Mae West: Generous Gestures

MAE WEST made an impression on John Robert Powers, who introduced her to Lyons Wickland, a fashion model who co-starred as Jimmy Stanton in “Sex.”
• • “Up From Smiling Ads” • •    
• • Mae West: Repaid her debt to Lyons in her own fashion • •
• • Evelyn Williams wrote: "Mae West got him his chance in the movies. Now it's up to Lyons to make good. She's repaid her debt in her own fashion."  

• • Evelyn Williams wrote: “I should say that if Mae West is as generous in repaying all her debts there will be a statue erected to her some day for it is a well-known human failing to forget those who did us favors when we no longer require their aid.”
• • Note: John Robert Powers [14 September 1892 – 21 July 1977] was an American actor and the founder of a New York City-based modeling agency.
• • Lepold Lyons Wickland [20 August 1894 ― 4 December 1980] • •
• • Note: Despite his handsome physique and patrician looks, Lyons Wickland’s Hollywood career burnt out fast. From 1924 ― 1938, he appeared in only one short and 7 feature length motion pictures, mostly in uncredited parts.
• • In the mid-1930s, Lyons Wickland was cast as Lamarque in the period drama “Les Misérables” [20th Century Fox, 1935], a large cast production that featured Rochelle Hudson as Cosette.
• • Mae mavens will remember sweet-face Rochelle Hudson as the stricken, pregnant, and suicidal Sally in “She Done Him Wrong,” who is consoled by Lady Lou with the sassy line, “When women go wrong, men go right after them.”
• • This interview has now been concluded. Did you enjoy it? Tell us.   
• • Source: Picture Play; published in the issue dated for January 1934.
• • On Sunday, 6 January 1935 • •
• • On Sunday, 6 January 1935, one day after her father had died, an interview with Mae West ran in the Sunday Dispatch. The title was "I'm an angel, really — Mae West tells for the first time just what she is really like."
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Maybe some theater managers who did not do so well with "The Song of Songs" will  explain to her that Mae West is the girl who always packs the theater with her pictures.  
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Give a man a free hand and he'll try to put it all over you."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Fan letters sometimes criticized Mae West.
• • “What the Fans Think” • •
• • Even Kids Go Mae West! • •
• • A Los Angeles fan thinks Mae West's films are so disgustingly vulgar that she sees red when children of ten say "Come up and see me sometime." …
• • Source: Picture Play Magazine; published in the issue dated for February 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 17th anniversary • • 
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past seventeen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 4,800 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seventeen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,904th 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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• • Be sure to bookmark or follow The Mae West Blog
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • Walk of Fame gazebo with Mae West • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Wanted to Help

MAE WEST made an impression on John Robert Powers, who introduced her to Lyons Wickland, a fashion model who co-starred as Jimmy Stanton in “Sex.”
• • “Up From Smiling Ads” • •    
• • Mae West: One trait is truly admirable, he said • •
• • Evelyn Williams wrote: "But there's one thing about Mae West that is truly admirable."
• • Evelyn Williams wrote: John Robert Powers, who certainly knows his Broadway history, relished telling me this story.  
• • Evelyn Williams wrote: "She doesn't say anything unless she means it. When she told Lyons that she would remember him, she was sincere. I will bet there wasn't a more surprised man in the world than Lyons Wickland when he got a message from Mae West. She wanted to help him, wanted to do something for him.”

• • Evelyn Williams wrote: "Well," finished talent agent John Robert Powers, "Mae West got Lyons Wickland a part in her motion picture [sic] at a mighty fancy salary.”
• • Mae West: Repaid a debt to Lyons in her own fashion • • …  
• • This interview will conclude tomorrow with Part 5.   
• • Source: Picture Play; published in the issue dated for January 1934.
• • On Saturday, 6 January 2001 • •

• • The screen classics starring Mae West "I'm No Angel" and "She Done Him Wrong" became the movie package acquired by Turner Classic Movies. "I'm No Angel" made its premiere on that station on Saturday, 6 January 2001.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • The fact that Mae West wouldn't consent to Jack LaRue's appearing in "I'm No Angel," may develop into a feud. Everybody is watching, for LaRue hasn't hesitated to tell about this with injured emphasis.  
• • It seems Mae's objection was that she had Jack LaRue in her stage company once, and didn’t  entertain a 100 per cent opinion of him as an actor.  
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "In an Ed Wynn show, I did a shimmy. But never, never did I do the shimmy shewabble!''
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Cheat Sheet featured an article on Mae West.
• • Why Did Mae West Turn Down a Role in a Movie with Elvis Presley? • •
• • Laura Dorwart wrote: Mae West patently refused to take on the role of Maggie because she didn’t want to be seen as a maternal figure.
• • Laura Dorwart wrote: “In the original screenplay, Maggie was to be Elvis’s mother,” Sonny wrote. “That was all Mae West needed to hear. ‘I ain’t never played mothers in my life, and I’m certainly not going to now,’ she reportedly said.”
• • Laura Dorwart wrote: Ultimately, the role Mae West turned down was taken on by Barbara Stanwyck instead.  …
• • Source: Showbiz Cheat Sheet ; published on Sunday, 24 January 2021
• • 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 17th anniversary • • 
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past seventeen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 4,800 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seventeen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,903rd 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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• • Be sure to bookmark or follow The Mae West Blog
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • a print ad in 1933 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Her 1926 Debt

