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In 1943 MAE WEST received frightening extortion notes and the police and the FBI got involved.
• • "Boy Held on Extortion Charge Says He Just Wanted to See Movie Stars" • •
• • Omaha Youth Arrested for Threatening Cinema Actresses • •
• • HOLLYWOOD, March 30 [U.P.] — — Russell Alexanderson, 18, Omaha, Nebraska, sat glumly in his cell at the county jail today and said he sent extortion notes to Betty Grable and Mae West because he wanted to hobnob with movie stars.
• • The gangling youth, a farm boy who was to have been inducted into the Army tomorrow, pleaded guilty yesterday to threatening both Miss Grable and Miss West with death. Federal Judge Leon R. Yankwich said he would impose sentence on Monday.
• • "He demanded $100,000 dollars from Mae West" • •
• • Alexanderson's note to Miss West, revealed for the first time at his hearing yesterday, demanded $100,000 "under threat of your life or great bodily harm."
• • "Put it in a package," continued the note, "and bring it to 6233 Hollywood Boulevard, up to the sixth floor, Saturday, February 6th at 10:10 AM." It was signed "The Leopard."
• • Federal agents said Miss West had ignored the note — — until Alexanderson's arrest in the Betty Grable case.
• • In letters signed "The Leopard" and "Snowy Baker," the youth demanded $25,000 in uncut diamonds and cash from Miss Grable on the pain of death.
• • Nabbed by FBI agents, who planted a blonde double for the actress on a Hollywood street corner, Alexanderson readily admitted sending the notes but explained that he only wanted to meet a movie star "face to face." It is expected that he will be placed on probation for five years.
• • Source: Article by United Press rpt in The Mexia Weekly Herald (Mexia, Texas); published on Friday, 2 April 1943.
• • On Saturday, 21 April 1934 • •
• • Mae West on the front page of Picture Show Magazine thrilled her British fans.
• • What a beautiful cover of Picture Show Magazine with that celluloid couple, Mae and Cary Grant. This very collectible United Kingdom publication was dated for Saturday, 21 April 1934. Mae was happy to promote her film "I'm No Angel" to the English movie-goers.
• • On Thursday, 21 April 1938 • •
• • SAINT LOUIS, April 21 (INS) — — Boys in their early teens prefer Mae West to Shirley Temple, but they would rather take part in some athletic event than to attend a movie. ...
• • These were some of the conclusions drawn by officers of Optimist International, a service club with headquarters in St. Louis, on the basis of questionnaires answered by members of representative Junior Optimist Clubs in twenty-two cities scattered throughout the USA and Canada.
• • Source: Item on page 7 in The Kane Republican; published on Thursday, 21 April 1938.
• • On Monday, 21 April 1975 • •
• • Released in a hardcover edition on Monday, 21 April 1975 was "Mae West on Sex, Health and E.S.P." written by Mae West.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • As a child, Mae West sang popular songs and gave her imitations, being what was known on the vaudeville billboards as a "coon shouter."
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "The score never interested me, only the game."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A Singapore newspaper mentioned Mae West.
• • The Straits Times announced: Tonight at the Capitol at 6:15 and 9:15 — Positively last night of "I'm No Angel" with Mae West — A Paramount Picture —together with Henry and His Show of Wonders.,
• • Capitol Restaurant — — Enjoy a fine dinner and then see "I'm No Angel"!
• • Source: Item on page 7 in The Straits Times; published on Saturday, 21 April 1934
• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 10th anniversary • •
• • Thank
you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during this
past decade. The other day we entertained 1,430 visitors. We reached a
milestone recently when we completed 3,100 blog posts. Wow!
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started ten years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 3161st 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 • • in 1943 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
NYC Mae West
In 1943, a teenager from Nebraska tried to extort $100,000 from MAE WEST under the code name of "Snowy Baker."
• • Though many Mae-mavens are aware of the troubles Mae had during the mid-1930s, when different thugs either robbed her or threatened to throw acid in her face unless she paid a sizable ransom, the 1943 case is much less known (but no less disturbing).
• • It was April 1943 when many newspapers printed a front page scoop about Russell Alex- anderson, 18, Omaha, Nebraska. The foolish farm boy, about to be inducted into the Army, was wearing a uniform all right — — prison stripes — — as he sat glumly in his cell at the county jail and admitted he sent extortion notes to Mae West and Betty Grable because he wanted to hob-nob with movie stars.
• • "Blonde Poses as Actress — — Extortioner Trapped" • •
• • NEW YORK, March 30 (A.A.P.) — — How a blonde impersonating the film actress Betty Grable was engaged to trap a would-be extortioner was described in the Hollywood Federal Court when Russell Alex-anderson, 18, pleaded guilty to a charge of having demanded 130,000 dollars (£40,625) from Miss Grable and the actress Mae West.
• • Attorneys said that Miss Grable received two notes, one demanding 25,000 dollars in uncut diamonds and the other 5,000 dollars in cash under the threat of death. The notes were signed "The Leopard" and "Snowy Baker."
• • "He demanded $100,000 dollars from Mae West" • •
• • Alex-anderson demanded $100,000 dollars from Miss West.
• • The blonde kept an appointment with Alex-anderson, and the police closed in on him. The Judge postponed sentencing until April 5.
• • Source: Article rpt in The Sydney Morning Herald; published on Wednesday, 31 March 1943.
• • On Friday, 15 April 1927 • •
• • Taking advantage of the legal woes of his sister-in-law Mae West and the scene his wife made at the Arcade Hotel, Beverly's Russian husband Sergei Treshatny obtained a divorce on Friday, 15 April 1927. Well, somebody had a nice weekend, eh?
