Mae West: She's Alone

When Helen Lawrenson came up to see MAE WEST, Esquire's first female journalist was closing in on her sixtieth birthday and the Brooklyn bombshell was 73. A color photo by Diane Arbus flashed across the double-page-spread, hunched under half the title as if warding off a punch in the nose.
• • In honor of  Helen Lawrenson's October birthday, enjoy her seldom seen interview. This is Part 5 of 46 parts.
• • "Mirror, Mirror, on the Ceiling: How'm I Doin’?" • •
• • Not bad, Mae, for a woman of seventy-three • •
• • Mae West: Dot of 2 • •
• • Helen Lawrenson wrote: On the dot of two, the receptionist called to announce me and I heard her say, “Yes, Miss West, she’s alone. Yes, Miss West, I’m sure.”  
• • Helen Lawrenson wrote: (In agreeing to the interview, Mae had specified that I was to come without a photographer.) When I rang the bell of her suite, Mae opened the door, peering past me to make sure no photographer lurked in my wake.  

• • Helen Lawrenson wrote: Then she ushered me into the living room and I was back in the lush Hollywood-style Marie-Antoinette-boudoir decor of the Thirties.
• • Mae West: Off-white, pale beige, touches of gold • • . . .
• • Helen Lawrenson's interview will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: Esquire; published on Saturday, 1 July 1967.
• • On Monday, 16 October 1933 in Time • •
• • Time Magazine's review of "I'm No Angel" ran in the issue dated for Monday, 16 October 1933.
• • On Monday, 16 October 1939 • •
• • When they were collaborating on a screenplay, both Mae West and W. C. Fields signed a Universal Films contract. The document is dated Monday, 16 October 1939.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West's next film for Paramount will be called "I'm a Lady."
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said:  "I'll continue playing good bad ladies until the public wants something else. Thus far they seem satisfied."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A newspaper mentioned Mae West.
• • In the autumn of 1935, Mae West began to receive frightening extortion letters. Shortly after Labor Day, a stranger mailed her a demand for $1,000; he threatened to throw acid in her face if she did not comply.
• • Naturally, Mae West sent these letters [5 letters in all] to her local police precinct, and an investigation began.  Detective work helped finger the culprit: a Greek immigrant George Janios, who had been employed as a busboy in the studio cafeteria.
• • One portion of an anonymous threat from George Janios read (verbatim): "On the set, or flights, or home, 570 Rossmore, or riding or parties or studio. We see you every day.  Acid burns." ...
• • Source:  Cornell Daily Sun (cover price 3 cents); published on Wednesday, 9 October 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 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 4,584th 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 • • The Ravenswood on Rossmore in 1933 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Tax Returns

When Helen Lawrenson came up to see MAE WEST, Esquire's first female journalist was closing in on her sixtieth birthday and the Brooklyn bombshell was 73. A color photo by Diane Arbus flashed across the double-page-spread, hunched under half the title as if warding off a punch in the nose.
• • In honor of  Helen Lawrenson's October birthday, enjoy her seldom seen interview. This is Part 4 of 46 parts.
• • "Mirror, Mirror, on the Ceiling: How'm I Doin’?" • •
• • Not bad, Mae, for a woman of seventy-three • •
• • Mae West:  Federal Tax Returns • •
• • Helen Lawrenson wrote: (In 1935, published Federal income tax reports credited her with earning $480,833, which made her the highest-salaried individual in the country, next to William Randolph Hearst, who topped her with $500,000.) 