MAE WEST made an impression on John Robert Powers, who introduced her to Lyons Wickland, a fashion model who co-starred as Jimmy Stanton in “Sex.”
• • “Up From Smiling Ads” • •    
• • Mae West: Lyons noticed Mae was outsmarting Broadway producers • •
• • Evelyn Williams wrote: “Mae West admitted to him how things were financially. And Lyons admired her more than ever because of the way she was outsmarting the smart boys on Broadway.”

• • Evelyn Williams wrote: "When she got the loan from Lyons, Mae said, 'I'll never forget this. If I ever get famous, I'll remember you.' And John Powers paused here.”
• • Evelyn Williams wrote: Of course, Lyons Wickland thought she was a grand person to say that, but he never took it seriously.  So when Mae West was famous and when she came back to New York, Lyons didn't even call her up, according to John Powers.  
• • Evelyn Williams wrote: Lyons felt that now that Mae West was a star and he was not, it would hardly be fair to force her to remember him.
• • Mae West: One trait is truly admirable • • …  
• • This interview will continue on the next post.   
• • Source: Picture Play; published in the issue dated for January 1934.
• • John Patrick West [March 1866 — 5 January 1935] • •
• • Despite having an ambivalent relationship with her father, Mae West took after him and also worked for him when he peddled fruit in Brooklyn and when he helmed a "detective agency" in New Jersey and New York City. Before opening his own operation, West had walked the beat in Coney Island and elsewhere in Brooklyn.
• • Born on Manhattan's Lower East Side in March 1866, John Patrick West [called "Jack"] grew up feisty, impatient, and strong. As a child he boasted that he'd rather fight than eat. He got his Irish up rather quickly, remembered Mae. He was easily angered and "always ready to do physical violence when the urge was on him." In 1969, Mae revealed in an interview that she thought her father was cruel — — but realized "all his fighting was done doing other people's fighting for them."
• • Jack West was 7 years old in 1873 when his family moved from Avenue C (near the docks) in Manhattan to the borough of Brooklyn, settling first in Red Hook, and then in Greenpoint.
• • On 19 January 1889, in Greenpoint, Battling Jack West and Tillie Delker took their wedding vows before a local minister with Jack's sister Julia West acting as maid of honor.
• • On Saturday, 5 January 1935, "Battling Jack" heard the final countdown; he passed away in Oakland, California of a stroke.
• • On this date we remember John Patrick West with love and respect.
• • On Wednesday, 5 January 1938 • •
• • "Paramount: Mae West Most Likely All Washed Up" was the downbeat headline in Variety Magazine on Wednesday, 5 January 1938. After the NBC broadcast brouhaha, Paramount began monitoring audience feedback to the coming attractions that were onscreen at the New York City Paramount Theatre.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West's quips, backed by the full-figured image, somehow manage to survive our throwaway culture. She was, after all, the progenitor of so many memorable lines. "Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me?'' Mae West famously teased.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “It takes two to get one in trouble.”
• • Mae West said: "When women go wrong, men go right after them.''
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Cheat Sheet featured an article on Mae West.
• • Why Did Mae West Turn Down a Role in a Movie with Elvis Presley? • •
• • Laura Dorwart wrote: In “Roustabout,” Elvis Presley played Charlie Rogers, a down-on-his-luck musician who began working as a “carnie” at a struggling traveling carnival to make ends meet.
• • Laura Dorwart wrote: In his 2007 memoir, “Elvis: Still Taking Care of Business,” Elvis’ bodyguard claimed that Mae West patently refused to take on the role of Maggie because she didn’t want to be seen as a maternal figure. …
• • Source: Showbiz Cheat Sheet; published on Sunday, 24 January 2021
• • 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 17th anniversary • • 
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past seventeen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 4,800 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seventeen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,902nd 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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• • Be sure to bookmark or follow The Mae West Blog
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • "Sex" in 1926 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Needed a Loan

MAE WEST made an impression on John Robert Powers, who introduced her to Lyons Wickland, a fashion model who co-starred as Jimmy Stanton in “Sex.”
• • “Up From Smiling Ads” • •    
• • Mae West casts Lyons Wickland in "Sex" • •
• • Evelyn Williams wrote: This model’s name was  Lyons Wickland, and when I say he looked Society with a capital S, I mean that he looked as though his name should be Vanderbilt or Astor.

