Mae West: Backstage Brush

A columnist — — whose "brush with fame" included brushing MAE WEST backstage during the run of "Diamond Lil" during the 1940s — — dusted off these pleasant recollections, often arranged due to his sister Anna, an actress, who had been cast in Mae's Broadway show and others.
• • According to Alex Berger: My sister, Anna, an actress, continued my array of brushes with greatnesses. She prepared for her acting career by attending the prestigious Dramatic Workshop with Tony Curtis, Rod Steiger, Bea Arthur, and Harry Belafonte. They were not celebrities at the time. ...
• • • • What a heavy burden is a name that has become famous too soon. — Voltaire
• • Alex Berger explains: Before Belafonte’s rise to fame as a calypso singer, he was unemployed. With no means to support his wife and child, he asked Anna to help him find work and my brother, Jack, hired him. Soon thereafter, Harry invited Jack, Anna, and me to his first nightclub appearance at the Royal Roost nightclub. I was only 16, but they sneaked me in and I brushed headliner Dinah Washington. It was not long before Harry was on his way. ...
• • Alex Berger recalls meeting Mae West: Anna would always invite me backstage following her theater and TV performances. I brushed John Garfield, Fredrick March, Jack Lemmon, Jerry Stiller, Rita Moreno, and James Gandolfini, among others. I will never forget when I visited Anna following her first Broadway show, Mae West’s “Diamond Lil.” I was in the Air Force at the time and, in full uniform, I brushed Miss West — — and she returned the compliment!...
— — Excerpt: — —
• • Article: "Berger's Burg: Columnist becomes famous for brushing celebrity elbows"
• • BY: Alex Berger | Columnist
• • Published by Your Nabe — — and also timesledgernews
• • Published on: 21 January 2010
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
________
Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • none • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
NYC
Mae West.

Mae West: In England

A new show in England about the history of cinema will feature MAE WEST.
• • In Great Britain, actor Robert Powell has assembled an "affectionate and nostalgic romp through the first 113 years of cinema," according to the Express and Star.
• • Interviewed by reporter Mark Andrews, Powell promised not to be boring: “It’s a little of entertainment, a bit of film, a bit of history, and a bit of fun.”
• • The production begins with cinema pioneers the Lumiere Brothers in Paris in 1895 — — and finishes with Bond 22 being filmed at Pinewood Studios in 2008.
• • The audience is introduced to Mae West, Charlie Chaplin, Mickey Mouse, and Humphrey Bogart along the way, with appearances by Clark Gable, Groucho Marx, Marilyn Monroe, and Jack Lemmon.
• • Also appearing in the production are Christine Croshaw and Clive Conway.
• • The journey will be sweetened with musical interludes from Scott Joplin, George Gershwin through to John Barry’s “James Bond” theme.
• • "Robert Powell’s Silver Screen" is on at Lichfield Garrick Theatre on 30 May 2009, starting at 7:30 pm. Telephone the box office for details: 01543 412121 [UK].
— — Excerpt: — —
• • Article: "Affectionate look at history of cinema"
• • Byline: By Mark Andrews
• • Published in: UK's Express and Star — — www.expressandstar.com
• • Published on: 12 May 2009
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
________
Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • none • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
NYC
Mae West.

Mae West: Pal

While Broadway is playing musical chairs, the return of a 68-year-old musical to the Gay White Way on 18 December 2008 has a whiff of MAE WEST.
• • Which names would you cast in the principal roles in Rodgers & Hart's "Pal Joey"?
• • The Hollywood Reporter reminded readers this has never been a creampuff of a show.
• • According to the Hollywood Reporter: For all its legendary status today, the reviews for the original production — — it opened December 25, 1940, at the Barrymore and made a star of Gene Kelly — — were decidedly mixed. It lasted less than a year (374 performances), with the 1952-53 revival (540 performances) being much more warmly received. Later revivals were done with the title role played by Bob Fosse (1963) and Christopher Chapman (1976).
• • Meanwhile, Columbia bought the film rights early on, but for various reasons — — including hassles from the Production Code Office because of the "Joey" story line and lyrics of several of its songs — — it took 17 years before cameras turned.
• • Along the way, however, several interesting casting ideas for it were announced: Gene Kelly and Rita Hayworth, the latter playing the young love interest, in the 1940s; Marlon Brando and Mae West as the older woman in the early 1950s; as well as Jack Lemmon and Marlene Dietrich — — Dietrich eventually turning it down because, at the time, she'd never heard of Lemmon.
• • It was finally done in 1957 with Frank Sinatra as Joey and the older woman played by Hayworth, who at 39 was three years younger than her boy toy. . . .
— — Excerpt: — —
• • Published in: Reuters/ Hollywood Reporter
• • Published on: 5 December 2008
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
________
Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • none • •
NYC
Mae West.