperial Theatre from 29 October 1941— 20 March 1943. It traveled to London in 1942 and also was recreated for the cinema in 1943.
• • On Saturday, 6 January 2001 on TCM • •
• • The screen classics starring Mae West "I'm No Angel" and "She Done Him Wrong" became the movie package acquired by Turner Classic Movies. "I'm No Angel" made its premiere on that station on Saturday, 6 January 2001.
• • On Thursday, 6 January 2011 at the U. of Chicago • •
• • The University of Chicago held a Mae West film fest beginning on Thursday, 6 January 2011 at 7:00pm. The first screening featured "Night After Night" [directed by Archie Mayo, 1932, 73 minutes].
• • Their program noted: From her first (sic) line,“Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie,” Mae West steals the show from George Raft, Roscoe Karns, and Constance Cummings, who are supposed to be the stars of the film. Making her Hollywood debut after an extremely successful Broadway career, West threatened to walk away from the film unless she was allowed to write her own lines. The studio let her have her way, and as a result the film that was supposed to be about a saloon owner trying to enter civil society is best remembered as West’s curvaceous burst onto the screen.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie!" [This was not her first spoken line in "Night after Night."]
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article on Clifton Boulevard and Ohio mentioned mobsters and Mae West.
• • Cris Glaser wrote: The piece, "Clifton Blvd." by local artist Rick Meyer, depicts the busy west-side thoroughfare, from West 117th Street east to points leading to downtown (Cleveland). It features several shops, bars, a café, a bank and a gas station. There's also a single stone planter on the corner, where it's now a makeshift memorial.
• • Cris Glaser explained: The portrait prominently displays Katsaros' bar, Twist, complete with the wrought-iron patio furniture found outside the club during the summer. For armchair historians, the painting also stirs up stories of a ring of Irish- and German-born thugs in the 1940s, when they met for clandestine, after-hours poker games in the club's basement. Astonishingly, the police looked the other way, which impressed the violent La Cosa Nostra of Italian-American heavies on the city's east side.
• • Mae West and her love affairs with unsavory Italian paramours . . . • •
• • Cris Glaser continued: The gambling sessions weren't news to Mae West. Known for her string of love affairs with unsavory Italian paramours, the tee-totaling sex siren stopped in town in the summer of 1950 to see her "Mafia men" in the midst of a cross-country tour of her controversial stage show, "Diamond Lil." When she wasn't performing, Mae West strolled the city's streets, including Clifton Boulevard. Nightclub impresario Gloria Lenihan acted as her tour guide. And the country's leading newsmen tagged right along. "(West) is a razzle, dazzle priestess of sexy, barroom humor, whose sayings have become part of the nation's folklore," a New York reporter wrote. ...
• • Source: Article: "Portrait of the Past" written by Cris Glaser for Yahoo News Network; posted on 27 June 2011
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2168th 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/
________
Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • in Chicago in 1955 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
NYC
Mae West.
