Mae West: Wildean Wit

“I first went to interview MAE WEST after the collapse of ‘Myra Breckinridge’ [1970]. Like almost everyone else, I was in awe of the woman,” wrote Jacoba Atlas. Let’s read her fascinating first-hand account from 1974. This is Part 16 of 19 segments.
• • Image from a Cracked Mirror • •
• • Mae West has issued more “bon mots" than any wit • •
• • Jacoba Atlas wrote: No one can deny that she’s issued more “bon mots" than any wit since Oscar Wilde and certainly more than Hollywood ever saw even in the heyday of Dorothy Parker, and despite her Sunset Boulevard trappings, she is right there with perceptive insights.
• • Jacoba Atlas wrote: For instance, “Life’s unpredictable, but you can count on glamour to see you through hell." (Could that hell include her own old age?) Or, “I’ve never had children. They take a lot out of you, mentally, physically, psychologically, but they also give you strength.”
• • Jacoba Atlas wrote: Any woman who has debated the contradictions of procreation and womanhood would echo that sentiment.
• • Mae West is a great ad for health food and self-control • • … 
• • This long profile by Jacoba Atlas will be continued on the next post.  
• • Source: Los Angeles Free Press, Volume 11, issue 517; published on Friday, 14 June 1974.
• • On Saturday, 13 May 1961 • •

• • In 1933, Mae West posed with Gary Cooper [1901—1961] in a tavern to celebrate the repeal of Prohibition. They socialized at several Tinseltown tete-a-tetes, too.
• • On Saturday, 13 May 1961, the "Coop" lost his battle with cancer.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West’s ex-husband, Frank Wallace, named the boxer Albert “Chalky” Wright among those having an affair with West in his divorce filing.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "So far as plots are concerned, I have gathered them by the hundreds in my years of stage experience. The rule that 'the plot is the thing' still holds good. As particular as I am with selection of characters and their dialogue, I realize that the story must hold together. It must build and never let down."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article on a Philadelphia cab driver mentioned Mae West.
• • "A Cab Driver's View of People" • •
• • Louis Antosh wrote: Cab driver Vincent Scullin has been called into the city of Philadelphia on several occasions. On one of these, a man stopped him outside the old Ritz Hotel back in the 1940s and asked to use his cab.  But I'll ask you please not to smoke while Miss West is in the cab, said the man.
• • Louis Antosh wrote: Vincent Scullin turned his head to the right and recalled his thoughts back then. Could it be Mae West? But she always carries those long cigarette holders in the movies. Then the hotel door opens and out walks Mae West! And brother let me tell you she looked like a million bucks. White fur coat and dark glasses. Just between you and me and the gatepost. Whoo whoo! ...
• • Source: Delaware County Daily Times (page 1); published on Saturday, 13 May 1967
• • 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 15th 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 4,400 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fifteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,473rd 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: https://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml  
• • Be sure to bookmark or follow The Mae West Blog
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • in 1933 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Double Thyroid

“I first went to interview MAE WEST after the collapse of ‘Myra Breckinridge’ [1970]. Like almost everyone else, I was in awe of the woman,” wrote Jacoba Atlas. Let’s read her fascinating first-hand account from 1974. This is Part 15 of 19 segments.
• • Image from a Cracked Mirror • •
• • Mae West is made up • •
• • Jacoba Atlas wrote: She is made up to look like a distorted mirror image of her former self, and yet she says, "Marilyn Monroe was synthetic, a copy of me. But I O.K.’d her for my life story. (Note: It was never filmed.) Marilyn was pretty and I liked her, but she was manufactured.”
• • Jacoba Atlas wrote: Despite the American Medical Association’s claim that double thyroids are impossible and totally undocumented, West states emphatically, “I have all this energy because I have a double thyroid. There are only 12 people in the world with this, and it gives me twice the energy other people have.”
• • Jacoba Atlas wrote: Harmless enough certainly, but it keeps a facade impenetrable in an age when the truth about this remarkable woman might be far more fascinating.
• • Mae West has issued more “bon mots" than any wit • • …
• • This long profile by Jacoba Atlas will be continued on the next post.  
• • Source: Los Angeles Free Press, Volume 11, issue 517; published on Friday, 14 June 1974.
• • On Wednesday, 12 May 1971 • •

