Mae West: Shocking Elsa

MAE WEST worked with two people who celebrated a birthday on September 10th.
• • Born in Rome, Elsa Schiaparelli [10 September 1890? — 13 November 1973] was an influential fashion designer of Italian and Egyptian heritage. Along with Coco Chanel, she dominated fashion between the two World Wars.
• • Elsa Schiaparelli opened her first salon, "stupidir le Sport," in 1927; the focus was on sportswear and athletic attire. In 1935 Schiaparelli moved to a salon overlooking the Place Vendôme in Paris.
• • In addition to apparel, Schiaparelli designed a number of perfumes. The first and best known — — Shocking — — was created in 1936. Shocking is famous less for the fragrance itself than for its packaging: inside a shocking pink box, the bottle was shaped like a woman's torso — — and based on the curvaceous body of one of Schiaparelli's clients, film star Mae West. For Mae West, Schiaparelli designed costumes for the film "Every Day's a Holiday."
• • Released in 1938, "Every Day’s a Holiday" was Mae's most expensive film to date. Its lavish recreation of 1890s New York was the setting for Mae's character — — charming blonde con artist Peaches O’Day — — who sells the Brooklyn Bridge to the gullible. After an enforced departure, Peaches O'Day returns disguised as a chic brunette Mademoiselle Fifi, draped in splendid Schiaparelli gowns.
• • In September, Let's Remember Paul Harvey • •
• • Versatile actor Paul Harvey hailed from Sandwich, Illinois where he was born during the month of September — — on 10 September 1882. The dapper six-foot-two leading man enjoyed success on Broadway, creating several memorable roles from 1916 — 1933. When he went out to Hollywood, he was cast in nearly 180 motion pictures. Fans will remember him as Donovan in "Goin' to Town" [1935].
• • Paul Harvey died at age 73 due to a coronary thrombosis on 5 December 1955 in Los Angeles, California.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1938 gown by Elsa Schiaparelli • •
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Mae West: Oh, Oh, Ottiano

When MAE WEST watched Rafaela Ottiano portray the sinister Mrs. Lovett in "Sweeney Todd" during its 1924 Broadway run at the Frazee Theatre, she knew where to find an actress who could ably play a villainess.
• • Born in Venice in early March — — on 4 March 1888 — — of Italian parents, Rafaela Ottiano distinguished herself in Europe before relocating to New York City in 1910 when she was 22 years old. By 1912 she was winning critical praise for her performances onstage in Proctor's Fifth Avenue Theatre [31 West 28th Street].
• • By 1920, she was living in a boarding house in the theatre district — — 49 West 37th Street — — where many actresses and artists were in residence. In between bookings, the five-foot-five brunette worked as a sales lady in a department store.
• • For the acclaimed Broadway production of "Diamond Lil" [1928 — 29] Ottiano created the role of Spanish Rita. Notably, she was the only member of the Royale Theatre's cast who was retained for the filmed version, where she reprised her role — — renamed Russian Rita by cautious executives at Paramount Pictures who feared that they might possibly alienate Latino ticket-buyers.
• • Never married, and guiding her career entirely by herself, plucky Ottiano managed to stay employed in Hollywood from 1924 — 1942 in between theatre work.
• • Rafaela Ottiano died at age 54 of intestinal cancer in mid-August 1942 at the East Boston home of her late parents.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West's co-star • • Rafaela Ottiano • •
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Mae West: Accuracy, Anyone?

An article in a Missouri newspaper, reminiscing about innovations and important events during 1909, flashed upon MAE WEST and Guido Deiro — — but the fact-checkers were away on maternity leave maybe.
• • As many Mae mavens know, the Brooklyn bombshell and the Italian accordionist Guido Deiro made beautiful music together for several years in variety. Her marriage to the Mediterranean keyboard king was one of the few secrets Mae kept from her mother Matilda.
• • On the 14th of July 1920, Mae West filed for a divorce from Guido Deiro, charging him with abandonment. Having moved back to her parents' house in Queens County, Mae filed her petition at the courthouse in Jamaica, Queens.
• • When their divorce became final in November 1920, Guido quickly wed his third (and much younger) wife, with whom he would have a son.
• • Kathy Fairchild, columnist for The Marshall Democrat-News, knows none of this; she does not even bother to check the spelling of Guido's surname. Despite her deficiencies, she courageously forges ahead, scribbling this sloppiness:
• • On June 1, 1909 Guido Diero [sic] introduced the musical instrument known today as the accordion. Diero, it's been said, was once married to Mae West, who, in 1933's "She Done Him Wrong," asked a very young Cary Grant, playing the part of a Salvation Army officer, "I always did like a man in uniform. Why don't you come up sometime and see me?" West split with Diero in 1916, but probably wasn't married to him; she was already married to someone else. ...
• • Well, now you know where NOT to go if you're a stickler for accuracy, eh?
— — Excerpt: — —
• • Article: "MDN at 130: Movers and shakers of 20th century arrive on the scene in 1909"
• • BY: Kathy Fairchild
• • Published by: The Marshall Democrat-News [Marshall, Missouri; T. (660) 886-2233] — — www.marshallnews.com
• • Published on: 16 December 2009
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
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Mae West: Divorcing Mr. D

