Mae West: Crazy for Criswell

For awhile, MAE WEST was very attached to Criswell, another August-born Leo. So impressed by him was Mae that in 1955, she recorded the song “Criswell Predicts.”
• • Jeron Criswell King [18 August 1907 — 4 October 1982] • •
• • Aric Karpinski wrote: Jeron Criswell King was wrong. A lot.

• • Aric Karpinski wrote: Better known as “The Amazing Criswell,” King began making off-the-wall predictions to fill airtime while working as a Los Angeles-based radio announcer in the early 1950s.
• • Aric Karpinski wrote: His supposed psychic gift led him to claim, among other things, that between Feb. 11 and May 11, 1983, all the women in St. Louis would lose their hair, blanketing the city in chaos and leading to divorces, lawsuits, and an outbreak of violence toward hairdressers.
• • Aric Karpinski wrote: Crazy? Sure.
• • Aric Karpinski wrote: But eventually, these puzzling prognostications made him a minor celebrity, scoring him guest spots on The Jack Paar Show, a super-sized entourage, and A-list friends such as Mae West — whom he once predicted would become president of the United States, taking him and Liberace’s brother, George, on a rocket ride to the moon.
• • Aric Karpinski wrote: Like George’s more famous, rhinestone-clad brother — who oddly wasn’t included on the intergalactic guest list — Criswell was a showman.

• • Aric Karpinski wrote: Criswell went on to write newspaper columns and books, work in television, and take bit parts in the notoriously bad science-fiction movies of filmmaker Ed Wood.
• • Aric Karpinski wrote: Known for his spit-curled pompadour, sequined tuxedos, and stentorian speaking style, Criswell made his most famous forecast in March 1963 when he publicly predicted that outside forces would prevent the American President John F. Kennedy from running for re-election in 1964. …
• • Source: Detroit Design Magazine; published on Thursday, 26 February 2009.
• • On Sunday, 18 August 1935 • •
• • In 1935 the discovery of Mae West's marriage license was still big enough news that The Gleaner carried a story on 18 August 1935 saying that Frank Wallace and Trixie LeMae were visiting her mother, Lena Carey.
• • "Yesterday, incidentally, was Miss West's birthday," breathlessly revealed her former husband Frank Wallace to the news media, "and — — she was 42."
• • "The nerve of a brass monkey," was Mae West's response.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Even at the fourscore mark, Mae West remains a remarkable figure of a woman.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I consider myself above changing. I haven't time to change. I'm not looking backward at what I've done or what success has come my way. The minute you do that and stand around on what's already come your way, you're headed back in the other direction."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Photoplay Magazine interviewed Mae West.
• • Kirtley Baskette wrote: Probably someone just learned her true weight and got excited — — for Mae, in spite of those ample hills and dells, isn't a heavy woman. Once in her life she reached a hundred and thirty-five pounds — — but it was when she deliberately tried to get fat, during the Broadway "Diamond Lil" era.
• • Kirtley Baskette wrote: Since Mae West came to Hollywood, her weight has not varied by more than five pounds. Right now she's at a hundred and eighteen ...
• • Source: Photoplay Magazine; published in the issue dated July 1934
• • The evolution of 2 Mae West plays that keep her memory alive • •
• • A discussion with Mae West playwright LindaAnn LoSchiavo — —
• • http://lideamagazine.com/renaissance-woman-new-york-city-interview-lindaann-loschiavo/
• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 18th anniversary • • 
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past eighteen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 5,000 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started eighteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 5,062nd 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: Kooky Criswell