• • On Wednesday, 12 May 1971 Mae West, UCLA’s Woman of the Century, spoke to students after a screening of her 1933 classic movie “I’m No Angel.”
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Albert “Chalky” Wright became the chauffeur and bodyguard for the famous actress Mae West. He helped her deal with a series of extortion threats while in her employ. As a boxing fan herself, and using the wealth from her Hollywood career, she backed Wright’s career in the ring.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “I always use baby oil. But the secret is it has to be warm, and you have to have a man put it on you — — all over."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A former visitor described meeting Mae West.
• • Afternoon Tea With Mae West • •
• • Eric Lindsay wrote: Slowly a little blonde lady appeared from behind the door, no more than 5 foot, including her 6 inch wedges.
• • Eric Lindsay wrote: My God! It was MAE WEST!
• • Eric Lindsay wrote: She was dressed in a floor–length bluey–pinky negligee and over that she had a peignoir with a fresh egg stain on the front which I just couldn’t take my eyes off. I thought of that line of hers, “Say what you like about long dresses, but they cover up a multitude of shins.” Her hair was hanging down at the sides with her usual swirl on top. The hairdresser had definitely not called that day! . . .
• • Source: Eric Lindsay’s wordpress site; published online [undated]
• • 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 15th 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 4,400 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fifteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,472nd 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: https://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml  
• • Be sure to bookmark or follow The Mae West Blog
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • accepting her award in 1971 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Moral Outrage

“I first went to interview MAE WEST after the collapse of ‘Myra Breckinridge’ [1970]. Like almost everyone else, I was in awe of the woman,” wrote Jacoba Atlas. Let’s read her fascinating first-hand account from 1974. This is Part 14 of 19 segments.
• • Image from a Cracked Mirror • •
• • Mae West is nothing if not contradictory • •
• • Jacoba Atlas wrote: But that is right to the point. In a time when youth is idealized beyond all justification, it is somehow doubly disturbing to see a woman who was above the “common horde” bending to the ultimate corrupting illusion. But then, Mae West is nothing if not contradictory.

• • Jacoba Atlas wrote: For instance, she is the woman who is "credited with creating such moral outrage” that the Hays Office — Hollywood Censor — was formed to stop her.
• • Jacoba Atlas wrote: The Hays Office censored, rewrote and condemned many of her films, yet right now Mae West believes we need a national censor. “As for censorship, I say, yes. There should be a censor. There must be a limit; too much is too much. Have we gone too far? Yes." Mae West continued, “I walked out of Last Tango in Paris. People have abused their freedoms.”
• • Mae West is made up • • …
• • This long profile by Jacoba Atlas will be continued on the next post.  
• • Source: Los Angeles Free Press, Volume 11, issue 517; published on Friday, 14 June 1974.
• • On Saturday, 11 May 1935 • •
• • Movie critic Andre Sennwald offered his review of "Goin' to Town," starring Mae West, to the readers of The New York Times on page 21 on Saturday, 11 May 1935.
• • On Friday, 10 May 1935, this new motion picture opened in Mae's hometown at the New York Paramount.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Frank Wallace filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles, California against Mae West declaring she was damaging his reputation and his professional standing by denying they had wed. The movie star spent quite a long time continuing to deny it.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Frank Wallace? Never heard of him!"
• • About Frank Wallace’s claims, Mae West said: "It's all a bunch of strudel."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • The foreign fashion press mentioned Mae West and her curves.
• • "London Says Mae West Curves Are Fashion's Whims" • •
• • Writing from London, Nell Murray wrote:  Just to demonstrate that there must be some truth in the announcement from America that the female form divine for 1934 would weigh at least 12 pounds heavier than it did last year (in order to accommodate the threatened Mae West curves), a London dress designer ...
• • Source: Sunday Mail (Brisbane, Queensland); published on Sunday, 6 May 1934
• • 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 15th 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 4,400 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fifteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,471st 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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• • Be sure to bookmark or follow The Mae West Blog
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • at Elton John's party, 21 September 1974 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Might Have

“I first went to interview MAE WEST after the collapse of ‘Myra Breckinridge’ [1970]. Like almost everyone else, I was in awe of the woman,” wrote Jacoba Atlas. Let’s read her fascinating first-hand account from 1974. This is Part 13 of 19 segments.
• • Image from a Cracked Mirror • •
• • Mae West never grew “comfortably old” • •
• • Jacoba Atlas wrote: That Mae West moved and sauntered, and I searched in vain for the woman she might have become, a woman grown comfortably old the way actresses Dame Edith Evans, Cathleen Nesbitt, and Sybil Thorndike had grown comfortably and elegantly old. There was none of it; instead I felt almost as if I had wandered into Bette Davis’ lair while she was perpetually playing that grotesque child-star in “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?”