• • Helen Lawrenson wrote: “I haven’t done too bad, honey,” she says, with a silken smile.
• • Helen Lawrenson wrote: My appointment was for two o’clock and I arrived early, but the receptionist at the desk said she wouldn’t dare call Miss West before the exact time, so I waited in the lobby, an ornate baronial hall with Moorish touches, furnished with tapestries, velvet chairs and sofas, gold-painted tables and lamps with statues for bases.  
• • Mae West:  Dot of 2 • • ...
• • Helen Lawrenson's interview will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: Esquire; published on Saturday, 1 July 1967.
• • On Thursday, 15 October 1959 • •
• • On Thursday, 15 October 1959, The Los Angeles Times printed an article by Cecil Smith: "Mae West Censored from New TV Show." CBS also cut Jack Webb from the same program.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • When her first husband Frank Wallace died on Saturday, 15 October 1966, Mae was asked to comment. Mae West told the Hollywood newsmen:  "He'll always remain in the wastebasket of my memories."  
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said:  “Frank Wallace? Never heard of 'em!”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A newspaper mentioned Mae West.
• • "G-Men Get a 'Come Up' Glance When Investigating Threats to Mae" • •
• • Los Angeles, October 8, AP — G-men made a vain effort today to inquire into the latest real-life drama starring Mae West, nonchalant despite the assertedly harrowing experiences of receiving dire threats from extortionists and helping capture a suspect. ...
• • Source: Cornell Daily Sun (cover price 3 cents); published on Wednesday, 9 October 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 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 4,583rd 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 • • Hollywood salaries in 1934 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: No Piffling Sum

When Helen Lawrenson came up to see MAE WEST, Esquire's first female journalist was closing in on her sixtieth birthday and the Brooklyn bombshell was 73. A color photo by Diane Arbus flashed across the double-page-spread, hunched under half the title as if warding off a punch in the nose.
• • In honor of  Helen Lawrenson's October birthday, enjoy her seldom seen interview. This is Part 3 of 46 parts.
• • "Mirror, Mirror, on the Ceiling: How'm I Doin’?" • •
• • Not bad, Mae, for a woman of seventy-three • •
• • Mae West: She lives in the same apartment since 1932 • •
• • Helen Lawrenson wrote: Mae West lives in the same apartment she has had since she first went to Hollywood in 1932. At one time she owned the whole building [sic], called The Ravenswood Apartments, but she told me she sold it some years ago, or at least a part interest in it.

• • [Editor: This is inaccurate. During the Depression, Mae West helped the owners refinance their mortgage. As Mae West explained to a doorman, Chris Basinger, years later, "I was so controversial that we felt good tenants would shy away if they thought Mae West was the landlady."]
• • Helen Lawrenson wrote: Mae West tends to get deliberately vague about her financial affairs, but she has always had a reputation as a hard-nosed businesswoman, and estimates of her total take range from four to six million.  
• • Helen Lawrenson wrote: In her heyday she was the highest-paid actress in Hollywood, getting $300,000 a picture, plus an extra $100,000 for writing the script, no piffling sum during the Depression years.  
• • Mae West: Federal Tax Returns • • . . .
• • Helen Lawrenson's interview will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: Esquire; published on Saturday, 1 July 1967.
• • On Saturday, 14 October 1933 • •
• • The review in Film Daily (on page 6) had this title: "Mae West in 'I'm No Angel.'" Film Daily ran it in their issue dated for Saturday, 14 October 1933. The New York Evening Journal printed their review (on page 8) on 14 October 1933, too. The New York Post ran a glowing piece about Mae on 14 October 1933: "America's sweetheart."
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • What set Mae West apart, what made her obvious shortcoming as a sex symbol evaporate, was her total belief in herself.  
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “Tongues have wagged and supposed 'low-down' has been printed to the effect that James A. Timony, my manager, is my husband. “
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • The Associated Press covered the Mae West robbery.
• • Studio Bus-Boy Protests He Was Only Curious When He Took Money from Tree • •
• • Six Others Picked Up at Scene, Released • •
• • Star Mae West Says Notes Threatened Acid Attack to 'Ruin Career' • •
• • The Associated Press wrote: Los Angeles, Oct. 8.— Joseph E. P. Dunn, department of justice agent, asked Mae West to come up and see him to-day about a reported extortion plot in which a suspect is being held in custody.
• • Dunn said he attempted 'to get into personal communication' with the buxom actress to-day and that Mae West refused to see him, sending word she would like to have the entire investigation deferred to a later date.
• • The agent, indicating the government liked to act swiftly against extortioners, let Miss West know her presence at his office was desired at the soonest time possible. ...
• • Source: The Associated Press; published on Tuesday, 8 October 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 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 4,582nd 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 in 1978 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Agent Apollo

When Helen Lawrenson came up to see MAE WEST, Esquire's first female journalist was closing in on her sixtieth birthday and the Brooklyn bombshell was 73. A color photo by Diane Arbus flashed across the double-page-spread, hunched under half the title as if warding off a punch in the nose.
• • In honor of  Helen Lawrenson's October birthday, enjoy her seldom seen interview. This is Part 2 of 46 parts.
• • "Mirror, Mirror, on the Ceiling: How'm I Doin’?" • •
• • Not bad, Mae, for a woman of seventy-three • •
• • It wasn’t easy to get to see Mae West in 1967 • •
• • Helen Lawrenson wrote: It wasn’t easy to get to see Mae West because she’s always been chary of interviews —“I never believed in givin’ ’em too much of me” —and even more so in the quarter century since her last movie, “The Heat’s On.”
• • Helen Lawrenson wrote: It took weeks of letter-writing, assuring her of my undying admiration (and I meant every word), and telephone calls to various intermediaries in Hollywood. Finally, through the auspices of her agent, a Mr. Fred Apollo, an appointment was set up. I was as nervous as if I were going to a royal levee, which, in a sense, it was.
• • Mae West: She lives in the same apartment since 1932 • • . . .  

• • Note: Nothing prepared Italian-American Fred Apollo for what he would experience during his twenty-five-year career as a talent agent at the famous William Morris Agency in Beverly Hills, California where he worked with legends during the latter half of their careers such as Mae West, Katharine Hepburn, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, and others — — as well as with emerging artists from the start of their careers: Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, Bill Cosby, Sonny and Cher, Bobby Darin, and Phyllis Diller.
• • Note: In his self-published memoir, Fred Apollo, mainly a TV agent who brokered the deal for Elvis Presley's first live appearance on Sunday, 9 September 1956 on The Ed Sullivan Show, said he was forced into this professional arrangement with an actress not known for television per se because Mae West refused to have a Jewish agent repping her.
• • Helen Lawrenson's interview will be continued on the next post with revealing quotes.
• • Source: Esquire; published on Saturday, 1 July 1967.
• • On Saturday, 13 October 1928 • •
• • On 13 October 1928, an item appeared in Billboard Magazine (on page 42) discussing how the NYC police had padlocked Mae's second homosexual play "Pleasure Man."  Billboard used the occasion of Mae's latest legal trouble to condemn her play, describing the script that focused on men in love as "an abomination."
• • Billboard wrote: "Pleasure Man" is prostitution of the rankest sort,  a flagrant attempt to capitalize filth and degeneracy and cash in on the resultant cheap publicity.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Those jools [sic] sported by La West are the genuine article, down to the last square-cut diamond, a fact attested to by the stalwart presence of three detectives on the set.  
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “She who laughs lasts.”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Newspapers covered the brazen Mae West robbery in October 1935 on the front page.
• • Mae West Asked to "Come Up and See" G-agent in Extortion Plot • •
• • Mystery Occurs Short Time Before Actress Is to Release Picture • •
• • Suspect Taken as He Takes Money from Fronds of a Palm Tree • •
• • Los Angeles,  Oct. 8 — Joseph E. P. Dunn, department of justice agent, asked Mae West to come up and see him today about a reported extortion plot in which a suspect is being held in custody. ...
• • Miss Mae West was summoned to her studio to resume work on a picture at ten a. m.
• • As she drove away from her apartment, Miss West said: "Leave word for Joe Dunn that I'll be seein' him."
• • Seven men were taken into custody after a tense half-hour in the heart of Hollywood last night, during which police detectives, armed with sub-machine guns and sawed-off shotguns, surrounded a designated "pay-off" spot.
• • Subsequently, all but one man, who was booked on suspicion of extortion, were released.
• • Held was George Janios, 38, swarthy bus-boy in the studio restaurant at Fox. ...
• • Source: Clovis Evening News Journal; published on Tuesday, 8 October 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 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 4,581st 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 her agent in 1970 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Mirror, Mirror

When Helen Lawrenson came up to see MAE WEST, Esquire's first female journalist was closing in on her sixtieth birthday and the Brooklyn bombshell was 73. A color photo by Diane Arbus flashed across the double-page-spread, hunched under half the title as if warding off a punch in the nose.
• • In honor of  Helen Lawrenson's October birthday, enjoy her seldom seen interview. This is Part 1 of 46 parts.
• • Helen Lawrenson [1 October 1907 — 5 April 1982] • •
• • "Mirror, Mirror, on the Ceiling: How'm I Doin’?" • • 
• • Not bad, Mae, for a woman of seventy-three • •

• • Helen Lawrenson wrote: “Mae West?” said the taxi driver, “I thought she was dead.”
• • Helen Lawrenson wrote:  Well, she isn’t. If she could have heard him, she’d have cut clean to his heart with one look like a laser beam.
• • Helen Lawrenson wrote: Now in her mid-seventies, she’s a lot more bumptious and flossy than anyone would expect, still full of the old gung-ho. While grandchildren of her former fans are watching revivals of her films in art houses, she has embarked on a new career as a rock-and-roll singer with four LP albums under her belt and a growing international fan club of teen-age boys who write her bubbling love letters.
• • It wasn’t easy to get to see Mae West in 1967 • • . . .
• • Helen Lawrenson's interview will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: Esquire; published on Saturday, 1 July 1967.
• • On Thursday, 12 October 1933 • •
• • The premiere of "I'm No Angel," starring Mae West was held on Thursday, 12 October 1933 in Hollywood.  A triumphant date in Hollywood for the Brooklyn bombshell.
• • John West [11 February 1900 — 12 October 1964] • •
• • Though Mae had taken good care of her health, shortly after her 71st birthday she was hospitalized and her ailments were scrutinized. The diagnosis was diabetes.
• • As Mae was quietly convalescing at home, with Paul Novak at her side, she received the worst news. Her beloved brother John Edwin West, 64, had suffered a massive heart attack.
• • Born on 11 February 1900, John Edwin West died during October — — on Monday, 12 October 1964. Gone suddenly at age 64.  Mae made arrangements for her beloved brother's body to be sent back to Brooklyn to the family crypt.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West is irresistible, as she sits at the counter, totally distracting the soda jerk in the animated feature "Soda Squirt" released in the USA on 12 October 1933.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said:  "I know what I want.  I have to. That's the only way to build a career."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article on an author mentioned Mae West.
• • Leslie Doolittle wrote: You probably know that William Diehl is a successful suspense author, known for such best-selling novels as Primal Fear. But did you know he saw the Hindenburg explode, had Mae West for his baby sitter, served as Martin Luther King's personal photographer ...
• • Source: Article: "Author Uncovers The Real Diehl" written by Leslie Doolittle for the Orlando Sentinel; published on Sunday, 12 October 1997
• • 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 4,580th 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 Esquire in 1967 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Roy Head

MAE WEST decided to record “Treat Her Right” for her LP “Way Out West” in 1966. Then a chart-busting hit, “Treat Her Right” had been written by Roy Head and Gene Kurtz during the previous year (in April 1965).
• • Roy Head [9 January 1941 — 21 September 2020] • •
• • Born on Thursday, 9 January 1941 in Three Rivers, Texas, Rocker Roy Head, who later forged a long career in country music, died Monday morning (Sept. 21, 2020) at age 79 — — and wrote a song that Mae West recorded.
• • Robert K Oermann wrote: Roy Head is best known for his 1965 pop/rock hit “Treat Her Right.”
• • Robert K Oermann wrote: Head recorded a few rockabilly tunes, then broke through with the R&B barn burner “Treat Her Right.” The single rose to the upper reaches of the charts, prevented from hitting No. 1 by The Beatles’ “Yesterday.”
• • Robert K Oermann wrote: The song became a big country hit for Barbara Mandrell in 1971. “Treat Her Right” was also covered by Mae West along with Jerry Lee Lewis, Billy “Crash” Craddock, Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, Robert Plant, Tom Jones, Otis Redding, George Thorogood, The Box Tops, Doug Sahm, Sandy Nelson, Joe Stampley and Los Straightjackets. ...
• • Robert K Oermann wrote: Roy Head was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of fame in 2007.
• • Source: Music Row; published on Tuesday, 22 September 2020.
• • Wednesday, 9 October 1935 • •
• • Mae West was on the front cover of the Cornell Daily Sun on Wednesday, 9 October 1935.
• • "G-Men Get a 'Come Up' Glance When Investigating Threats to Mae" • •

• • Los Angeles, October 8, AP — G-men made a vain effort today to inquire into the latest real-life drama starring Mae West, nonchalant despite the assertedly harrowing experiences of receiving dire threats from extortionists and helping capture a suspect. ...
• • Source: Cornell Daily Sun, issue 15, cover price 3 cents; published on Wednesday, 9 October 1935.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Hollywood correspondent Mike Connolly wrote: Mae West is still wig-waggin Mickey Hargitay, erstwhile Top Banana in her muscleman lineup before Jayne Mansfield latched onto him (or did Mickey latch onto Jayne?)  Anyway, Mae wants the Mick to sign that release showing he's no longer under contract to her.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “Let go of the things that can’t possibly matter to you, and you’ll always have room for the better things that come along.”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A Chinese daily mentioned Mae West.
• • Mae West, American film actress and sex symbol of the 1930s, was in serious condition at a Los Angeles hospital. The 87-year-old screen siren, whose entertainment career spanned seven decades, was believed to have suffered a blood clot.  ...
• • Source: South China Morning Post; published on Saturday, 13 September 1980
• • 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 4,579th 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 Detective Harry Dean in 1935 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Licensing Is Free

For years, lawyers who controlled the rights to the plays of MAE WEST frustrated producers by denying access or dangling permission and then causing delays.
• • ”The agency that represented Mae West is now defunct ...” • •

• • According to Hedgepig Ensemble Theatre,”The agency that represented Mae West is now defunct and the play 'The Drag' is public domain.“ And this would mean all the other plays by Mae West are, too. Interesting... if accurate.
• • In their effort to Expand the Canon, Hedgepig Ensemble Theatre will offer a list  of nine plays by women  and encourages other theatre companies to follow suit.
• • Four of these plays will be staged in a digital reading series this fall, including Bold Stroke for a Husband by Hannah Cowley and House of Desires by Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz.
• • In addition to the works by Cowley and de la Cruz, the plays selected for 2020 are: A Bold Stroke for a Wife by Susanna Centilivre, Her Soul by Amelia P. Roselli, Rachel by Angelina W. Grimke, Restless Night in Late Spring by Fumiko Enchi, Spunk by Zora Neale Hurston, The Drag by Mae West, and Wedding Band by Alice Childress.
• • “From hundreds of plays by women, we chose 9 that span history, geography, and subject matter—and are by writers from diverse backgrounds,” said Mary Candler, artistic director of Hedgepig. “Each play takes on relevant conversations to this moment and can easily, and meaningfully, slot into 2021 seasons.”
• • Expand the Canon is a call to action for theatres to stage classical plays by women and to include more diversity in their repertoire. The project aims to ensure that what’s considered a “classic” includes a diverse set of women’s voices from history.
• • The Do This Play: Expand the Canon virtual reading series kicks off September 22.  ...
• • The Drag by Mae West (1927) • •
• • If you thought LGBTQ+ culture was invented in the 1960s, think again… Witty, tragic, and vibrant, The Drag is an exquisite portrait of the existing LGBTQ+ community of the 1920s. Mae West crafts an eloquent history lesson mixed with joyful celebration. The Drag shows the perils of “conversion therapy” and the criminalization of homosexuality, while simultaneously presenting in delightful clarity the  same joys, losses, warmth, and transgressive counter-culture that our LGBTQ+ family feels to this day.  
• • Mae West was one of the most multi-disciplinary and controversial artists of the 20th century, known for her comic chops, fearless sensuality, and toeing the lines of censorship. An icon of the sexual revolution, she proclaimed “I was the first liberated woman, you know. No guy was going to get the best of me.”  When she was arrested for the “indecency” of her plays, she took a limo [sic] to jail. [Editor: nobody fact-checks. Amazing.] 
• • Licensing: According to Hedgepig,”The agency that represented Mae West is now defunct and the play is public domain. “
• • Download the script here: https://www.hedgepigensemble.org/expand-the-canon
• • Happy Birthday, Rona Barrett • •
• • Rona Barrett, a gossip columnist and friend of Mae West's, was born on Thursday, 8 October 1936.  Hope it's a beautiful day for you, Miss Rona.
• • On Tuesday, 8 October 1935 • •
• • "Plot to Disfigure Mae West Foiled" was an article syndicated to several papers. These threats must have been so frightening. Jeez.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West is her own plot.  
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Oh, those law suits cost a lot."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A campus newspaper in NYC mentioned Mae West.
• • Will Rogers wrote to the Torch of Fullertown Junior College last Spring: "I have no message for you. ... The trouble with youth nowadays is that everybody wants to advise them, and we don't know what to do ourselves. ... If I know any Latin words I'd quote 'em to you. The Latins all died out because they couldn't learn their own language. My message to you is don't miss the next Mae West picture." ...
• • Source: Columbia Daily Spectator; published on Tuesday, 8 October 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 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 4,578th 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 • • after being arrested (with the cast) at the precinct • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Gus Sun

When MAE WEST was an aspiring vaudevillian, one of the bottom-rung bookers who gave her a start was Gus Sun, born in Ohio on the seventh of October.
• • Gus Sun [7 October 1868 - 1 October 1959] • •
• • Born in Toledo, Ohio on Wednesday, 7 October 1868, Gus had three brothers (John, George, and Pete) and they combined their efforts to train animal acts for circuses.
• • By 1889, Gustave Ferdinand Klotz had assumed the stage name “Gus Sun” and was working as a juggler for the Summerville and Lee Circus of Chicago, IL.
• • While the Gus Sun Booking Agency was largely considered the bottom rung on the Vaudeville circuit, its popularity was undeniable.
• • At one time during the mid-1920s, his circuit included approximately 275 — 300 theaters.
• • Gus Sun was responsible for giving Hollywood legends such as Mae West, Bob Hope, the Marx Brothers, W.C. Fields, Eddie Cantor, Fanny “Funny Girl” Brice, and Will Rogers their start in his shows. Gus Sun also booked Sophie Tucker, Chic Sale, Ted Lewis, Moran and Mack, and numerous other acts. A typical tour would include stops in his native Ohio as well as Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

• • Gus Sun created the “split week,” which saw an act spend the first half of the week in one city, the second half in another; allowing his patrons more variety.
• • It was said that Gus was so cheap, he sent all his telegrams collect, making his clients pay to hear from him about bookings and schedule changes.
• • Sun made such an impact on the entertainment world that in 1947 Warner Brothers was in talks to make a movie based upon his to life.
• • Billboard reported his death in their issue dated for Monday, 5 October 1959.
• • According to Billboard, on Thursday, 1 October 1959, Sun died at Mercy Hospital in Springfield, Ohio, from complications after a fall that had broken his hip. Gus Sun was about to celebrate his 91st birthday. Internment was in Ferncliff Cemetery.
• • On Saturday, 7 October 1933 • •
• • Motion Picture Herald published a review of "I'm No Angel" in their issue dated for Saturday, 7 October 1933.  The piece was signed by their staffwriter McCarthy.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • A couple of months ago, Mae West sauntered into Arthur Knight's film class at USC, put her hand on her hip, took her time looking around the room, and finally said: "Hello, boys."
• • It was a co-ed class.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said:  "I don't believe that you need any kind of chemical to get high."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article about a Bushwick maid mentioned Mae West.
• • "Mae West Still Comes on Strong But She Forgot to Pucker" • •
• • Lee Mueller wrote: One of these women, named Elsie, said she worked in that hotel as a cleaning maid and lived over in Brooklyn's Bushwick section where Miss Mae West was born.
• • Lee Mueller wrote: "When I was a girl growing up, Mae West was somethin'," Elsie said. "I heard about her when she was in vaudeville, you know. I remember I told my mother I wanted to grow up to be like Mae West and she slapped me. . ."
• • Source: Syndicated feature written by Lee Mueller, NBA, rpt in The Daily Times (Burlington, N.C.); published on Wednesday, 15 July 1971 
• • 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 4,577th 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 • • vaudeville booker Gus Sun • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Carole Lombard