• • Evelyn Williams wrote: "Lyons had plenty of work as a model," said Powers. "But he was ambitious. So when he heard that Mae had a part for his type he walked right into it."
• • Evelyn Williams wrote: "And Mae liked Lyons Wickland from the time she hired him. She recognized that he was a pretty fine type of man.”  
• • In 1926, Mae West needed a small loan • •
• • Evelyn Williams wrote: “No, it wasn't a romance, you understand,” explained John Powers. “They were just swell friends. He knew she wasn't rolling in money because one day she asked for a loan so small that it surprised him.”  
• • Mae West: Lyons noticed Mae outfoxing Broadway producers • •…  
• • This interview will continue on the next post.   
• • Source: Picture Play; published in the issue dated for January 1934.
• • On Tuesday, 4 January 1938 • •
• • “What does your handwriting reveal about you?” • •
• • Handwriting analyst Muriel Stafford gave her opinion on the signature of Mae West and other celebrities in an article published on Tuesday, 4 January 1938 that featured a huge image of Mae wearing a fur jacket.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • "Nice" heroines have often been described as colorless, but possibly since Mae West has gone to the uttermost limit in depicting them, the pendulum is to swing back, and charming and persuasive innocence will come into its own again.  
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Too many girls follow the line of least resistance — — but a good line is hard to resist."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Cheat Sheet featured an article on Mae West.
• • Why Did Mae West Turn Down a Role in a Movie with Elvis Presley? • •
• • Laura Dorwart wrote: At the age of 69, Mae West turned down what many would have considered to be an incredible opportunity to star in a film with the King of Rock and Roll.
• • Laura Dorwart wrote: According to Presley’s longtime bodyguard, Memphis Mafia member Sonny West, Mae West refused to take on the part of carnival owner Maggie Morgan in the 1964 movie musical "Roustabout" starring Elvis. …
• • Source: Showbiz Cheat Sheet; published on Sunday, 24 January 2021
• • 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 17th anniversary • • 
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past seventeen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 4,800 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seventeen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,901st 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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• • Be sure to bookmark or follow The Mae West Blog
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • onstage in 1926 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Powers and Lyons

MAE WEST made an impression on John Robert Powers, who introduced her to Lyons Wickland, a fashion model who co-starred in “Sex.” This first-hand account appeared in Picture Play's January 1934 issue and reveals a new side of Mae's financial struggles during 1926 — 1928 when she self-produced her plays on Broadway.
• • "Up From Smiling Ads" • •    
• • Picture Play staffwriter Evelyn Williams wrote: The telephone rang in the office of the John Robert Powers model agency in New York City. "Before I let you ask a lot of questions about the players I knew," Mr. Powers said, "I want to tell you an interesting story about one star I never met — Mae West."

• • Evelyn Williams wrote: "When Mae West first started to produce her own plays she was pretty broke, but she kept it hidden from Broadway. She knew that she had to put up a bluff or better learn to put up a front that looked like she had dollars.”
• • Evelyn Williams wrote: "When she was picking the cast for her play she needed a society type of man. I had a model who looked more Park Avenue than the scions of most aristocratic families.”  
• • Mae West casts Lyons Wickland • • …
• • Note: Leopold Lyons Wickland [20 August 1894 ― 4 December 1980].  
• • This interview will continue on the next post.
• • Note: Picture Play's cover price was ten cents in 1934.
• • Source: Picture Play; published in the issue dated for January 1934.
• • On Tuesday, 3 January 1933 • •
• • The Hollywood Reporter mentioned Mae West on Tuesday, 3 January 1933.
• • Mae West in Paramount's "She Done Him Wrong" — Now Shooting.
• • On Friday, 3 January 1936 • •
• • "Mae West Proves 'Lucky Star' to Those Who Work with Her" • •
• • They all like to work on a Mae West set — — extras, technicians, odd-jobbers. Maybe it isn't only the "lucky star" idea, at that. But Mae says: "Sure, I bring 'em luck. It's the way you think. I never worry about anything and the people around me don't. And if you don't worry, things generally turn out pretty well for you. It's always been that way."
• • Source: United Press; published on Friday, 3 January 1936.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • John Kobal's interest was first in the photographs, then in the photographers themselves. He was on the set of "Myra Breckenridge," the notorious 1970 vehicle for an older Mae West.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said:  "Give a man a free hand and he'll try to put it all over you."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Picture Play Magazine mentioned Mae West.
• • Marlene Dietrich, returning from Europe, made history when she said she did not know Mae West. …  
• • Source: Picture Play Magazine; published in the issue dated for January 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 17th anniversary • • 
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past seventeen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 4,800 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seventeen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,900th 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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• • Be sure to bookmark or follow The Mae West Blog
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • legal trouble in New York in 1927 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Off-beat