• • Jacoba Atlas wrote: Sure, all this negativism sounds like bad faith considering the age of the woman and her considerable accomplishments.
• • Mae West is nothing if not contradictory • • …
• • This long profile by Jacoba Atlas will be continued on the next post.  
• • Source: Los Angeles Free Press, Volume 11, issue 517; published on Friday, 14 June 1974.
• • On Saturday, 8 May 1926 • •
• • Unflattering comments about Mae West's play "Sex" (the phrase "street sweepings" was in the description) were printed in The New Yorker, their issue dated for Saturday, 8 May 1926.  Aww. Somebody was not swayed by all that free beer Mae was pouring backstage.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West chose to be an independent woman who was comfortable with her sexuality. The political climate of the times, however, saw her open sexuality as pornographic.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Keep cool and collect."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A St. Louis paper mentioned Mae West.
• • 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: The Kane Republican; published on Thursday, 21 April 1938
• • 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 15th 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 4,400 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fifteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,470th 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: https://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml  
• • Be sure to bookmark or follow The Mae West Blog
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • with George C. Scott on Sunday, 1 September 1974 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Ramrod Straight

“I first went to interview MAE WEST after the collapse of ‘Myra Breckinridge’ [1970]. Like almost everyone else, I was in awe of the woman,” wrote Jacoba Atlas. Let’s read her fascinating first-hand account from 1974. This is Part 12 of 19 segments.
• • Image from a Cracked Mirror • •
• • Mae West sat ramrod straight • •
• • Jacoba Atlas wrote: Mae West will tell you this: “I wash my face with bottled water and good Castile soap. I apply a little lanolin oil, cocoa butter and rosewater on my face in the morning and at night and leave it on for one hour. I clean my face with vegetable oils — a little coconut oil. I steam my face, too.” Georgette Klinger couldn’t offer better advice.

• • Jacoba Atlas wrote: She sat ramrod straight during the interview, her blond hair never moving, her long white gay nineties-type dress without a wrinkle. She was Mae West as if Mae West had been embalmed too many years ago.
• • Jacoba Atlas wrote: Images of imitators kept flying through the air — Edie Adams, Debbie Reynolds, Barbara Streisand in Hello Dolly — where was the woman to whom they gave the sincerest form of flattery?
• • Mae West never grew “comfortably old” • • …
• • This long profile by Jacoba Atlas will be continued on the next post.  
• • Source: Los Angeles Free Press, Volume 11, issue 517; published on Friday, 14 June 1974.
• • 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 • •
• • In conjunction with the news that "Sextette" starring Mae West was going into production, a light went on in City Hall.  Tom Bradley, mayor of Los Angeles, announced that he was creating a special Mae Day and issuing a proclamation in the movie queen's honor.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "People with careers are too busy to spend enough time on their marriage. I have seen several marriages which should have been happy fail — chiefly because of that lack of time."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article on a British painter mentioned Mae West.
• • I seem to remember a vintage Mae West movie in which the redoubtable old send-up sways up a staircase, in her usual dignified and derisive manner, behind a genuinely stately butler.
• • 'What are these?' she mutters, rolling those cunning eyes at a series of dark oil paintings.
• • 'These, madam, are the old masters,' says the butler.
• • 'They look like a bunch of old mistresses to me,' says Mae West, her facial muscles scarcely moving.   . . .
• • Source: The London Spectator; published on Thursday, 5 May 1966
• • 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 15th 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 4,400 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fifteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,469th 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: https://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml  
• • Be sure to bookmark or follow The Mae West Blog
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • with Dick Cavett in 1976 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Won’t Allow it!

