Mae West: No Pills

Despite all you think you know about MAE WEST, there’s always something new. Did you know that Mae West refused to take pills, for instance?  
• • This intimate interview with Mae West was first seen in 2009. This is Part 26 of 29 parts.
• • From the Archive: A Candid (and Entertaining) Interview with Mae West • •  
• • “Pills? I never take them,” said Mae West. • •   
• • Charlotte Chandler wrote:  Then Mae West said:  “The next time you come, I’m gonna give you some chocolate. Have you ever eaten Ragtime chocolate? Hardly anyone does any more. I know the last place in America that still makes it, and it’s not far from here.”
• • Charlotte Chandler wrote:  Mae West indulged in one more and was reaching for a fourth when Paul firmly took the box away from her. She looked petulant, but not displeased. Clearly, she was accustomed to, and enjoyed, having him watch over her. “I like my men to be men,” she said after Paul had left the room.

• • Charlotte Chandler wrote: “Pills, I never take them,” said Mae West. “I don’t even take vitamin pills because who knows what’s in them?”
• • Mae West said:  “I'd rather stand than wrinkle my dress on a set.”  • •  . . .  
• • This long and fascinating interview will be continued tomorrow.
• • Source: AnOther Magazine; published  Autumn—Winter 2009 issue; rpt on Wednesday, 27 May 2020.  
• • On Sunday, 18 August 1935 • •
• • The Gleaner carried a story on Sunday, 18 August 1935 saying that Frank Wallace and Trixie LeMae were visiting her mother, Lena Carey.
• • "Yesterday, incidentally, was Miss West's birthday," revealed her former husband Frank Wallace to the news media, "and — — she was 42."
• • "The nerve of a brass monkey," was Mae West's response. 
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Alexander Hall directed "Goin' to Town" [1935], starring Mae West and Bert Roach was seen as one of the cowboys.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “Money is a great love potion for an affair.“ 
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A Queens news site mentioned Mae West.  
• • Look back at Woodhaven’s beginnings on its 185th birthday: Our Neighborhood, The Way it Was • •
• • Woodhaven Cultural and Historical Society wrote: Woodhaven celebrated its centennial in 1935, capped off with a giant parade down Jamaica Avenue with residents carrying a monstrously sized cake. Almost 5,000 residents and honored guests gathered in and around the Willard Theater to celebrate Woodhaven’s 100th birthday.
• • The celebration was capped off by a reading of a telegram from Mae West, who owned a house nearby on 88th Street, congratulating Woodhaven on its milestone.
• • With 15 years to go, residents of Woodhaven (and Ozone Park) have some time to plan for a 200th birthday party, but it will be hard to top Mae West for a celebrity endorsement. ...
• • Source: Queens (dot)com ;  published on Saturday, 1 August 2020
• • 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 16th anniversary • • 
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past fifteen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 4,500 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fifteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,542nd 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 • • 1934 drawing of Mae West as Ruby Carter • •
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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: Perpetuation of Piffle

