Mae West: Sexual Jokes

A charming article on MAE WEST appeared in Vintage News in 2017. Let’s enjoy it together.
• • Mae West did not begin her film career until she was almost 40 years old • •
• • Mae’s first big breakthrough • •
• • Brad Smithfield wrote: At this point, Mae West picked her first stage name, “Baby Mae.” After four years, she arrived in New York, making her first appearances on Broadway, the stage where she had her first big breakthrough as a performer.
• • Brad Smithfield wrote: It wouldn’t be until the mid-1920s that West would start writing, producing, and starring in plays penned by her own hands. The juicy sexual jokes certainly did the trick in putting her at the center of attention, something that she openly craved. Her way with words often carried double meanings and also frequently got her into trouble for inappropriate behavior and serving as a “bad” role model for the public.
• • Controversial actions in the 1920s • •  . . .
• • This delightful article will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: Article by Brad Smithfield for The Vintage News; published on Saturday, 27 May 2017.
• • On Sunday, 28 December 1969 • •

• • John Kobal wrote an article "Mae Queen" about movie star Mae West. The piece was published in Britain in the Sunday Times Magazine [UK] on Sunday, 28 December 1969.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • John Kobal has written a book, which quotes movie star Mae West. In his book "People Will Talk," he offered chatty testimonials from 43 notable Hollywood veterans. This is a snippet: Mae West's refusal to marry is symptomatic of narcissism, then and now: "Every time I look at myself, I become absorbed in myself, and I didn't want to get involved with another person like that. ..."
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Should've been doin' rock 'n' roll myself these past 10 years. I like the new beat. The kids have the right idea.”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article about New Year's Eve in 1934 mentioned Mae West.
• • It was on Friday, 28 December 1934 that the good folks in The Yellowhammer State were anticipating another visit from Mae West.
• • The announcement in the local paper The Star read: The glamorous Mae West returns to the Ritz Theater screen Monday night [31 December 1934] as the star of the featured attraction being shown at the New Year's Eva gala which begins at 11:30 pm. Hats, horns, serpentine, and balloons will add to the enjoyment of the party. ...
• • Source: The Star [Anniston, Alabama]; published on Friday, 28 December 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 14th anniversary • •  

• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past fourteen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 4,100 blog posts. Wow!  

• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fourteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4115th 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 • • British cover girl in 1969 • •
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Mae West: Making Faces

MAE WEST posed for George Hurrell. "She'd drop her clothes at the drop of a hat," the Tinseltown photographer once told John Kobal.
• • A master lensman, Hurrell [1 June 1904 — 17 May 1992] was the darkroom genie responsible for many memorable photographs of Mae along with top-flight Hollywoodites during the 1930s.
• • Disliking the trend towards soft focus, George Hurrell preferred to sculpt an actor or actress's face with light and shade, using a movable boom light to illuminate cheekbones or create moody depths under a nose or the eyes — — as if he made new contracts with artificial lighting. “The most essential thing about my style was working with shadows — — to design the face instead of flooding it with light,” he said. Ah, the mastery of hinting at mystique. Ooooh, that such carefully orchestrated chiaro-scuro could bring heightened attention to a movie star, an individual who might have no more mental acuity than a vintage snow globe.
• • An article printed days ago in The Kentucky Enquirer got thoughts flowing along the black-paved Hurrell highway.
• • George Hurrell, an art student who would set the standard for the glamorized publicity stills in Hollywood, was born in Covington in 1904, according to John Schlipp, Enquirer contributor. While some sources list Cincinnati as George Hurrell's birthplace, Hurrell himself clearly states in correspondence that he was born in Covington, Kentucky. He was raised in Cincinnati until age 5, when the family moved to Chicago, writes John Schlipp.
• • Browse his August 30th article — — "Covington native was 'photographer to the stars'" — — inside The Kentucky Enquirer — — http://nky.cincinnati.com/
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: John Kobal

In many ways, John Kobal's Hollywood career caught fire thanks to MAE WEST.
• • Years ago, one interviewer whipped up this creamy prologue: "Like so many stories about John Kobal, the one about his notable role as a connoisseur, collector, and chronicler of Hollywood photography begins with a movie star. Working as a journalist in 1969, Kobal visited the set of Myra Breckinridge with the goal of interviewing screen legend Mae West. His reporter's credentials granted him access to the set and while awaiting summons from Miss West, Kobal had the opportunity to meet members of the film's crew. ..."
• • In his book "People Will Talk," he offered chatty testimonials from 43 notable Hollywood veterans. This is a snippet: Mae West's refusal to marry is symptomatic of narcissism, then and now: "Every time I look at myself, I become absorbed in myself, and I didn't want to get involved with another person like that. ..."
• • John Kobal [birthname: Ivan Kobaly] was born in Linz, Austria during the month of May — — on 30 May 1940. Clearly, he decided he'd never become the outsider at his own party. The author of over 30 books on film and film photography, he was known for his creative and exuberant personality, as well as his voracious knowledge of the minutiae of film and photography lore. He is credited with essentially 'rediscovering' the great Hollywood Studio photographers — — George Hurrell, Laszlo Willinger, Clarence Sinclair Bull, Ted Allan, et al — — who were employed by the motion picture studios to create the glamorous, iconic portraits of the most famous and intriguing stars of the day that came to spit-shine the Tinseltown myth.
• • "Made In Hollywood" • •
• • The prints in the Kobal Collection, which include many images of Mae West, form the backbone of the "Made In Hollywood" exhibition, which finished its run in Santa Barbara, California [July 12th – October 12th, 2008], and which is now on view at the Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, TN, USA [May 7th – October 27th, 2009].
• • John Kobal, prolific and hard-working, died of AIDS when he was 51 on 28 October 1991 in London, England.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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