“I first went to interview MAE WEST after the collapse of ‘Myra Breckinridge’ [1970]. Like almost everyone else, I was in awe of the woman,” wrote Jacoba Atlas. Let’s read her fascinating first-hand account from 1974. This is Part 11 of 19 segments.
• • Image from a Cracked Mirror • •
• • Mae West banned the tape recorder • •
• • Jacoba Atlas wrote: Margaret Mitchell’s description of Aunt Pittypat in “Gone with The Wind” could not have been more appropriate. She was, however, smiling and friendly, gracious within the limited sphere of an interview and eager to talk, although not to be taped.
• • Jacoba Atlas wrote: “I won’t allow those things," Mae West said pointing to the small tape recorder. “In the old days reporters took notes!”
• • Jacoba Atlas wrote: To be sure, there is nothing senile about West. Alert and interested, before I left she had discussed what kind of soap I should use on my face and admitted her beauty secrets. “I never smoke or drink,” she warned.
• • Mae West sat ramrod straight • • …
• • This long profile by Jacoba Atlas will be continued on the next post.  
• • Source: Los Angeles Free Press, Volume 11, issue 517; published on Friday, 14 June 1974.
• • On Saturday, 6 May 1944 • •

• • Syndicated columnist Earl Wilson reviewed "Catherine Was Great" and his comments were printed in the Los Angeles Daily News on Saturday, 6 May 1944.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • On the album "Hollywood Actors Sing," Mae West sang "My Man Friday."
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "This is Timothy Dalton, my new discovery. He is an actor as good 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."  
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences archives mentioned Mae West.
• • Claude Shull, San Francisco Motion Picture Council, wrote to Paramount Pictures and sent a copy of his dissatisfaction to Mae West [Shull to Paramount, 1 May 1936].
• • Claude Shull explained his viewpoint: "Any picture that presents its heroine as a mistress to an Oriental, then as a murderess, then as a cheap imitator of a missionary — — jazzing up religion — — is not in harmony with the other educational forces of our social set-up. And these elements are particularly objectionable when they are interspersed with smutty wise-cracks." …
• • Source: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; dated on Friday, 1 May 1936
• • 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 15th 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 4,400 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fifteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,468th 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: https://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml  
• • Be sure to bookmark or follow The Mae West Blog
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • drawing in 1944 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Ever-present Chocolates

“I first went to interview MAE WEST after the collapse of ‘Myra Breckinridge’ [1970]. Like almost everyone else, I was in awe of the woman,” wrote Jacoba Atlas. Let’s read her fascinating first-hand account from 1974. This is Part 10 of 19 segments.
• • Image from a Cracked Mirror • •
• • the omnipresence of the past in Mae’s apartment • •
• • Jacoba Atlas wrote: To enter her small, all-white apartment, one must pass two security checks.
• • the ever-present heart-shaped chocolate box • •
• • Jacoba Atlas wrote: Once inside the apartment, the omnipresence of the past becomes immediately evident. The only color relieving the whiteness is flaked gold and occasional touches of pale pink satin. A white piano dominates one corner of the living room, complete with a famous nude statue of Mae West and the ever-present heart-shaped chocolate box, filled with goodies.
• • Jacoba Atlas wrote: The flowers are fake, and the blinds are drawn against the sun. The furniture is covered with plastic, as if it were left over from some Molly Goldberg set.
• • Jacoba Atlas wrote: Mae West herself made an entrance, tottering on small feet, taking tiny little steps as if she were made of porcelain and one false move would send her shattering to the floor.
• • Mae West banned the tape recorder • • …
• • This long profile by Jacoba Atlas will be continued on the next post.  
• • Source: Los Angeles Free Press, Volume 11, issue 517; published on Friday, 14 June 1974.
• • On Saturday, 5 May 1928 in The New Yorker • •

• • When John Huston [1906 — 1987] watched Mae West in the 1928 stage production of "Diamond Lil," the 22-year-old son of actor Walter Huston could not stop thinking about it. John saved his copy of The New Yorker [issue dated for 5 May 1928] because he especially admired the illustration of a corseted, glittering, winsome Mae by the Mexican artist Miguel Covarrubias. Soon after, the men collaborated on Huston's fascinating book "Frankie and Johnny."
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West, in a trailing satin dress, with make-up thick on her features and a huge bunch of orchids clutched in a heavily jeweled hand, gave a mob of fans a smile and was taken off to the Ritz-Carlton.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "A dame that knows the ropes isn't likely to get tied up."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article on sassy, witty broads mentioned Mae West.
• • "Broads Don’t Blog, Especially in Haiku" • •
• • Vox Pop Columnist Meta Wagner muses: It’s amazing to me how the quips Mae West famously uttered still serve as quotable quotes today: “Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?” “When I’m good, I’m very good, but when I’m bad, I’m better.” “A man in the house is worth two in the street.” Now, that’s a broad! . . .
• • Meta Wagner adds: Currently back on Broadway is "South Pacific," the World War II-themed musical that immortalized a catchy number "There Is Nothing Like a Dame." Mae West was a swell dame (not to mention a triple A-all-right broad).   . . .
• • Source: PopMatters; posted on Tuesday, 29 April 2008
• • 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 15th 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 4,400 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fifteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,467th 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: https://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml  
• • Be sure to bookmark or follow The Mae West Blog
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • drawing in 1928 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Protected Splendor

