Mae West: Her Religion

It was Friday, 16 March 1934 when the Jewish Post wondered about MAE WEST.
• • As Hitler's fame grew in Germany during the 1930s, it was not popular to discuss being Jewish. When John Moffitt (in November 1934) interviewed Mae, she told him about honing her talent at church socials.
• • John C. Moffitt quoted Mae: "I wonder what some of those sour guys that are always deriding me would think if they knew my first work was on a church circuit?" Mae once speculated. "I played at all the big Catholic lawn socials and I filled in with what Protestant time we could get."
• • John C. Moffitt noted: Mae recalls these associations with simple church folk very kindly. She is said to be a regular contributor to Catholic charities in Los Angeles and you occasionally see her at Mass, although never at the early ones. She is not a communicant, according to members of her household.
• • Though Irish, Mae's paternal grandparents' burial was neither Catholic nor Jewish. Jill Watts noted this detail: "Interment Records, Linden Hill Methodist Cemetery, Ridgewood, New York."
• • Mae's manager Irish-Catholic Jim Timony was a devout man who started every day with Mass. Mae often accompanied him to church.
• • Perhaps her fans have their own opinion but let's look at this item.
• • "Is Mae West Jewish?" • •
• • The Jewish Post has received many letters and inquiries concerning the “Jewishness of Mae West,” popular screen siren, and author of “Come up ’n see me sometime” [sic]. On two occasions we have stated that Miss West is our sister under the skin.
• • Walter Winchell said no • •
• • Walter Winchell has stated that Miss West is not Jewish, as did a screen publication. The Literary Digest stated that Mae West is one hundred per cent Jewish, and Helen Zigmund, Hollywood correspondent for several publications, said that the popular blonde is of the Jewish faith.  Here is a fifty-fifty situation, two for and two against the question.
• • In order to secure for our readers the correct information, the Jewish Post is conducting a thorough search for the truth of the matter, and will announce our find in an early issue. (The Editor)
• • Source: Editor's note in Jewish Post, Indianapolis; published on Friday, 16 March 1934.
• • On Sunday, 16 March 1930 • •
• • Mae West's "Pleasure Man" trial began on 16 March 1930. The court proceedings inspired the stage play "Courting Mae West."
• • On Friday, 16 March 1934 in Los Angeles • •
• • Among the Oscar nominations for "Best Picture" was "She Done Him Wrong."
• • On Friday, 16 March 1934 in Los Angeles • •
• • The soundtrack to the motion picture "Belle of the Nineties" was recorded at Hollywood Paramount Studios in L.A. On Friday, 16 March 1934, Mae West did the vocals for "Memphis Blues" backed by Duke Ellington and His Orchestra.
• • On Saturday, 16 March 1940 • •

• • The New York Times movie critic Frank S. Nugent wrote: "My Little Chickadee," at the Roxy, in which the two comic soloists are trying to sing a duet, is an effort greatly strained.  
• • Oh, my. A little birdie tells me he didn't like it.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Though somber, bereaved, and wearing mourning for her late mother, Mae West had to stuff a black handkerchief in her mouth to keep from laughing at this performance in the courtroom.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said:  "His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A description of a silent film mentioned Mae West.
• • "Daybreak" [1933] — An accomplished late silent starring Chinese screen goddess Li Lili, whose vivacious and sporty persona was somewhat at odds with her co-existing sex symbol image and her nickname ‘the Chinese Mae West.’ Lili plays Ling Ling, a country girl seeking work in the city who is forced in to prostitution but learns to use her position to help the oppressed poor . . .
• • Source: Film Synopsis — — screening flyer
• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 11th anniversary • •
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past eleven years. The other day we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 3,300 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • • 
• • The Mae West Blog was started ten years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 3399th 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 • • in 1940 • •
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Mae West: Take It Easy, Lester

It was June 1954 and MAE WEST debuted her new muscleman act at the Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas. One of her hot numbers was “Take It Easy, Boys,” which the prolific Lester Lee had originally written for Rita Hayworth to perform in her 1953 Columbia film "Miss Sadie Thompson" [Columbia Pictures, 1953], however, the censors deleted these scenes.
• • A native New Yorker (like Mae), Lester Lee was born in The Big Apple on 7 November 1904. He attended an all-boy school, Manual Trades High School in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn. An accomplished author and composer, he joined ASCAP in 1942. Working with his chief musical collaborators, Ned Washington, Allan Roberts, Zeke Manners, and Bob Russell, Lester Lee turned out numerous pop songs. A versatile hit-factory in his prime, with numerous chart-toppers to his credit, Lester Lee wrote many musical-production tunes. In 1943, he signed a contract with a Hollywood film studio. From 1945 on, he was creating special material for radio.
• • Lester Lee died from a heart attack in Los Angeles in the month of June — — on 19 June 1956. He was 51 years old.
• • On 19 June 2009 • •
• • Dreamwell Theatre presented "The Drag" written by Mae West. The limited run began on 19 June 2009.
• • Since the beginning of May 2009, Chuck Dufano and his cast and crew had been rehearsing The Drag, a 20-century play written by silver-screen star Mae West. This presentation, a Dreamwell Theatre production, was performed at the Universalist Unitarian Society, 10 S. Gilbert St., at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and also on June 26-27, 2009.
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An enjoyable article appeared in The Independent (Ireland) with this title: "Funny girls. . . who says women aren't the Mae West?" — — but can someone please explain why it was offered in this Irish newspaper's farming section?
• • Originally published in Ireland Review, one of those staffwriters had explained: And if Hollywood's history is light on hilarious women, that's probably because men wrote most of the screenplays and preferred to cast females as the decorative butt of male jokes. But there are honourable exceptions to this rule, and the evidence shows that when given the chance female comediennes can more than match the efforts of the men.
• • The Irish staffwriter continued: Early Hollywood comediennes could be surprisingly bawdy, and Mae West was very much the Joan Rivers of her day. She didn't stand around waiting for men to tell jokes, she told them herself, and her salty witticisms became legendary. "When I'm good I'm very good," she once boasted, "but when I'm bad I'm better."
• • The Irish staffwriter clarified: Mae West became a huge Hollywood star in the early 1930s, and was famous for rewriting her scenes. In the 1932 film Night by Night, a hatcheck girl stopped West and said "Goodness, what beautiful diamonds." "Goodness has nothing to do with it dearie," was the actress's self-penned reply. ... If Mae West made her name playing the sassy blonde, Goldie Hawn resurrected the old stereotype of the dumb blonde. ...
• • Source: Article: "Funny girls. . . who says women aren't the Mae West?" written by staff of the Ireland Review, reprinted by The Independent (Ireland); posted on 18 June 2011
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 1966th 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: World Tour

Join us for a breezy trip around the world with MAE WEST — — on a magic carpet made of newspaper.
• • DONEGAL: This will be an odd week for the lads working away in Fitzgerald Stadium. They will know that in recent years Tipperary haven’t been the Mae West but that they have good players. There would be a sense of shock if Tipp gave Kerry a tough 70-minute game but nobody in Kerry would be that offended either. It could happen. ... SOURCE: An article about the under-21 soccer game of the All-Ireland final as reported in The Irish Times — — on Wednesday, 5 May 2010.
• • LONDON: There was — — a gorgeous red number that looked like something Mae West might have worn if rubber clothes had existed in her day — — low cut with black rubber lacing and far curvier than me. Red — — yes, the dress was red. The rubber industry, Simon told me, has been branching into all sorts of colours over the last two or so years. ... SOURCE: An article about the return of latex and rubber apparel and the British boutiques that carry these garments as reported in Handbag.com on Tuesday, 4 May 2010.
• • BEIRUT: "Too much of a good thing can be wonderful," said Mae West, queen of 1930s Hollywood and a talented playwright to boot. West's view was thoroughly confirmed by "To the Ones I Love," performed at Masrah al-Madina Sunday. ... SOURCE: An article about the closing act of the Beirut International Platform of Dance as reported in The Daily Star Lebanon — — on Monday, 3 May 2010.
• • USA: A “Mae West” is a type of round parachute malfunction which contorts the shape of the canopy into the appearance of a brassiere, presumably one suitable for a woman of Mae West’s proportions. ... SOURCE: An article called "My Mae West Malfunction" as reported in The Veterans Today Network on Sunday, 2 May 2010.
• • ABILENE, TEXAS: On April 1, 2008, the two opened Ya Ya Gurlz, which they describe as a place “where Janice Joplin meets Mae West.” ... SOURCE: An article about a colorful year-old Texas store called Ya Ya Gurlz (run by a mother-daughter team) as reported in Abilene Reporter-News — — on Monday, 26 April 2010.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: Tim Sullivan