One of Scotland's newspapers The East Lothian Courier interviewed the Fringe folks and found that "The Life and Times of MAE WEST" was a top pick. Pene Herman Smith recreates the role of this complex American actress and writer, portraying Mae in her later years after the death of Jim Timony, on Tuesday 9 August 2011.
• • The Scottish journalist Kirsty Gibbins writes: Fringe by the Sea 2011 kicks off on Monday [8 August 2011] and organisers have vowed that this year's festival will be the best ... Other highlights of the seven-day programme . . . 'The Life and Times of Mae West', a one-woman show delivering two performances in the Masonic Hall on Tuesday .... [Source: Article: "A Fringe full of benefits" written by Kirsty Gibbins for The East Lothian Courier; posted on 4 Aug 2011]
• • Mae West & Eugene O'Neill: Off-beat Links • •
• • Cole Porter [1891 — 1964] wrote the novelty "You're the Top" for the musical "Anything Goes." The song mentions numerous bold-faced names such as Mae West, Eugene O'Neill, Strauss, Vincent Youmans, Mahatma Gandhi, Greta Garbo, Calvin Coolidge, Fred Astaire, Dante, Jimmy Durante, Botticelli, Keats, Shelley, Irving Berlin, and others. Out-of-town try-outs began on 5 November 1934 at the Colonial Theatre, Boston. The Broadway hit premiered at the Alvin Theatre on 21 November 1934. Here's an excerpt:
• • • ... You're the top!
• • • You're an arrow collar
• • • You're the top!
• • • You're a Coolidge dollar,
• • • You're the nimble tread
• • • Of the feet of Fred Astaire,
• • • You're an O'Neill drama, ...
• • • ... You're Ovaltine!
• • • You're a boom,
• • • You're the dam at Boulder,
• • • You're the moon,
• • • Over Mae West's shoulder, ...
• • On Sunday afternoon, 14 August 2011 • •
• • "Mae West in Bohemia — — Gin, Sin, Censorship, and Eugene O'Neill"
• • Mae West's birthday is August 17th. Join us at 3:00 pm on Sunday afternoon, 14 August 2011. The title of this illustrated historical theme walk is "Mae West in Bohemia — — Gin, Sin, Censorship, and Eugene O'Neill." Rare vintage illustrations will show you how the buildings and blocks looked as these two theatre people saw them.
• • Where: This illustrated walking tour begins at 62 West Ninth Street, NYC (near Sixth Avenue).
• • Mae West on the Newsstand • •
• • "The Successful Career of Mae West on the American Stage" written by Yvonne Shafer was published in The Journal of American Drama and Theatre [JADT, Volume 12, Number 3, Fall 2000]. To order a copy of this back issue, contact the editors: JADT c/o Martin E. Segal Theatre Center, CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10016-4309.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West wrote this movie dialogue for her character Mavis Arden ["Go West Young Man"]:
• • Morgan: You mean I'm practically your slave.
• • Mavis Arden: You're not. Slaves are generally useful.
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • It was the legitimate theatre season of 1926 — 1927. When the short-eyed critics assembled a list of the ten dirtiest shows, "Sex" by Mae West was in this number. Well, heck, no wonder ticket-buyers saw the show numerous times.
• • Robert Rusie writes: In April of 1926, Mae West opened in Sex, which Variety defined as a "nasty red-light district show." Miss West would be arrested and serve ten days [sic] in the Women's Workhouse on Welfare Island — — but not until after the show ran for 375 performances. Miss West's comment on the ordeal? The uniforms were uncomfortable. In Sex, Miss West played a Montreal Madame. This wasn't the only show on Broadway at the time with a prostitutes as a main character. The Shanghai Gesture, starring Florence Reed (331 performances), and Lulu Belle (461 performances) were also playing. The difference is that in the later two shows old Victorian "righteousness" won out. Even The Easiest Way, from the preceding decade, had a moral overtone. The (anti)heroine couldn't help but be morally disposed to "the easiest way." In fairness, though, it must be told that Lulu Belle was listed with Sex as one of the ten (yes, ten) dirtiest shows on Broadway. ...
• • Source: Broadway 101: The History of the Great White Way written by Robert Rusie; this excerpt comes from his section 1920 — 1930, The American Theater, Part 3
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2013th 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
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • with Lyons Wickland in "Sex" 1926 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
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