“I first went to interview MAE WEST after the collapse of ‘Myra Breckinridge’ [1970]. Like almost everyone else, I was in awe of the woman,” wrote Jacoba Atlas. Let’s read her fascinating first-hand account from 1974. This is Part 9 of 19 segments.
• • Image from a Cracked Mirror • •
• • “The Drag” by Mae West starred a bevy of female impersonators • • 
• • Jacoba Atlas wrote: Her second play, produced after Sex, was The Drag and starred a bevy of female impersonators. A British critic cites the following description of female impersonators as the perfect description of Mae herself, “A good drag act should express the assumption that a man makes a better woman than a woman. There are two ways in which this can be achieved: by a display of extravagant glamour or by caricaturing female characteristics, making them appear ridiculous or even faintly disgusting.”

• • Jacoba Atlas wrote: Mae West does all that. She lives in well-protected splendor in Ravenswood, an elaborate old apartment complex on Rossmore, which until very recently she owned [sic].
• • the omnipresence of the past in Mae’s apartment • • …
• • This long profile by Jacoba Atlas will be continued on the next post.  
• • Source: Los Angeles Free Press, Volume 11, issue 517; published on Friday, 14 June 1974.
• • On Tuesday, 4 May 1886 • •
• • On Tuesday, 4 May 1886 the black composer Shelton Brooks was born. Mae and Beverly performed his dance novelty "Walking the Dog" when they toured with their act "Mae West and Sister." In her 1928 Bowery melodrama "Diamond Lil," Mae performed his jaunty song "Where Has My Easy Rider Gone?" and the number would be reprised in "She Done Him Wrong" [filmed in 1932].
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • By the way, Mae is now working on her new contract by the terms of which she gets $100,000 a picture.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “When women go wrong, men go right after them."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article in The Milwaukee Sentinel in 1941 mentioned John Barrymore and Mae West.
• • Louella Parsons wrote: Mae West got herself a movie job. Yes, indeed! She signed a contract with William Shapiro who brought Bobby Breen to the coast. Shapiro, at one time associated with Sol Lesser, has obtained capital to finance the Mae West movie. Now here's the part that to me should even make the sphinx smile. Shapiro has an option on John Barrymore's services and is trying to get him to play opposite La West. …
• • Source: "Sign Mae West to Appear In Romantic Role and May Be Opposite None Other than Barrymore" by Hollywood columnist Louella Parsons; syndicated content rpt in The Milwaukee Sentinel; printed on Friday, 7 March 1941
• • 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 15th 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 4,400 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fifteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,466th 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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• • Be sure to bookmark or follow The Mae West Blog
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • at home • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Affinity to Gay Men

“I first went to interview MAE WEST after the collapse of ‘Myra Breckinridge’ [1970]. Like almost everyone else, I was in awe of the woman,” wrote Jacoba Atlas. Let’s read her fascinating first-hand account from 1974. This is Part 8 of 19 segments.
• • Image from a Cracked Mirror • •
• • Mae’s affinity to "gay boys" • •
• • Jacoba Atlas wrote: Rosalind Russell and Katherine Hepburn, whatever their self-assurance or forcefulness, never played it like Mae West, who played it, as someone suggested, like “a men’s locker room joke.”
• • Jacoba Atlas wrote: There was even a nasty, subterranean rumor floating around that Mae West was not a woman at all — — but a man in drag.
• • Jacoba Atlas wrote: That kind of statement is fed by her self-proclaimed affinity to "gay boys" — — as she calls homosexuals. Says Mae West, “Gay boys are taking over the business. They do a heck of a job imitating me. Why? I saw exaggerated things and they like to repeat them. Gay boys are really female souls in male bodies. I like them, they’re good kids.”
• • “The Drag” by Mae West starred a bevy of female impersonators • • …
• • This long profile by Jacoba Atlas will be continued on the next post.  
• • Source: Los Angeles Free Press, Volume 11, issue 517; published on Friday, 14 June 1974.
• • On Friday, 1 May 1936 • •
• • On Friday, 1 May 1936, Columbia Daily Spectator wrote: Other films have crooks who become honest under the influence of the frozen north, the greatest man builder besides Mae West in "Klondike Annie."
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •

• • During the 1930s, a Los Angeles fan magazine also ran with this absurd cover-line: "Should Mae West Marry Adolf Hitler?" 
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “The warden was forced to smile at the hubbub my appearance had caused."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • The Daily Illini mentioned Mae West.
• • "Hutchins Says He Is No Mae West Spouse" • •
• • Chicago, April 26 [AP] — — Dr. Robert Maynard Hutchins described himself today as neither a communist nor any one of Mae West's husbands.
• • The University of Chicago president, addressed a law school assembly, lapsed into a bit of levity in replying to charges that radical influences obtained at his school. He asserted: "Just as I am not any one of Mae West's husbands, neither am I helping the Russian communist government."  . . .
• • Source: wire service item rpt in Daily Illini; published on Saturday, 27 April 1935 
• • 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 15th 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 4,400 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fifteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,465th 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: https://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml  
• • Be sure to bookmark or follow The Mae West Blog
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • a cartoon in 1934 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Lack of Coyness

“I first went to interview MAE WEST after the collapse of ‘Myra Breckinridge’ [1970]. Like almost everyone else, I was in awe of the woman,” wrote Jacoba Atlas. Let’s read her fascinating first-hand account from 1974. This is Part 7 of 19 segments.
• • Image from a Cracked Mirror • •
• • nothing traditionally feminine about Mae West • •
• • Jacoba Atlas wrote: Also, despite the satin and lace clothing, the soft flowing hair and the painted nails, there is nothing traditionally feminine about Mae West.
• • Jacoba Atlas wrote: To be sure, it’s that very lack of helplessness and coyness that has made her a heroine to women’s liberation and sent women’s groups scurrying back to her films for an expression of open female sexual needs. But her films lead directly to a quandary: she’s no Norma Shearer, thank God, but just who and what is she?
• • Jacoba Atlas wrote: Close friend and associate Stan Musgrove calls Mae West “the screen’s first leading man” and further credits her with opening the way for other “leading men” like Rosalind Russell and Katherine Hepburn; but one wonders.
• • Mae’s affinity to "gay boys" • • …
• • This long profile by Jacoba Atlas will be continued on the next post.  
• • Source: Los Angeles Free Press, Volume 11, issue 517; published on Friday, 14 June 1974.
• • On Monday, 30 April 1956 in N.Y. World-Telegram Sun • •
• • It was on Monday, 30 April 1956 that Robert W. Dana's felicitous coverage of "The Mae West Review" appeared.
• • His column "Mae West's Show Grows" [dated April 30th] indicated Mr. Dana had seen the routine previously.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •

• • Mae West carnival statues are becoming more popular. Occasionally, these are available at a local sale.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Suddenly there was a great uproar.  Someone had passed the word along that I was coming through. Faces appeared at the barred doors and they shouted wildly in greeting. 'Here comes Mae!' they yelled. And 'How do you like the dress, Mae?' . . .”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article Mae West was asked to write appeared in 1927.
• • Mae West continued: They were most courteous; they didn't want anything to happen to me before I got to Welfare Island, I guess. I was ushered into a waiting-room. There was a colored woman, with a gold badge, in charge.  . . .
• • Source: "How I Was Jailed for Sex" written by Mae West for Liberty Magazine; published on Saturday, 20 August 1927
• • 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 15th 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 4,400 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fifteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,464th 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: https://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml  
• • Be sure to bookmark or follow The Mae West Blog
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • carnival chalkware figure (from a private collection) • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Nonphysical Sexpot