Since MAE WEST had her eye on Tammany Hall perhaps for the entire time she lived in New York, she could spot a fixer.
• • "Big" Tim Sullivan [23 July 1862 — 31 August 1913] was a fixer extraordinaire and a born ward-heeler. This New York politician who controlled Manhattan's Bowery and Lower East Side districts as a prominent figure within Tammany Hall was the model for Mae's character Gus Jordan in "Diamond Lil."
• • Similarly, 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.
• • Several of the regulars who could be found bending an elbow at Gus Jordan's barroom were drawn from life. In 1928, many ticket-holders lining up in front of the Royale Theatre [located at 242 West 45th Street] probably would have recognized the name, for instance, of the legendary Bowery notable Chuck Connors, and relished seeing Chuck Connors, Jr. in the cast portraying his infamous Dad — — called "Lefty Eddie" in Mae's play.
• • "Big" Tim reworked as Gus Jordan • •
• • 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).
• • Not as handsome as Beery and certainly far heavier, "Big" Tim Sullivan was born to poor Irish parents in the notorious Five Points neighborhood. Determined to be successful, "Big" Tim Sullivan cultivated careers in business and politics. Over the course of 25 years beginning in 1886, Sullivan assembled a political machine that ruled the districts of lower Manhattan. A legitimate entrepreneur in the world of entertainment, Sullivan forged an effective brand of urban politics by fusing the traditional tactics of the machine with his influence in commercial leisure and organized crime.
• • Staging theatrical entertainments and athletic competitions, handing out food and clothing to constituents, and offering employment and social services to ordinary citizens won him many followers, but Sullivan's protection of key figures in the vice economy of the Lower East Side made him a rather controversial figure. Despite his frequent use of physical intimidation, "Big" Tim nonetheless worked to expand the franchise and give the disadvantaged a voice in municipal politics.
• • Both Mae West's character Gus Jordan and Tim Sullivan were active in a number of illegal activities including prostitution, white slavery, gambling, and extortion.
• • On 31 August 1913, "Big" Tim's body was found on the tracks in the Eastchester area of the Bronx, New York. He was 51 years old.
• • Sullivan's wake was held at his clubhouse — — located at 203 Bowery.
• • More than 25,000 people turned out for his funeral at St. Patrick's Old Cathedral, New York on Mott Street. Perhaps some "mourners" turned up solely to make sure this politico was dead.
• • Tim's clubhouse was down the block from the notorious Bowery "resort" near Houston Street, namely McGurk's Suicide Hall [295 Bowery]. The second chapter of "Diamond Lil" (a 256-page novelization of the play published by Macaulay in 1932) is Suicide Hall.
— — Source for some of this information: — —
• • Article: "Underworlds and Underdogs: Big Tim Sullivan and Metropolitan Politics in New York, 1889 — 1913"
• • Byline: Daniel Czitrom
• • Published in: The Journal of American History, vol. 78, no.2
• • Published on: September 1991
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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• • Photo: • • Mae West • • saloon-keeper Gus Jordan a.k.a. "Big Tim" • •
• • Artwork: Big Tim Sullivan was drawn by artist Pat Hamou
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Mae West: James A. Timony