MAE WEST and the Italian accordionist Guido Deiro made beautiful music together for several years in variety. Her marriage to the Mediterranean keyboard king was one of the few secrets Mae kept from her mother Matilda.
• • Vibrant, jealous, well-built, ambitious, financially successful, talented, and sexy, Deiro even threatened to kill the next man who tried to take Mae away from him. John "Battling Jack" West, alarmed for his daughter's safety, cautioned Guido: "None of those Italian knife tricks now, please!"
• • About his brother Guido and his sultry spouse, Pietro Deiro recalled: "We played together and we both shared great successes, Guido becoming rapidly very popular — — especially among restaurant waiters for his large and ostentatious tips. A few years later in New York, Mae West, Guido, and I went for supper to the old Gillette's restaurant. The meal finished, my brother left a two-dollar tip on the table. As he rose to leave, I picked up one of the dollars and later went fifty-fifty with Mae West. This got to be a habit with us. ... "
• • Pietro Deiro misremembered the name of the eatery, a special place Mae and Deiro returned to often when they were in New York City. It was located back then on West 49th Street. [This year's Mae West walking tour will swing by there and attendees will be shown vintage pictures of the building's exterior and the beautiful interior dining rooms where the lovebirds often enjoyed themselves.]
• • When Mae and Guido went their separate ways in vaudeville, the Brooklyn bombshell wound up on a much lower tier of bookings.
• • July 14th • •
• • On the 14th of July 1920, Mae West filed for a divorce from Guido Deiro, charging him with abandonment. Having moved back to her parents' house in Queens County, Mae filed her petition at the courthouse in Jamaica, Queens.
• • When their divorce became final in November 1920, Guido quickly wed his third wife.
• • Mae West was so daunted by this marriage (and the way Guido affected her equilibrium), that she does not even mention his name in her autobiography, coyly referring to him only as "Mr. D."
• • The 14th of July 1999 is a date Mae West [1893 — 1980] did not live to see. On that day, Mae's longtime lover Paul Novak passed away in California.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1914 • •
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Mae West: Chickadee in Lakeland

Central Florida welcomes MAE WEST this month for one entire laugh-loaded weekend.
• • Gently priced tickets will be sold at the Polk box office for fans of "My Little Chickadee," starring Mae West and W.C. Fields.
• • This screen comedy was first released in the USA on 15 March 1940.
• • What the heck is a little chickadee anyway? The Black-capped Chickadee is a small, common songbird — — a passerine bird in the tit family. ["Tit" family, eh? Sounds like a big family.]
• • The Polk Theatre was built in 1928, one year before the great Wall Street fizzle. A temporary construction sizzler in central Florida had ended, however, the local businessmen forged ahead in great faith when they built a showy vaudeville — movie palace in Lakeland, which opened during December 1928. That year, the population hovered at merely 15,000 individuals and it was still very much a rural community dotted with citrus groves and farmhouses.
• • An Italian immigrant was hired to be the architect. Not unnaturally, J.E. Casale recreated a Mediterranean village in the heart of an orange growers Eden. Flanked by Italianate walls glorified with cunning niches and expensive sconces along with fake windows and balconies, it was a wondrous interior. Ticket-holders could behold a grand mezzanine lobby featuring cunningly twisted columns, fastidious moldings, delicate cornices, and brass banded terrazzo flooring as they ascended ornately tiled staircases.
• • The theatre's web site boasts: "The two most impressive technological features of the Polk were the theatre’s 100 ton air wash system to chill the air, and its Vitaphone sound on reel film system. The air conditioning system was such a drain on the city’s power supply that during its early years of operation it caused lights to dim all across town when turned on. ..."
• • Surrounded by this Jazz Era atmosphere, you will enjoy this rollicking motion picture classic as it was meant to be seen.
• • WHEN: on July 24th — 25th at 7:30 p.m.; on July 26th at 2 p.m.
• • WHERE: Polk Theatre: 139 South Florida Avenue, Lakeland, Florida 33801 — — T. 863-682-7553.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1940 with actress Anne Nagel • •
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Mae West: Mickey Carroll