“I first went to interview MAE WEST after the collapse of ‘Myra Breckinridge’ [1970]. Like almost everyone else, I was in awe of the woman,” wrote Jacoba Atlas. Let’s read her fascinating first-hand account from 1974. This is Part 6 of 19 segments.
• • Image from a Cracked Mirror • •
• • With Mae West the legend overcrowds the person • •
• • Jacoba Atlas wrote: My question is, why in the world would she want to be that same woman?
• • Jacoba Atlas wrote: With Mae West, as with so many other stars of that era, the legend overcrowds the person, and the cult of the screen personality takes over. That’s fine for the audience, but one wonders what the consequences are for the person herself.
• • Jacoba Atlas wrote: Certainly, Mae West has avoided much of the traumas of other “sex symbols” like Marilyn Monroe and Jean Harlow, but then some people have severely questioned West’s claim to that dubious title. She always seemed to me to be the ultimate nonphysical sex-symbol — it was her manner, her humor and her words that were sexy, not necessarily that “Big Ben hour glass” figure, the marcelled blond hair or the lopping, hand-on-hip walk.
• • nothing traditionally feminine about Mae West • • …
• • This long profile by Jacoba Atlas will be continued on the next post.  
• • Source: Los Angeles Free Press, Volume 11, issue 517; published on Friday, 14 June 1974.
• • On Friday, 29 April 1938 in the Boston Herald • •
• • Beantown readers were treated to this titillation on 29 April 1938, announced with a boldface headline:  Clutching, Squealing Crowd Greets Mae West with Mob Scene Here.
• • The Boston Herald reporter wrote: Complete with the publicized curves and husky, slurring accents that have made her practically a symbol of what she is pleased to call “the sex personality,” Mae West crashed into Boston yesterday morning through a clutching, squealing crowd of 3000 eager admirers who turned the South station into a mob scene.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Richard Meryman's exotic cover feature, "Mae West: Going Strong at 75," was published in Life Magazine. 
• • In Her Own Words • •

Mae West and Barry O'Neill on trial in NYC

• • Mae West said: "I enjoyed the courtroom as any other stage."  
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article Mae West was asked to write appeared in 1927.
• • Mae West wrote: He then escorted me to the side of the courtroom, through a cage effect, and then out a door, where there were a few steps leading down to another door. That door was opened and two gentlemen who stood there said, "Right this way, Miss West."  …
• • Source: "How I Was Jailed for Sex" written by Mae West for Liberty Magazine; published on Saturday, 20 August 1927
• • 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 15th 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 4,400 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fifteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,463rd 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: https://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml  
• • Be sure to bookmark or follow The Mae West Blog
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • in court, April1927 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Legend Overcrowds

“I first went to interview MAE WEST after the collapse of ‘Myra Breckinridge’ [1970]. Like almost everyone else, I was in awe of the woman,” wrote Jacoba Atlas. Let’s read her fascinating first-hand account from 1974. This is Part 5 of 19 segments.
• • Image from a Cracked Mirror • •
• • Mae West’s actions are above reproach • •
• • Jacoba Atlas wrote: Despite her “sexpot” image, Mae West’s personal actions are above reproach, not in terms of some trumped-up phony sexual morality, but the good old-fashioned “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” morality that is rarely in rich supply in Hollywood.
• • Jacoba Atlas wrote: Therefore, the sadness I felt at meeting and talking to West was not based on any personal transgression, rather it stemmed from the fact that here was this terrific woman who readily admits to her age and then turns around and insists that she is the same woman she was when she was 26.
• • With Mae West the legend overcrowds the person • • … 
• • This long profile by Jacoba Atlas will be continued on the next post.  
• • Source: Los Angeles Free Press, Volume 11, issue 517; published on Friday, 14 June 1974.
• • On Thursday, 28 April 1927 • •

• • On Thursday, 28 April 1927 The New York Times ran this article: “Mae West Departs from Workhouse.” 
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West is a little undecided about doing "I'm No Angel." Aw, go ahead, Mae! All God's chillun got wings.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said (to director Henry Hathaway): "Nobody gets laughs in my pictures but me, see?" 
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article Mae West was asked to write appeared in 1927.
• • Mae West wrote: The court attendant leaned toward me and said, "Are you feeling all right, Miss West?"   I replied, "Quite all right."
• • Mae West explained: He then escorted me to the side of the courtroom, through a cage effect, …
• • Source: "How I Was Jailed for Sex" written by Mae West for Liberty Magazine; published on Saturday, 20 August 1927   
• • 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 15th 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 4,400 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fifteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,462nd 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: https://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml  
• • Be sure to bookmark or follow The Mae West Blog
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • on 28 April 1927 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest