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"MAE WEST Ties with St. Nick on Requests" ran the headline in the Chicago Tribune. One reader whose printing shop burnt down appealed to Mae's generosity and ask for a donation. A fellow with a hair fetish requested a sample to add to his collection of hair from movie stars. A corset manufacturer sent Mae a new model, pleading for her endorsement. One guy requested her presence at a fundraiser. Another sent her a song, saying he would not charge a penny if she sang it. Let's turn to the paper itself now.
• • Money and a Lock of Hair Figure in Daily Barrage of Demands • •
• • The Chicago Tribune wrote: When it comes to requests for gifts, Santa Claus, at the height of his season, has nothing on Mae West, who gets a great number of letters every day. A. sampling of one day's mail brought the following gems.
• • The Chicago Tribune wrote: From Omaha, one hopeful wrote: "I need $18 to buy a sweepstakes ticket. I'll send you $1,000 if I win."
• • A high school paper in Danville, Illinois was suffering from a circulation slump and asked Mae for a signed article to interest its readers. . . .
• • . . . But one chap, down in Phoenix, Arizona, had the right idea. He wrote: "All I want is five minutes of your spare time."
• • Source: article in The Chicago Sunday Tribune; published on Sunday, 5 May 1935.
• • On Monday, 7 May 1934 • •
• • On Monday, 7 May 1934 Mae West recorded "Troubled Waters." This collaboration between New York City lyricist Sam Coslow and composer Arthur Johnson was created expressly for the motion picture "Belle of the Nineties." Backed by Duke Ellington and his Orchestra, Mae archived her performance in the recording studio.
• • On Tuesday, 7 May 1935 • •
• • An article "Actor Says He Wed Mae West" was published overseas on Tuesday, 7 May 1935 in The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser.
• • On Saturday, 7 May 1938 • •
• • Composer W.C. Handy spoke to the Chicago Defender and this article was printed: “'Papa' Handy 'Goes Up to See' Mae West” on page 19 of the issue dated for Saturday, 7 May 1938.
• • On Friday, 7 May 1943 • •
• • Matrimony and mayhaps! Mae West moved on from her marital missteps with vaudevillian Frank Wallace in 1911. However, the final divorce decree took much longer. The marriage was legally dissolved on Friday, 7 May 1943.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Gilbert Roland is one of the busiest actors on the Coast. He played opposite Clara Bow in "Call Her Savage" and is now completing a leading role in "She Done Him Wrong," starring Mae West.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I ought to know If I ever married or not, oughtn't I?"
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Joan Collins wrote a memoir and mentioned Mae West.
• • Joan wrote: Then Mae West turns to ask her bodyguard Paul Novak, "Where is Timothy? Bring him round here." Joan explains to her readers that Mae has an odd accent, half grande dame and half die-hard Brooklynite. Paul whispers to a go-fer, who fetches Timothy Dalton and brings him to the ladies. He seems shy or embarrassed when his leading lady grabs his arm to introduce him to Ross Hunter.
• • Smiling happily, Mae West proudly announces, "This is Timothy Dalton, my new discovery. He is as good an actor as Sir Larry Olivier, and maybe even better. When he plays with me in 'Sextette,' he will become one of the most known actors in the world." . . .
• • Source: Excerpt from the autobiography of Joan Collins, "Second Act" [London: MacMillan Publishers Ltd., 1996]
• • 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 3,497 visitors. And 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 3173rd 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 1935 • •
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In 1932, during the filming of "She Done Him Wrong," MAE WEST worked with Billy B. Van, who was seen as the pianist in Gus Jordan's Bowery saloon. 
• • Born in Pottstown, Pennsylvania on 3 August 1878 as William Webster Vandergrift, Billy B. Van had a long career in variety as an actor as well as a comedian, dancer, singer, and songwriter. For over three decades he was seen in the legit and numerous vaudeville houses. He did an act at one time with the Beaumont Sisters, Rose and Nellie (and was married to Nellie). He also toured as half of Van and Corbett (with the former heavyweight champion James J. Corbett). After retiring from the stage in the 1920s, he made two attempts to conquer the silver screen. In 1922 he was seen as Sobini in the silent film "The Beauty Shop." After his modest role in Mae's film, he turned to corporate life. He became the President of the New York City based Pine Tree Products Company, manufacturers of cleaning solutions.
• • Billy B. Van died in Newport, New Hampshire in the month of November — — on 16 November 1950. He was 72 years old.
• • In November, Let's Remember W.C. Handy [1873 — 1958] • •
• • Mae West introduced the songs of many black composers to a new audience. For instance, she adored the music of W.C. Handy, and chose to sing his blues numbers in her Broadway hit "Sex" [1926 — 1927] as well as in the motion picture "Belle of the Nineties" [1934].
• • Born in Alabama in the month of November, William Christopher Handy [16 November 1873 — 28 March 1958] was a blues composer, musician, and music publisher. "The Memphis Blues" is a song described by its composer, W.C. Handy, as a "Southern Rag." It was self-published by Handy in September, 1912 and has been recorded by many artists over the years. He also wrote "The Saint Louis Blues" and published it in September 1914.
• • Mae West Favorites on November 16th • •
• • "I'm No Angel" [1933, 1 hour, 45 mins.] starring Mae West will be broadcast on TCM on Wednesday, 16 November 2011 at 12:45 A.M.
• • "She Done Him Wrong" [1933, 1 hour, 15 mins.] starring Mae West will be broadcast on TCM on Wednesday, 16 November 2011 at 11:30 P.M. Note: This film will be aired as a "closed captioned" feature for the hearing impaired.
• • Mae West Movie Trivia • •
• • Question: What song did Mae West and Timothy Dalton perform in 1978's "Sextette"?
• • Answer: "Love Will Keep Us Together" was their duet.
• • On 16 November 1915 • •
• • It was on 16 November 1915 that a new era for Coca-Cola began when the soft drink manufacturer moved away from servicing soda fountain machines and produced their first glass bottle. Eventually, Coca-Cola would patent a brand-new shape known as the “Mae West” or “hobbleskirt” bottle for its resemblance to the famously curvy Hollywood star.
• • On 16 November 2003 • •
• • "One of her assignments was a session with the octogenarian sex goddess, Mae West," writes Peter Conrad in his review of the book "Revelations" by Diane Arbus. His review appeared in the book journal Dawn on 16 November 2003.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West wrote this line for the character Lady Lou in 1932: "Men's all alike — — married or single — — I happen to be smart enough to play it their way." [Movie dialogue from "She Done Him Wrong"]
• • Mae West said: "I'm no angel — — but I've spread my wings a bit."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article on Broadway stars and a famed NYC illustrator mentioned Mae West.
• • Texas reporter Melissa Fletcher wrote: Mae West, her skirt raised a few tantalizing inches above her ankle, throws a flirtatious glance at Orson Welles. Mildly amused, Jack Benny folds his arms and smirks. In a nearby corner, Zero Mostel sits in all his majestic corpulence, glowering. A beaming Judy Garland, her cap at a rakish slant, does a few quick jazz steps, then juts out a hip.
• • No, we're not in some magical realm of Hollywood past, where famous ghosts rise up and mingle with the living. We're in an art gallery, looking at flat, black and white drawings hanging on wood-paneled walls. But even though Jack Benny and pals are confined to the two-dimensional prison of paper, they seem to move and breathe as if alive, to gesture with a vitality and flair all their own. It's really no mystery at all. They're Hirschfelds.
• • Al Hirschfeld has been creating caricatures of stage and screen stars for more than 60 years now. He has become as much of an institution as the glitzy, glamorous Great White Way itself, as synonymous with Broadway as klieg lights and opening nights. In a world of fly-by-night fame and overnight flops, he is a constant.
• • It all began back in 1923, when the young Hirschfeld sold his first caricature to the now-defunct World magazine . ...
• • Source: Article: "Drawing the Line on the Great White Way" written by Melissa Fletcher for the San Antonio Light; published on 16 November 1986
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2116th 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 Cary Grant, 1933 • •
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Mae West.
Written by "Jane Mast" and starring MAE WEST as Margy LaMont, "Sex" opened in April — — on 26 April 1926. The Broadway debut occurred a few blocks north of Columbus Circle at Daly’s 63rd Street Theatre, the only playhouse available at the time. Today is the 85th anniversary of Mae's achievement. Writing and staging "Sex" would change her life.
• • Two days later (on 28 April 1926) Variety took an early stand against the play: “Mae West … has broken the fetters and does as she pleases here. After three hours of this play’s nasty, infantile, amateurish, and vicious dialog, after watching its various actors do their stuff badly, one really has a feeling of gratefulness for any repression that may have toned down her vaudeville songs in the past. If this show could do one week of good business it would depart with a handsome profit, it’s that cheaply put on.”
• • Phooey on you, Variety. Unstoppable "Sex" not only sold out its premiere but it also offered 385 performances with general admission tickets sold for $3.50. According to Mae West, orchestra seats were $10.
• • For "Sex," Mae chose music she personally liked, songs not yet familiar to a white audience of theatre-going New Yorkers. One number she selected was by "Papa" Charlie Jackson [c.1885 — 1938], an African-American blues man and songster born in New Orleans. Jackson had appeared in minstrel shows with a hybrid instrument: a cross between a guitar banjo and a ukulele. Though numerous details of his life as a performer remain unclear, it is known that his recording career began in 1924 when the Paramount label signed him. When he recorded "Papa's Lawdy Lawdy Blues" and "Airy Man Blues," these hits registered as the first commercially successful and self-accompanied recordings by a male singer of the blues. The track "Salty Dog Blues" turned out to be his most famous song. Shortly after, Jackson would cut records with Hattie McDaniel, Ma Rainey, and Ida Cox — — a vocalist billed as the "sepia Mae West." After gaining attention in the 1920s and 1930s, it seems that Jackson died in Chicago, Illinois (perhaps) in 1938 at age 53. • • "Shake That Thing" [1925] • •
• • In 1925, with lyricist C. Johnson, Charlie Jackson composed "Shake That Thing," a 3 minute song published by Shapiro, Bernstein & Co., Inc., 488 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10022. Accompanied by the group Smithsonian Blues, Papa Charlie Jackson recorded this himself — — a sultry blues number that Mae heard and introduced to her Broadway audience in her 1926 show, while backed by a jazz band. She also selected the cool blues song "My Sweet Man" (and other pieces by talented black composers such as W.C. Handy) to feature in "Sex." The police officials who came to spy and take notes were especially interested in her bare midriff as she shimmied. The exotic movements of Mae's bellybutton were preserved in the trial transcripts in 1927.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• • The police raid in February 1927 is dramatized in Act I of the stage play COURTING MAE WEST. This is one panel from the COURTING MAE WEST comic book written and designed by playwright LindaAnn Loschiavo and delightfully illustrated and hand-colored by artist Michael DiMotta. Do not copy this panel nor reuse it without permission. Be nice. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Here's Larry Harnisch reflecting on Los Angeles history and a friend of Mae West's. Larry Harnisch writes: April 25, 1961: You may remember Cannonball Green as the promising light-heavyweight of a quarter-century ago who once put Maxie Rosenbloom on the floor four times up in Ventura but only got a draw. Cannonball's career came to an abrupt end and his life almost followed suit one night in 1936 in a Sunset Boulevard phone booth when Chalky Wright's brother, Lee, who was a chauffeur for Mae West at the time, shot him as he was making a phone call. Now he thinks he's got a new career — — ...
• • Source: Flashback: "Jim Murray, April 25, 1961" by Larry Harnisch for The Los Angeles Times; reposted on 25 April 2011
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 1912th 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 • • & Barry O'Neill, "Sex" on 9 February 1927 • •
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Mae West.
MAE WEST claimed to have introduced the shimmy in 1918 — — when she sang "Everybody Shimmies Now" — — and when she posed for the song sheet. Later she added the shimmy to her act in the Hammerstein production of "Sometime" in 1919. For all that hype, the most notable performer of the shimmy was Gilda Gay. Unfortunately, Gilda described it as "a native dance," giving Mae the chance to scoff to reporters, "Native to where? She's Polish!"
• • Gilda Gray [24 October 1901 — 22 December 1959] was a Polish born American actress and dancer who became famous in the US for popularizing a dance called the "shimmy," which became fashionable in 1920s films and theater productions.
• • Although Shim-Me-Sha-Wabble is widely considered the origin of the shimmy, legend has it that the shimmy was first performed to "The Saint Louis Blues" by W. C. Handy, and by Gilda Gray at the Winter Garden Theater in New York City.
• • Not to be outdone, Mae included the shimmy in "Sex" and she also used the same music by W.C. Handy in this number. We are relishing these unsaintly memories on 24 October, Gilda's birthday.
• • 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.
