Mae West: The Ruby Ring

"The Ruby Ring" by MAE WEST was registered with the Library of Congress's Copyright Office early in the month of April — — on Friday, 1 April 1921.
• • It was during March 1921 when Mae West had mailed an envelope to the Library of Congress containing her first playscript, "The Ruby Ring." At 20 pages, this manuscript was more of an extended "sketch" than a play. Gloria, the female lead, is a mantrap who is able to pick the gents off with ease.
• • Her parents were living in Woodhaven in 1921 [705 Boyd Avenue] and Mae used this address when she registered the copyright.
• • In March 1921, Mae was 27 years old. She had been cast in Broadway shows already, she had toured the country in variety, she had been engaged by Hammerstein's Victoria for eleven bookings, she had divorced her second husband Guido Deiro (and abandoned her first husband Frank Wallace in 1911), and developed the acts "Mae West & Sister" and "Mae West & Her Boys." By March 1921, Mae had already appeared on the cover of The N.Y. Dramatic Mirror as well as a few song sheets.
• • In 1922 she would play The Palace with Harry Richman and she was slated to be on stage in the "Ginger Box Review," a musical built around her talents.
• • Seems Mae West's career was blooming in full flower by the time her parents moved to Woodhaven, would you not agree? Jack and Matilda West never lived in one place for very long. By the mid-1920s, they were already residing in Floral Park.
• • After writing three unproduced plays — — "The Ruby Ring" [1921], "The Hussy" [1922], and "Chick: An Unpublished Scandal" [1924] — — Mae West gained momentum and staged her play "Sex" on Broadway in April 1926.
• • Dan Lurie: Mae West on Rockaway Avenue on Horseback • •
• • Born in Mae's hometown, Brooklyn, NY, Dan Lurie came into this world on April Fool's Day, i.e., on Sunday, 1 April 1923. A world-class bodybuilder in the 1940s, by 1949 he held the Mr. America title. Dan Lurie considers himself to be a founding father of bodybuilding and a physical fitness pioneer.
• • In 1975, 52-year-old muscleman Dan Lurie honored Mae West along with Robert Redford, Joe Bonomo, Chris Dickerson, Dave Draper, and The "Mighty Atom" Joe Greenstein, another native of Kings County. During that time, Dan Lurie was interviewed about his experiences with the Hollywood screen queen.
• • The article, titled "Dan Would Come Up to See Her Sometimes," was a charming close-up glimpse. Here is a tiny excerpt.
• • [ Q ] You honored Mae West with an award for sexiest woman of the century. Why did you choose her for this award and what was she like?
• • [ A ] Yes, I met Mae West at her home place. After being with her the first three hours, I told her, "Ms. West, I can't give you any more of my time." Of course, she was the one who was helping me. I said, "My wife is downstairs and she is going to be quite upset."
• • She asked if my wife would like to come upstairs and meet her. I said, "No, she's not one of your fans."
• • She told me to go downstairs and bring my wife up. And that's what we did. After a half an hour they were the best of friends. We found out something strange. Mae was born in Brooklyn and her father's name was Jack West — — he was a fighter. In between fights, Jack West would rent a horse and wagon and sell fruit in his neighborhood.
• • As a kid, she would go to Rockaway Avenue to pick up the horse and wagon.
• • My grandfather owned the place where the cart was kept so we got very warm — — I mean, what a connection. We spoke more about her father and what she did when she was living in Brooklyn. She never flew, but always took the train. She was scared of flying. And of all places, she is now buried in Brooklyn. . . .
• • Dan Lurie is 89 years old today! Enjoy the day in good health!
• • Script Approval on Monday, 1 April 1935 • •
• • An enormous international cast was assembled to do justice to Mae West's ambitious screenplay "Now I'm a Lady" centered around the horsey set. Script approval was granted by the Hays Commission on Monday, 1 April 1935 and the motion picture was released by Paramount Pictures the following month as "Goin' to Town."
• • Starting on Wednesday, 1 April 1936 • •
• • On Sunday, 1 March 1936 The New York Times mentioned that Mae West confirmed she planned to go to Columbia Pictures with Emanuel Cohen, even though Paramount Pictures declared it had exercised its option and wanted their screen star to make two more pictures with the studio, the first one to start on Wednesday 1 April 1936 — — and the second to start on 1 July 1936.
• • On Wednesday, 1 April 1942 • •
• • On 1 April 1942, Lou Walters opened The Latin Quarter in Manhattan. During the 1950s, Mae brought the "Mae West Revue" there twice.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: ”I heard the applause… applause just for me, and I knew they really liked me, and I knew then there wasn’t any other place I ever wanted to be.”
• • Mae West said: "Anything worth doing is worth doing slowly."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article about a Newark vaudeville house mentioned Mae West.
• • Kelly Lincoln wrote: Opened in 1895 as the Newark Vaudeville house, it was converted in 1917 by Newark's own architect, Thomas W. Lamb into a movie palace, with a neo-classical interior that became known as "adamesque." In 1932, it was renamed the Paramount.
• • Kelly Lincoln noted: It operated as a movie theater until Tuesday, 1 April 1986, when a 500% increase in insurance forced the 2003 seat theater and the Adams theater to close.
• • Kelly Lincoln wrote: Among the stars that trod the boards were Mae West, according to Variety . . . .
• • Source: Article: "Mae West sold out here" written by Kelly Lincoln for Examiner.com; posted on 28 July 2010
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2256th 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 April 1923 • •
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Mae West: Neir's, Far From Truth

For a few years, MAE WEST lived in Woodhaven with her parents and siblings when she had already begun to write plays with her collaborator Adeline. Despite touring in vaudeville for years and being cast in Broadway productions, the Brooklyn bombshell was finding her stage career slowing down as she approached her thirtieth birthday. Her mother advised her to put a script on paper, material tailored to her own unique talents — — instead of waiting to audition for the right production. Mae took Matilda's advice and began working on "The Ruby Ring."
• • Apparently, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Lisa L. Colangelo is too busy or disinclined to take the time to be accurate about the people she writes about. Figuring that Mae West and Martin Scorsese are two names good enough to glam up her article on a local Woodhaven watering hole, she writes: "Neir's Tavern is where patrons of the Union Course racetrack stopped by for a drink, Mae West honed her famous act, and director Martin Scorsese shot a scene for one of his most successful films."
• • What "famous act" was that, pray tell? Fact is, though one of the former owners of Neir's had hung up a Mae West poster on a door a long time, it is doubtful that Mae ever set foot in such a blue collar saloon. And was the tin-ceilinged corner bar serving alcohol at all during the 1920s, in defiance of Prohibition, when she was in the neighborhood? If beer was quietly on tap during the padlock era at the junction of 78th Street and 88th Avenue, it would perhaps have attracted scruffy male patrons such as John West, Mae's father, and his brawling gym buddies or seedy racetrack pals.
• • If you don't mind inaccuracies — — or if you are seeking beer on tap, whose mechanism runs on an old-fashioned ice-coil system — — by all means check out her piece: "Woodhaven bar Neir's Tavern gets a time-machine fix up" [The New York Daily News, Wednesday, 23 June 2010].
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: Playful

In March 1921, MAE WEST mailed her slim playscript "The Ruby Ring" to the Library of Congress. At 20 pages, this manuscript was more of an extended "sketch" than a play. Gloria, the female lead, is a man-trap who is able to pick the gents off with ease.
• • Her parents were living in Woodhaven, New York during 1921 [705 Boyd Avenue] and Mae used this Queens/ Long Island address when she registered the copyright.
• • In 1922, 29-year-old Mae added a full-length play — — "The Hussy" — — to these Washington, DC archives. Nona, the female lead, likes generous fellows who demonstrate their devotion to a gal by dropping jewelry on her.
• • Nona says: "Most men value you by what they spend on you."
• • Joking that she was never a gold-digger, Mae West liked to say: "I take diamonds. We may be off the gold standard someday."
• • But speaking of little gems, here's a true story from Mae West's neighbor Vinny, who was born in 1925 and who still lives in Woodhaven on 89th Street — — around the corner from where she lived. For years Vinny has been trying to take a picture inside Neer's, a saloon where Mae West used to perform, and also a photo of Mae's former residence which is a block away from his own 19th century dwelling.
• • "Mae always spoils my photo," he laughed. "Either she blanks the entire roll on me or she pulls another prank."
• • Like what?
• • "Well, last winter after a snowfall, Mae's house looked so picturesque with the trees covered in white. Around noon it was sunny and absolutely clear when I took my photo. But when the film was developed, there was interference in front of the house as if a storm were raging," explained Vinny. And on the left, there was a strange orb of light in every frame. It seems like she's watching and resisting me."
• • "I like two kinds of men," Mae used to say, "domestic and foreign." However, she said nothing about amateur photographers.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
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Mae West.

Mae West: Ruby Ring

In March 1921, Mae West mailed to the Library of Congress her playscript: "The Ruby Ring." At 20 pages, this manuscript was more of an extended "sketch" than a play. Gloria, the female lead, is a mantrap who is able to pick the gents off with ease. Her parents were living in Woodhaven in 1921 [705 Boyd Avenue] and Mae used this address when she registered the copyright.

• • In 1922, 29-year-old Mae added a full-length play — — "The Hussy" — — to these Washington, DC archives. Nona, the female lead, likes generous fellows who demonstrate their devotion to a gal by dropping jewelry on her.
• • Nona: "Most men value you by what they spend on you."
• • Joking that she was never a gold-digger, Mae liked to say: "I take diamonds. We may be off the gold standard someday."
• • Coming up is Valentine's Day. Rubies, anyone? [Mmmm, I wish, I wish!]
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Mae West
• • Photo • Mae West owned this ring
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Mae West.