• • The play "Courting Mae West" dramatizes aspects of Beverly's relationship with Sergei, her divorce, and her hot — cold bond with her older sister Mae.
• • On Tuesday, 15 April 2003 • •
• • On Tuesday, 15 April 2003, a paperback edition was published of this popular biography: "Mae West: An Icon in Black and White" by Jill Watts. This is a must-have title for any Mae maven. The scholarship done by Prof. Watts is masterful (even though she never successfully proves her thesis that Mae West had black ancestry via her grandfather).
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • During the 1920s, a common real estate ploy to increase land values and publicize the area was the community sponsored beauty contest.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “[The gay community] are crazy about me ’cause I give ‘em a chance to play."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A book on vaudeville stars mentioned Mae West.
• • Edward Watz wrote: Paramount would likely have been the ideal showcase for Bert Wheeler and Bob Woolsey's talents, since they were the one movie lot specializing in comedy, with the Marx Brothers, W.C. Fields, Mae West, Maurice Chevalier, Burns and Allen, Jack Oakie, Charlie Ruggles, and Mary Boland parading before the camera at that time. ...
• • Source: Page in this book "Wheeler and Woolsey: The Vaudeville Comic Duo and Their Films, 1929—1937" written by Edward Watz; published in April 2001
• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 10th anniversary • •
• • Thank
you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during this
past decade. The other day we entertained 1,430 visitors. We reached a
milestone recently when we completed 3,100 blog posts. Wow!
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started ten years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 3157th 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/
________
Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • diamonds Mae offered to the WW2 defense effort, 1943 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
NYC Mae West
Vintage MAE WEST posters are on display through mid-March 2009 in Nebraska.
• • Carefully restored and in excellent condition, these 1930s motion picture posters were preserved by Bob Sautter, who started his collection as a college student over 40 years ago.
• • He became known as "the movie poster guy," he told a reporter. "I am probably the only person in York, Nebraska who was in the National Enquirer.”
• • Covering local happenings for the York News-Times, journalist Kate Burke writes that during the 1970s, Bob Sautter and a buddy who owned an old movie theater were puttering around, looking at the antiquated projection equipment stored upstairs, when they opened an old trunk. They pulled out a thick wad of frayed, long-folded papers. Bob opened one up, and his artistic eye was arrested by the deeply saturated colors and dramatic composition of an old movie poster.
• • Kate Burke adds: "Writing a check for $100 on an art student’s budget made a lasting impression on Bob, but he was taken by the posters. He took home 20 of them. The posters were in fragile condition. They had already survived a fire at the theater and still bore traces of soot. They were split along fold creases, torn at corners, and laced with holes from having been tacked up, one atop another, in display frames and windows at movie houses. Many posters, Bob later learned, were exposed to more wear as they traveled with their films from one theater, and one town, to another. . . ."
• • Kate Burke notes: "He also discovered that some posters were glued on top of each other. His Mae West movie poster turned out to be more than 10 posters, all featuring Mae West. A restoration expert was able to retrieve, in relatively good condition, about eight of them. . . ."
• • You can see these posters at the Kilgore Memorial Library during this month for a few more days only.
• • Contact the Kilgore Memorial Library at (402) 363-2620 — — or visit them: 520 N Nebraska Avenue, York, NE 68467.• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
________
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • none • •
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Mae West.
MAE WEST always used to say, "You only live once. But if you do it right, once is enough."
• • Pro boxer Maxie Baer was one of those handsome ring kings who enjoyed an intimate relationship with the Empress of Sex, and crammed a lifetime of thrills and trophies into his fifty years on earth.
• • Hailing from Omaha, Nebraska, Maxie Baer was born in the month of February [11 February 1909 — 21 November 1959] and was a boxer whose career peaked during the 1930s as well as the one-time heavyweight champ, an actor, and an entertainer.
• • For exactly one year, Baer was Heavyweight Champion of the World — — from 14 June 1934, when he knocked out the massive, 125-kg (275-pound) Primo Carnera — — until his reign ended when he fought James J. Braddock in a Long Island bout on 13 June 1935.
• • Maxie Baer's motion picture debut was in The Prizefighter and the Lady (1933) opposite Myrna Loy and Walter Huston. In this MGM movie he played Steven "Steve" Morgan, a bartender that the Professor, played by Walter Huston, begins training for the ring. Steve wins a fight, then marries Belle Mercer, played by Loy. He starts seriously training, but it turns out he has a huge ego and an eye for a women. Featured were Baer's upcoming opponent, Primo Carnera, as himself, whom Steve challenges for the championship, and Jack Dempsey, as himself, former heavyweight champion, acting as the referee. The former title-holder made over a dozen motion pictures.
• • Maxie Baer married twice; his first wife was the actress Dorothy Dunbar [married July 8, 1931-divorced October 6, 1933]. Two years later, he tied the knot with Mary Ellen Sullivan [married on 29 June 1935 until his death in 1959]. With Sullivan, he had three children: actor Max Adelbert Baer Jr. (born 1937), James Manny Baer (born 1942), and Maudie Marian Baer (born 1944).
• • During a separation from his first wife, Max had hot affairs with movie queens Mae West, Jean Harlow, and Greta Garbo.
• • Maxie Baer never enjoyed the TV and movie success of his son, Max Baer Jr. (who played Jethro Bodine in the television series The Beverly Hillbillies). At the time of his death on November 21, 1959, Baer was scheduled to appear in some TV commercials — — which he had planned to do in Los Angeles before returning to his home in Sacramento.
• • Since Max Baer, Sr. was unable to defend himself regarding Ron Howard's unflattering portrayal in Cinderella Man [2005], the task of rehabilitating his father's reputation has fallen to his son.• • 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.