When newspapers penned an obituary for James A. Timony, they attributed MAE WEST's stardom to his devoted stewardship.
• • In 1916, the hard-working Brooklyn-bred attorney Matilda West introduced to her daughter was loyal and clever — — if no oil painting. When they met, Mae was 23 and Jim was 30, a solidly built balding Irish American whose injured leg required assistance from an expensive cane adorned with an elk's tooth.
• • Though they both hailed from Massachusetts, Jim's parents Thomas and Mary Timony each had Irish-English ancestry. A builder and contractor, Thomas K. Timony [1847 — 1912] provided well for his brood. Before marriage, Mary [1854 — 1935] had been a teacher in a public school. Of their seven children, five survived and were raised in a substantial dwelling that still exists in pristine condition on Rutland Road [in the Lefferts Park section of Flatbush]. James, born in 1886, attended the best schools and a respected law school, and set up his pratice in Times Square, advertising heavily for new clients.
• • A devout Roman Catholic, Jim Timony carried rosary beads and began each morning by going to Mass. Mae accompanied him during this daily ritual. For decades they went everywhere together — — on cross-country trains, on the Queen Mary, in Mae's "house car," and in limousines (first his and, eventually, hers).
• • The New York Times obituary, alas, reported his age incorrectly when they announced his death on 5 April 1954 from a heart attack at his Hollywood home. According to his obit, Timony had been in retirement for five years due to poor health. (At the time, Mae was 60 years old and performing with her hunky bodybuilders on the nightclub circuit. Timony was then in discussion with developers for a Mae West theme park.)
• • Calling James A. Timony the manager of Mae West for 25 years, and the person who "guided her to success," The Times also noted that he "received major credit for her development from a relatively obscure singer and dancer into an internationally known prototype of the American siren."
• • The Mae West Blog is saluting James A. Timony — — celebrating his life and successful partnership with the Empress of Sex, an intimate relationship that only ended with his death on 5 April 1954 at age 68.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: Mary Murphy

ELIZA ROURKE is one of the fictional characters in the play "COURTING MAE WEST." Yes, the Irish characters do dominate because, in Mae West's real life, she surrounded herself with people of Irish birth and descent.
• • In her early 20s, ELIZA is an unpaid maidservant in the boarding house owned by her Irish Catholic parents on West Ninth Street in Greenwich Village.
• • Raised by the schemer and master manipulator DECLAN ROURKE, ELIZA ROURKE is totally her father's daughter.
• • Still a virgin and dependent on her parents because of a lack of income, ELIZA is frustrated and getting desperate due to her lack of options. ELIZA feels imprisoned by her situation and is constantly scheming about how to improve her situation.
• • Infatuated by their boarder SHORTIE, ELIZA plans a way to be alone with him, hoping to get closer to him.
• • Fascinated by the chic SARA STARR, when ELIZA realizes SARA is admiring her body, she is quite prepared to seize control of the situation and take the upper hand.

• • ELIZA ROURKE's core: manipulation in a "velvet glove"
• • MARY MURPHY (Eliza Rourke) — — A few of her credits include: Jane Eyre, Artist Descending a Staircase, Stonewall Voices, Why Does it Sting…, Jailbirds, Wait Until Dark, and All Night Meeting. She has also lent her voice to the cartoon Pokemon, various radio, film, and television projects, along with an award-winning children’s audio adventure series.

• • "COURTING MAE WEST" opens at 6 o'clock on Saturday night July 19, 2008 at the Algonquin Theatre [East 24th Street and Park Avenue South].
• • "COURTING MAE WEST" — — showtimes
• • July 19th, 2008 — — 6:00 PM
• • July 20th, 2008 — — 2:00 PM matinee
• • July 21st, 2008 — — 6:00 PM
• • July 22nd, 2008 — — 9:00 PM
• • Tickets to "COURTING MAE WEST" are $18 per adult.
• • Theatermania.com sells the tickets — — http://www.theatermania.com/content/show.cfm/show/144297
• • Questions? Phone 212-779-3051.
• • The play is 95 minutes.
• • Get ready to come up and see Mae West, Texas Guinan, and the gang onstage in mid-July 2008.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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• • Photo: • • Mae West cast • • Mary Murphy • •
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Mae West: The Mighty Quinn

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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• • Photo: • • Mae West • • with Quinn O'Hara and Paul Novak, 1977 • •
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