A very special actor who worked with MAE WEST has met his final curtain.
• • Word comes that Mickey Carroll, one of the last surviving Munchkins from the iconic 1939 screen classic "The Wizard of Oz" died recently at age 89. It was his only motion picture but his brief cameos were most memorable. .
• • Born in St. Louis on 8 July 1919, Mickey Carroll's birthname was Michael Finocchiaro. The son of Italian immigrants who carved marble cemetery monuments, he grew up with a twin sister and four older siblings, all of whom are deceased.
• • It was a pituitary condition that caused Carroll's height to stop at 4-foot-3.
• • What he lacked in stature he made up for with an abundance of appeal, personality, and comedic timing. When presidential hopeful Franklin D. Roosevelt was campaigning in New York City, Mickey Carroll helped warm up the voters. He was also hired as a crowd-getter during Harry Truman's whistlestop campaign.
• • In St. Louis, Carroll tripped the light fantastic at the Muny Theater when he was still an elementary school pupil. Afterwards, he appeared in Chicago clubs and on the Orpheum Theater vaudeville circuit.
• • Expanding his specialties, Mickey Carroll also did Phillip Morris live radio ads — — "Call for Philip Morris!" — — and appeared in shows with Mae West. He followed up those successes with radio shows with George Burns, Gracie Allen, Jack Benny, and Al Jolson.
• • In November 2007, Mickey Carroll received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame along with six other surviving Munchkins: Ruth Duccini, Jerry Maren, Margaret Pellegrini, Meinhardt Raabe, Karl Slover, and Clarence Swensen.
• • Until January of this year, the pint-size performer enjoyed living in his own home in Bel-Nor. After he got a pacemaker, however, he began boarding with a caretaker, who told the press that he died in his sleep, very peacefully, and perhaps dreaming of following the yellow brick road in the wonderful land of Oz.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
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Mae West: Nuptial Miss

Did the Brooklyn bombshell sigh each year on November 9th? MAE WEST and Italian-born accordionist Guido Deiro made beautiful music together for some years in variety. Her marriage to the Mediterranean keyboard king was one of the few secrets Mae kept from her mother Matilda. And even though her mom had died in 1930, when Mae West penned her autobiography in 1959, she covertly referred to her [deceased] former husband as "Mr. D."
• • When Mae and Guido went their separate ways in vaudeville, the Brooklyn bombshell wound up on a much lower tier of bookings.
• • On 14 July 1920, Mae West quietly filed for a divorce from Guido Deiro — — charging him with abandonment. Having moved back to her parents' house in Queens County, Mae filed her petition at the stately courthouse in Jamaica, Queens.
• • When their divorce became final on 9 November 1920, Guido quickly wed his third wife.
• • Mae West was so daunted by this marriage (and the way sexy, emotionally-charged Guido affected her equilibrium), that she did not walk down the aisle again.
• • Deiro came up to see Mae in Hollywood — — when he was down on his luck and she was a millionaire. He had a bulge in his pocket: a manuscript about their intimate life together. To quiet the storm, Mae exchanged a big check for this packet of pages, and no one saw this memoir again.
• • On 26 July 1950 Guido Deiro, age 63, died after a long illness.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1914 • •
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Mae West.

Mae West: Playground

MAE WEST met Rudolph Valentino in July – – on Sunday evening 25 July 1926 during a party at Tommy's Guinan's speakeasy. Co-hosting this affair was Tommy's sister Texas Guinan.
• • The Italian heartthrob got an outstanding reception from the overdressed swells and the underworld guys and molls mesmerized by the Guinan's nightlife know-how.
• • Larger than the average ginmill, The Playground was located at 201 West 52nd Street at the corner of Seventh Avenue [a.k.a. 800 7th Avenue]. Its generous square footage made it ideal for events that would attract a crowd.
• • A pleasure palace stills exists in this midtown location, non-threatening and totally Disney-fied. On Friday August 17, 2007 a tour group will visit this club and other a-MAE-zing sites on the Mae West westside map.
• • James R. Quirk, editor-publisher of Photoplay, also co-hosted the Reception at this popular speakeasy in honor of Rudolph Valentino's new silent movie "Son of the Sheik" – – a sequel. One month later, alas, the 31-year-old silent screen star would be dead.
• • When Photoplay first began publication, Quirk's staff had included handsome Julian Johnson, who was Texas Guinan's lover.
• • Mae West and Texas Guinan enjoyed rubbing shoulders with the Apulian heartthrob and his entourage. After his untimely demise, Mae organized seances to keep in touch with Valentino.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1932 • •
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Mae West: Chic to Sheik

MAE WEST met Rudolph Valentino on Sunday evening 25 July 1926 during a party at Tommy's Guinan's speakeasy. Co-hosting this affair was Tommy's sister Texas Guinan.
• • The Italian heartthrob was born in May: on 6 May 1895 in Apulia.
• • Larger than the average ginmill, The Playground was located at 201 West 52nd Street at the corner of Seventh Avenue [a.k.a. 800 7th Avenue]. Its generous square footage made it ideal for events that would attract a crowd.
• • James R. Quirk, editor-publisher of Photoplay, also co-hosted the Reception at this popular speakeasy in honor of Rudolph Valentino's new silent movie "Son of the Sheik" – – a sequel. When Photoplay first began publication, Quirk's staff had included handsome Julian Johnson, who was Texas Guinan's lover.
• • Mae West and Texas Guinan enjoyed socializing with the charismatic actor and his entourage. One month later, alas, the 31-year-old silent screen star would be dead.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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