Mae West: Steve Rossi Dies

MAE WEST invited a handsome young Italian American to perform with her — — and she renamed him Steve Rossi.
• • Las Vegas Sun reporter John Katsilometes was the first to mark the passing of the legendary entertainer: Steve Rossi died just before 2 p.m. today (Sunday) at a Las Vegas hospice at age 82. He had suffered from cancer in his lungs, esophagus and liver. Family and friends, including his wife of 11 years, Karma, surrounded him at the time of his passing. Tentative plans are for a memorial service at Palm Eastern Mortuary on Friday.
• • Source: Las Vegas Sun; published on Sunday, 22 June 2014.
• • Associated Press added this detail: LAS VEGAS (AP) — Steve Rossi, one half of the prolific comedy duo Allen and Rossi, which became a favorite of "The Ed Sullivan Show" and other TV variety shows, has died at age 82.
• • Associated Press continued:  His friend of 40 years, Michael Flores told The Associated Press on Sunday that he visited the pal who introduced him to the likes of Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin in hospice care Friday, and he was weak from cancer of the esophagus that had spread but wasn't in any pain.
• • The information below is based upon our extensive interview about ten years ago with Mr. Rossi.  This material was published and our text and the photo (given to us by Mr. Rossi) are © copyrighted. Be courteous and do not steal it; kindly ask for permission to reprint it first.
• • Steve Rossi [25 May 1932 — 22 June 2014] • •
• • Joseph Charles Tafarella was born on 25 May 1932 in New York, NY.
• • He's been on center stage since he was nine. Born on Third Avenue and East 111th Street in Manhattan's East Harlem section, he was most influenced by his father's success in the entertainment business. "We owned a book printed in 1929 that listed Santi Tafarella as the world's greatest cornet player," he proudly recalls. "Papa was also an experienced musical arranger and notator." During the Depression, NBC Radio in California hired Santi Tafarella, who immediately moved his family to North Hollywood and got his son enrolled in the prestigious Robert Mitchell Boy Choir School. Touring with them, the youngster learned to serenade God in seven languages including Latin, Greek, and Hebrew.
• • While his father toiled away, making beautiful music with NBC, Catherine Bianco Tafarella was busy driving her son to auditions. At 12 years old, he harmonized with Hollywood's version of a priest — — Bing Crosby — — in Going My Way (1944); at 14, he sang in The Jolson Story (1946). This was an auspicious beginning: both pictures scored at the Academy Awards and more roles in movie musicals followed.
• • Much as he loved being onscreen, he had a yearning for higher learning. In 1949, Santi Tafarella's son entered Loyola University on a scholarship, majoring in communication arts and theater. Couple of years later, he was playing the lead in The Vagabond King for the Civic Light Opera Company in Los Angeles when he caught the eye of a Hollywood icon.
• • Mae West, clad in furs and jewels, came up to see him backstage with her manager Jerry Franks. "I told her I was a student at a Catholic university. Mae West said, 'I don't give a damn. You're a terrific singer and you've got a great body and a great face. I want you to be the leading man in my show, and I'll sign you up with my agency, William Morris.'" The 60-year-old actress ushered him into her new Las Vegas extravaganza that would feature modern gladiators: Mr. Universe, Mr. America, Mr. World, and other musclemen. "Though several of these bodybuilders were gay," he chuckles, "Mae West slept with them all!"
• • Continue reading about Mae West and Steve Rossi in tomorrow's blog.
• • Source:   © 2014 The Mae West Blog
• • On Friday, 25 June 1926 • •
• • It was on Friday, 25 June 1926 that Mae West appeared with Al Jolson — — as well as Houdini and other entertainers (such as George M. Cohan, Fanny Brice, the Marx Brothers, Ann Pennington, Hazel Dawn, Eddie Foy, etc.) — — at the Polo Grounds on West 155th Street in Manhattan's Washington Heights area. The fundraiser was for the benefit of the United Jewish Campaign.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Meanwhile under the Shubert aegis, Mae West continues to tour in "Come On Up."
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Where do I write my screenplays? Usually in bed. Like Mark Twain. He wrote good stuff, too. Besides, it keeps me in the mood."  
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article in a California newspaper mentioned Mae West.
• • "Mae West Accused of Filching Air Skit" (Associated Press Leased Wire)
• • LOS ANGELES, June 21 — The Garden of Eden radio skit, back In December, 1937, which got Mae West ruled off the air had an aftermath in federal court today. Judge Harry Hollzer had under advisement a $10,000 copyright infringement suit brought by Joan Storm Dezendorf against Miss West, the National Broadcasting Co., and others.
• • Miss Dezendorf, Hollywood writer, charges part of the skit was taken from her copyrighted play "Love and Applesauce."
• • Miss West is in New York, but her lawyers contended the actress had never heard of the play. "
• • Source: Associated Press article rpt in The Bakersfield Californian; published on Wednesday, 21 June 1939  
• • By the Numbers • • 
• • The Mae West Blog was started nine years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2943rd 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 • • in 1953 • •
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Mae West: Self-Inflating

On June 24th the name MAE WEST was used in a most unusual way. Can you picture this?
• • Illinois-based columnist Al Schrader wrote:  It seems to us some enterprising mechanical engineer could design a fully automatic self-inflating miniature Mae West for golf balls.   ...
• • Source: Article in the Daily Illini; published on Saturday, 24 June 1950.
• • On Sunday, 24 June 1928 • •

• • The Brooklyn Eagle, Mae's hometown paper, sent reporter George Halasz to interview the star about her new Broadway play "Diamond Lil." In the newspaper's weekend edition dated for Sunday, 24 June 1928, George Halasz wrote:  "When the play is put in rehearsal she has but a bare outline of the plot and dialogue.  As the rehearsals progress, she throws in a line here, a speech there. ..."
• • This is, of course, nonsense.  Mae's plays had a large cast and she was present at the auditions. For instance, "Diamond Lil" had almost three dozen in the cast. Mae knew how many actors she would need, and what roles they would play, well before hiring an adequate rehearsal space. A lot of dramatists refine and revise during rehearsal, sometimes to suit an actor, but a theatre professional like Mae West did not walk into a rehearsal with scraps of dialogue written on napkins.  No way.
• • On Thursday, 24 June 1937 • •
• • The Times (San Mateo, California) printed this syndicate article on Thursday, 24 June 1937. 
• • "Mae West Must Answer Suit" • •
• • LOS ANGELES, June 24 —(UP) — Mae West, the film siren, must answer the suit of Frank Wallace, who contends he is her husband.  . . .
• • On Wednesday, 24 June 1970 • •
• • "Myra Breckinridge"  at the Criterion Theatre (1514 Broadway) on Tuesday, 23 June 1970. The general release was on June 24th.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Jennifer Jones is stealing Mae West's switchy walk.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I'd like to be on television. It would give me a chance to come up and see you some time."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A New Mexico newspaper mentioned Mae West.
• • "Top-Rated Actors Star in Campus Film Offerings" • •
• • Mae West, W. C. Fields, Spencer Tracy, Katherine Hepburn, Bing Crosby, the Marx Brothers and Edgar Bergen are among the stars who will be appearing in eight feature-length films in the summer series of the New Mexico State University Campus Film Society. The "summer of comedy" will also include the final six chapters of Captain Cody and "Radar Men of the Moon."   . . .
• • Source: Article in Las Cruces Sun-News; published on Sunday, 22 June 1969
• • By the Numbers • • 
• • The Mae West Blog was started nine years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2942nd 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 • • as Diamond Lil in 1928 • •
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Mae West: A 42-Page Bio

A new slim paperback about MAE WEST was published.
• • No, we have not read this 42-page fan book, so this is merely "a courtesy mention" — — and not a recommendation. Any publisher who describes a new title with cliches [i.e., up to speed, how much of the forest is lost for the trees, etc.] will never get our vote. Our suspicion is that it's a cut-and-paste job with no new research.  But if you bought this slender pocket-book, please let us know your opinion of it.
• • "American Legends: The Life of Mae West" was published by Charles River Editors. Publication date was on Thursday, 21 November 2013.
• • The British publisher gave this statement about their series: A lot of ink has been spilled covering the lives of history’s most influential figures, but how much of the forest is lost for the trees? In Charles River Editors’ American Legends series, readers can get caught up to speed on the lives of America’s most important men and women in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known.
• • On Friday, 23 June 1922 in Variety • •

• • Mae West and Harry Richman performed together in Manhattan during June 1922, billing their act "Bits of Musical Comedy — — Mae West assisted by Harry Richman," and most of the material was written by The Firefly of Broadway herself.
• • In their edition dated for Friday, 23 June 1922, Variety's review appeared, praising the partnership because it offered ideal opposites. Variety's man on the aisle reported: "Mae West, once known to vaudeville fans as a girl who shook a wicked shoulder, will prove a revelation to her former acquaintances in her new act."
• • Variety, though often reluctant to pay Mae a compliment, decided to be enthusiastic for once: "She rises to heights undreamed of for her and reveals unsuspected depths as a delineator of character songs, a dramatic reader of ability, and a girl with a flair for farce that will some day land her on the legitimate Olympus."
• • On Tuesday, 23 June 1970 • •
• • "Myra Breckinridge" had its red-carpet, star-studded premiere in New York at the Criterion Theatre (1514 Broadway) on Tuesday, 23 June 1970. The movie went into general release in the USA one day later.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • New York State refuses to allow Mae West's picture "It Ain't No Sin" to be shown.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "If a picture of mine didn't get an X rating, I'd be insulted." 
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A film review in Australia discussed Mae West.
• • "Entertainments at Cremorne Theatre" • •          
• • In her new Paramount film, "Now I'm a Lady," which is screening for to-night at the Cremorne Theatre, Mae West undergoes the strange and eventful transition, from a cattle ranch girl to a sweetheart of society, without losing her poise or her wise-cracking ability.
Mae West's adventures in her new film, which presents her in modern clothes and up-to-date settings, start back in the cattle country when she inherits the money of a cattle baron and decides to go after a handsome young Englishman on whom she had an eye for some time.   ...
• • Source: Article: "At Cremorne Theatre" for Kalgoorlie Miner; published on Wednesday, 17 June 1936
• • By the Numbers • • 
• • The Mae West Blog was started nine years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2941st 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 • • in 1922 • •
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