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When Ann Jillian portrayed Mae West for ABC-TV's viewers in the spring of 1982, she was far luckier than the Brooklyn bombshell. Co-starring as Mae's burly lawyer-manager James A. Timony was the handsome actor James Brolin mouthing sentences in E. Arthur Kean's fairy-dusted confection. 
• • In reality, the Brooklyn-bred attorney Matilda West introduced to her daughter in 1916 was loyal and clever — — but certainly no oil painting. When they met, Mae was 23 and Jim was 30, a solidly built balding fellow who limped and leaned on a cane adorned with an elk's tooth.
• • Though they were both born in 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].
• • 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.
• • 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.
• • 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 in early April 1954 at age 68.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Art: Michael Di Motta • • Mae West • • Jim Timony • • 9 February 1927 • •
NYC
Mae West.
Mae West's friend Roderick McDowall was born in London on 17 September 1928.
• • Perhaps you remember seeing the lanky Englishman when he played the female impersonator Rene Valentine in "Mae West" [1982], a made for tv bio-pic. McDowall also received credit for [gulp!] "Technical Details" — — which is astonishing since his choices in his scenes with the Brooklyn bombshell all seem false.
• • Moreover, his rift on the elegant Julian Eltinge misses the point; Roddy McDowall looks more like one of Cinderella's ugly step-sisters than the Broadway star of "The Fascinating Widow."
• • Shouldn't someone have noticed that the bawdy over-the-top drag queen Mae most adored was the campy cut-up Bert Savoy — — not the inscrutable Mr. Eltinge?
• • Anyway, one happy fella was Richard F. Shepard, whose New York Times review said: "Roddy McDowall is persuasive as a female impersonator who puts Miss West on the path to stardom by fixing her stage personality and appearance; he is almost scholarly and calm, the lifelong friend and confidant" [Richard F. Shepard, NY Times, 14 August 1984].
• • Directed by Lee Phillips, the 1982 bio-pic also featured Ann Jillian as Mae West, James Brolin as Jim Timony, et al.
• • Decide for yourself how watchable Roddy McDowall is in this scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVZflfidfy4
• • The actor died of lung cancer in California on 3 October 1998.
• • 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.
It was on 2 May 1982 that the TV drama "MAE WEST" had its small screen premiere starring actress Ann Jillian in the title role. The two-hour program was re-broadcast on ABC television at 9:00 PM on 14 August 1984 (following the excitement of the U.S. Olympics).
• • Remembering the May 1982 production, New York Times critic Richard F. Shepard had these comments two years later. Shepard wrote: ''Mae West'' was originally seen in 1982, long enough ago in these fast- moving times to almost qualify the show as a revival rather than as another summer re-run. It is reasonable programming, a show about a torrid actress in matching weather. It is also a drama that is satisfactory television, not earth-shaking, but one that is particularly admirable because it gives us a chance to see Ann Jillian portray the immortal Miss West.
• • Miss Jillian is not only good to look at, she is also a formidable actress who catches the essence of Miss West: not only the swaying hips but also the precise intonations that could load a phrase with the sort of innuendo that drove censors to blue-pencil conclusions.
• • Actually, E. Arthur Keen's screenplay, directed by Lee Philips, is reminiscent of one of those Alice Faye — Don Ameche — Tyrone Power movies in which the stars age ever so slightly over 30 years. This is not an objection, because it doesn't really matter. When things go through a somewhat tedious and mawkish period, they are perked up by a song and a crisis.
• • Miss Jillian generally resembles Miss West in this undertaking, but she is too pretty and not quite as pasty-faced as the original came across in her films. No matter. We know she is the unflappable Miss West when she delivers those great lines that are the heart of the piece. As, when a judge finds her guilty of corrupting the morals of youth in her 1927 show, ''Sex,'' she retorts, ''That's what they got Socrates for, ain't it?'' Or when the checkroom attendant, in a Mae West film, exclaims,''Goodness, what beautiful diamonds!'' and Miss West rolls hips and eyes and says, ''Goodness had nothing to do with it.''
• • The settings range in costume and prop from early 1900's to late 1940's, from vaudeville to stage, from Broadway to Hollywood and back again. The continuing thread is her love affair with her manager [Jim Timony], played in a noble vein by James Brolin. It is very sad, but don't take it to heart. Roddy McDowall is persuasive as a female impersonator who puts Miss West on the path to stardom by fixing her stage personality and appearance; he is almost scholarly and calm, the lifelong friend and confidant. . . .
Source: The New York Times [14 August 1984]
Byline: Richard F. Shepard• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
______Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xmlMae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • none • •NYC
Mae West.