Recently, The New York Daily News printed this bit of foolishness about MAE WEST:
• • Lisa L. Colangelo writes: "And iconic burlesque performer Mae West honed her act at several Woodhaven watering holes, including Neirs Tavern, which dates back to 1829. ..."
• • Source: Article: "Leonora Lavan steps down as head of Woodhaven Cultural and Historical Society — — Spearheaded preservation efforts for nearly 20 years" written by Lisa L. Colangelo, Staff Writer, New York Daily News; published on Thursday, 5 January 2012; email your comments to: lcolangelo (at) nydailynews (dot) com or via postal mail to The N.Y. Daily News, 4 New York Plaza, New York, NY 10004; Tel.: (212) 210-2100.
• • And when is the last time you heard Mae West referred to an "iconic burlesque performer," a title more suited to exotic dancer Dita Von Teese than a marquee name who earned millions for Paramount Pictures?
• • Photo: Mae West on Broadway in 1918, years before the West family moved from bustling theatre-loving Brooklyn to a single-family home in leafy, sleepy, suburban Woodhaven
• • Well-known before Woodhaven • •
• • A veteran of the stage and screen, actress and writer Mae West was born on 17 August 1893 in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn, New York. She spent her childhood in this borough, where her parents helped launch her vaudeville career by entering the act "Baby May, Song and Dance" into many amateur competitions in Bushwick, Brownsville, Williamsburg, and Greenpoint.
• • By the time she moved to Woodhaven with her parents, her sister, and her brother, Mae was within kissing distance of her thirtieth [30th] birthday — — and beginning to write the plays she planned to bring to Broadway.
• • Illustration: Mae was giving autographs to her fans back in June 1910 when she was a teenage actress touring in stock in Tioga, Pennsylvania.
• • And by the time Mae West was registering the copyright on her manuscripts with the Library of Congress from the family's Woodhaven address, the seasoned entertainer had already been booked for eleven week-long engagements at Hammerstein's Victoria [1912 — 1913]; she had already starred at The Palace [1922] on The Gay White Way; she had already been cast in several Broadway musicals and revues; she had already toured in variety from coast to coast; and she had already married two husbands, Frank Wallace [1911] and Guido Deiro [1914]. She had also been a witness at her younger sister's wedding, which took place on 29 January 1917 in Brooklyn City Hall, not far from the West family's Brooklyn residence.
• • A proud Brooklynite, Mae West did not move to Queens (a.k.a. Long Island) until 20 years after her career was well in progress.
• • Never at Neir's • •
• • Furthermore, Mae West never set foot in Neir’s Tavern [87-48 78th Street, Woodhaven, NY] — — an all-male bastion in those days (i.e., the Prohibition Era and earlier) — — though she often did dine at The Triangle Inn, a family restaurant with a ladies' entrance where traditional German dishes were served and, yes, at other neighborhood restaurants.
• • You can learn a great deal about her life by doing your own primary research or by spending time with excellent Mae West biographies written by Jill Watts (Mae West: An Icon in Black and White) and Emily Wortis Leider (Becoming Mae West).
• • Come back, fact-checkers! • •
• • No one at The New York Daily News has read those two books, obviously, nor does this venerable news outlet seem to employ a fact-checker. That's too bad — — but why should you have to suffer because a news outlet prints misinformation that it does not bother to verify?
• • People tend to believe what they read (especially in a well established NYC daily), therefore, the Mae West Blog attempts to correct misinformation, "bar lore," and the perpetuation of pure piffle.
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2171st 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 • • on Broadway in 1918 • •
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Mae West: Queens Gazette ERRORS

MAE WEST was born on 17 August 1893 in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn, New York. She spent her childhood in this borough, where her parents helped launch her vaudeville career by entering the act "Baby May, Song and Dance" into many amateur competitions in Bushwick, Brownsville, Williamsburg, and Greenpoint.
• • By the time she moved to Woodhaven with her parents, her sister, and her brother, Mae was within kissing distance of her thirtieth birthday.
• • And by the time Mae West was registering the copyright on her manuscripts with the Library of Congress from the family's Woodhaven address, the seasoned entertainer had already been booked for eleven week-long engagements at Hammerstein's Victoria [1912 — 1913]; she had already starred at The Palace [1922] on The Gay White Way; she had already been cast in several Broadway musicals and revues; she had already toured in variety from coast to coast; and she had already married two husbands, Frank Wallace [1911] and Guido Deiro [1914]. She had also been a witness at her younger sister's wedding, which took place on 29 January 1917 in Brooklyn City Hall, not far from the West family's Brooklyn residence.
• • A proud Brooklynite, Mae West did not move to Queens until 20 years after her career was well in progress.
• • Furthermore, Mae West never set foot in Neir’s Tavern [87-48 78th Street, Woodhaven, NY] — — an all-male bastion in those days — — though she often dined at The Triangle Inn, where German dishes were served, and other neighborhood restaurants.
• • You can learn a great deal about her life by doing your own primary research or by spending time with excellent Mae West biographies written by Jill Watts and Emily Wortis Leider.
• • No one at the Queens Gazette has read those two books, obviously, nor does this humble local news sheet employ a fact-checker. That's too bad — — but why should you have to suffer because a news outlet prints misinformation?
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • • • Pesky Queens Gazette ERRORS • • • •
• • Recently, the Queens Gazette printed this bit of foolishness: As the 20th century progressed, local celebrities, including stars of the stage and screen, frequented [Neir's] tavern. It was in its rear ballroom that film legend Mae West, born only a few blocks from Neir’s, first performed. ...
• • It seems that the current bar owners will say anything to encourage patrons to drink at their unprepossessing corner saloon. If they are going to lie to lazy Queens-based reporters about Mae West, then are we to assume they will be truthful when the NYC Health Inspector drops in, checking on vermin or a persistent infestation? Hmmm. What's your guess?
— — Source for the QG ERRORS quoted above: — —
• • Article: "181-Year-Old Tavern Set To Re-Open: Neir’s Tavern, 87-48 78th St., Woodhaven, is among the chosen few that remain"
• • Written by: Jason D. Antos for the Queens Gazette
• • Published by: The Western Queens Gazette — — 42—16 34th Avenue, Astoria, NY 11101 — — T. (718) 361-6161
• • Queens Gazette Editor: Linda Wilson — — Email: QGazette@aol.com
• • Published on: 23 June 2010
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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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: Steel Swan

Most often linked to Brooklyn, MAE WEST moved to Queens (an area still known as "Long Island" then) sometime after 1917 — — when her family secured a modest dwelling in suburban blue-collar Woodhaven, New York. In 1920, when the census-takers interviewed the household, John West, 53, was engaged as a masseuse, teenage John was clerking at a newspaper, 21-year-old Beverly (though married to Sergei since 1917) was still living with her parents and jobless, and 26-year-old Mae was touring steadily in vaudeville.
• • Blackwell's Island Bridge • •
• • The 59th Street Bridge had opened to the public on 30 March 1909, having cost about $18 million and dozens of lives. A ceremonial grand opening was held in June 1909. It was then known as the Blackwell's Island Bridge. The double cantilevered span, also called the Queensboro Bridge, crosses the East River, connecting Long Island City with Manhattan, passing over the once bustling Women's Workhouse on this curious spit of land that had also housed a hospital and a lunatic asylum.
• • Thanks to this graceful steel swan, Long Island acreage that had been farmland, cemeteries, and swamps became growing neighborhoods accessible by the streetcar, trolley, bicycle, railways, and the automobile.
• • As a working actress, Mae West crossed this bridge dozens of times as she returned to the parental abode after a performance. Encouraged by her mother, during March 1921 Mae 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 family was still living there in 1922 when 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.
• • But a different path in late January 1927 would lead to events that took the ambitious trouper across the span with other inmates to the Women's Workhouse.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • Roosevelt Island — — At one point in time, New York City exported most of its problems to Roosevelt Island, now a cozy off-shore town, explains Amanda Cormier. The small strip of land in the East River — — known first as Blackwell’s Island, then Welfare Island in 1921, and Roosevelt Island in 1973 — — housed some of the city’s most famous “undesirables” in its penitentiary: Boss Tweed, Mae West, and Billie Holiday, who served a four-month term for prostitution charges.
• • “The river became the place where they put all sorts of public institutions,” says Edwin Burrows, professor of history at Brooklyn College, holder of a doctorate from Columbia, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898.” He adds, “It wasn’t until the early 1940s and 1950s that it became prime real estate.” ....
— — Excerpt: — —
• • Article: "Reconstructing History — — professors speak on New York’s forgotten buildings and blocks
• • BY: Amanda Cormier | Columnist
• • Published by The Eye | The Columbia Daily Spectator — — eye.columbiaspectator.com
• • Published on: 28 January 2010
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: Woodhaven

Each time there is a MAE WEST walking tour in The Big Apple, astonished callers (who phone to RSVP) tell the tour organizer(s): "I didn't know Mae West lived in New York!" This summer an upcoming tour in Manhattan mid-August will wind down Chez Mae on the WESTside (and surely you knew this was coming).
• • An independent city until its consolidation with New York in 1898, Brooklyn is where baby Mae was born in August 1893. She also hung her hat in Manhattan as well as in an area now called Queens — — but then known as Long Island.
• • Woodhaven, Queens, NY • •
• • The West family moved around a lot. For a few years, they called Woodhaven home; during this period Mae began writing plays and registering her copyright with the Library of Congress from her mother and father's Boyd Avenue address.
• • Leonora Lavan knows all there is to know about Woodhaven, where she was born and bred. She is the president of the Woodhaven Cultural and Historical Society [WCHS], which meets regularly, plans events, hires speakers, reprints important historical research and monographs, maintains an archive, and does its share for civic pride.
• • To learn more about the group, and discover the history of one of Mae West's old stomping grounds, read this article: "Marking History A Site At A Time — — Woodhaven Society Continues To Celebrate Area's Past" by Bill Mitchell.
• • Published by The Times News Weekly — — www.timesnewsweekly.com — — Mr. Mitchell's article was a feature story earlier in May 2009.
• • 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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