MAE WEST appeared in a successful long-running engagement on Broadway in "Sometime," a musical comedy.
• • It was on Saturday, 4 October 1918 that "Sometime," the "musical comedy of commerce" designed to showcase the talents of laughmeister Ed Wynn, had opened at the Shubert Theatre (establishing a nice healthy wartime run that continued for eight months at the Shubert brothers' flagship: 225 West 44th Street, New York, NY).
• • At 25 years old, Mae West was still much more accustomed to appearing in vaudeville than in the legit. In "Sometime," it was Mae's character Mayme Dean who appeared onstage first. At that point in her career, Mae had often been cast as an Irish maid — — although Mayme Dean is a frisky flapper who cannot land a man.
• • In October, Let's Remember Criswell • •
• • Born in Princeton, Indiana on 18 August 1907, Jeron Criswell King wrote several books of (erroneous) predictions, including 1968's "Criswell Predicts: From Now to the Year 2000." In it, he offered very strange predictions about Mae West. For instance, he foretold her rise to President of the United States, whereupon she, Criswell, and George Liberace (the brother of showman Liberace) would take a rocket to the moon. According to Criswell, he and Mae West were "great friends" and he claimed that she would lavish him with home-cooked food she had delivered to the studio that he shared with Maila Nurmi ("Vampira").
• • Mae, who used Criswell as her personal psychic, sang a song called "Criswell Predicts" on the album "The Fabulous Mae West" [1955].
• • Criswell died of cardiac arrest in Burbank, California in the month of October — — on 4 October 1982. He was 75 years old..
• • On Monday, 4 October 2010 • •
• • In Granada, Spain on Monday, 4 October 2010, it was the fifth anniversary of the Mae West nightclub there, a popular hotspot. The venue planned for a lavish celebration "at a truly gigantic level," according to their announcement last year.
• • The Mae West Blog featured the Mae West nightclub when it first opened its doors. Happy Sixth Anniversary to Spain's Mae West Club.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “I’ve been things and seen places.”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An essay about women's sexuality mentioned Mae West.
• • Linda Jaivin writes: The two concepts, the alleged virtue of women and their lack thereof are intimately related. Ever since Eve copped the rap for getting her and Addie thrown out of Paradise, women have been forced to protest 'I'm not Eve! I'm not Eve! I'm a good girl.' The ladies doth protest too much, methinks. Give me Mae West any day. She's no lady, and I much prefer her attitude: 'A hard man is good to find.' 'I was Snow White ... but I drifted.' . . .
• • Source: Essay: "Women Love Sex” written by Linda Jaivin for Random House; posted in 1997
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2073rd 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: Criswell

During her live stage show (featuring a dozen bodybuilders), MAE WEST would sing "Criswell Predicts [and It's Gonna Come True]." Well, who goes to Las Vegas seeking the truth?
• • Now and then a prediction by Charles Jared Criswell (a.k.a. Jeron Criswell King) — — known by the single name Criswell — — would be accurate. For instance, he stated in 1963 that something would happen to President John F. Kennedy in November of that year that would prevent him from running for re-election.
• • More often his forecasts sounded outrageous such as his announcement that his friend Mae West would win a presidential election in the United States and land on the moon with Criswell and George Liberace (the pianist's brother).
• • A syndicated columnist, radio, and TV personality, Criswell was born in August — — 18 August 1907 in Princeton, Indiana and became intrigued by the media while working for a local newspaper as a teen.
• • By 1965, Criswell was a regular guest on The Tonight Show (with both Jack Paar and Johnny Carson) making his silly predictions.
• • He died at age 75 on 4 October 1982.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: Psychic

During the 1950s, MAE WEST developed a professional relationship with two men who were born (like Mae) in the month of August — — but who didn't take tea together.
• • In 1955, while working on her new album The Fabulous Mae West, Mae West recorded a rather lame song — — "Criswell Predicts" — — about a rather lame psychic.
• • Who's this Criswell character?
• • All but forgotten, Jeron Criswell King [18 August 1907 — 4 October 1982], who was born Jeron Criswell Konig, was known by his stage-name The Amazing Criswell. Criswell was Mae's personal psychic for awhile. Curiously, Criswell was most famous for his inaccurate, bizarre, and hilariously improbable predictions. One prediction was that Mae West would be president — — another forecast was that Mae West would fly to the moon with Liberace.
• • "Criswell Predicts" was written — — at Mae's request — — by Bob Thompson [a native Californian who was born on 22 August 1924 in San Jose].
• • In the mid 1950s, Bob Thompson toured with Mae West and her entourage of musclemen. Impressed by Bob, Mae West demanded that he be her piano teacher.
• • After building a musical reputation playing with a big name like Mae West, Bob Thompson got his big break in 1958 with a record deal from RCA. Thompson was signed alongside Esquivel, Billy May, Nelson Riddle, and a crop of other musicians destined to be Hollywood stars.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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