MAE WEST was signed by Paramount Pictures in 1932.
• • Carole Lombard, who was under contract to the same studio, came into this world on this date: October 6th. Born as Jane Alice Peters, the slim blonde was particularly noted for her energetic, often off-beat roles in screwball comedies. After a successful appearance in “The Arizona Kid” (1930), Paramount Pictures brought her into the fold and cast her as a leading lady.
• • Carole Lombard [6 October 1908 — 16 January 1942] • •
• • Carole Lombard's figure was attended to by James Davies, “the sturdy Welshman who ministers to Paramount's figure needs.” Davies was also assigned to Mae West. Let's enjoy this article from 1939.
• • Sure, Movie Legs Are Beautiful; See the Work That Goes Into Them • •

• • Associated Press Writer Robbin Coons wrote: HOLLYWOOD. Most of the lovely legs that trip across the movie screens didn't just happen. Sculptors-in-flesh made them that way. It's the job of masseurs real-life Pygmalions to shape the feminine body more nearly to the camera's desire.
• • A.P. Writer Robbin Coons wrote: Because "When the figure's gone, so is the star" as Louis Hippe, the Warner masseur who has been shaping movie figures for 27 years, puts it stars and starlets need little persuasion to hew to their prescribed regimens. . . .
• • MONTHS FOR ANKLES • •
• • A.P. Writer Robbin Coons wrote: James Davies, the sturdy Welshman who ministers to Paramount's figure needs, says the only "perfect as-was" figure in his experience belonged to Betty Grable.
• • A.P. Writer Robbin Coons wrote: Other facts on famous figures: Irene Dunne reports to Jim Davies two weeks before starting a picture, and is relieved of 2 — 5 pounds. Carole Lombard has kept that figure consistently for years, a James Davies patient.
• • NEVER NEEDED HELP • •
• • A.P. Writer Robbin Coons wrote: Mae West, because of the gay-nineties roles she played, was no client for hip-reducing. Davies "pulled" her waist down, "pushed" her bust up, left her hips as they were.
• • Note: This is a fascinating 2-page feature to read in full. We’ve only used a brief excerpt.
• • Source: Article by Robbin Coons, Associated Press, rpt by San Bernadino Daily Sun; published on   Sunday, 23 July 1939.
• • On Sunday, 6 October 1918 • •
• • On Sunday, 6 October 1918 the New York Herald Tribune wrote about Mae's superb performance as Mayme Dean in "Sometime," noting "Mae West gave a capital characterization of a chorus girl in search of temptation, but never finding it, ..."
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •

• • "My studio," Roger Pryor continued, "has played me in some straight leads, as well as  characterizations, but I was much pleased to do a 'tough guy' with Mae West in 'The Belle of the Nineties' and soon after to do a cultured gentleman with Carole Lombard in 'Lady by Choice.' It helped at least to keep me from being typed as either one or the other."
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Of course, I had to have experiences to understand life.  I had to know all about life to give people what they wanted on the stage."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A Hollywood site mentioned Mae West and Carole Lombard.
• • Wesley Ruggles was an American film director.
• • He was born in Los Angeles, a younger brother of actor Charles Ruggles. He began his career in 1915 as an actor, appearing in a dozen or so silent films, on occasion with Charles Chaplin.  ...
• • Although Wesley Ruggles followed this success with the light comedy "No Man of Her Own"with Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, the comedy "I'm No Angel" with Mae West and Cary Grant, "College Humor"with Bing Crosby, and "Bolero" with George Raft and Carole Lombard, few of his later films were in any way memorable.  ...
• • Source: Hollywood Walk of Fame; published on (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 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 4,576th 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 • • Mae West and Carole Lombard • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Marquee Name

Alec Moss was interviewed for a charming piece about how MAE WEST's star was rising at Paramount. This is a short excerpt of the article that was published in The Pittsburgh Press in 1934.
• • Mae West's star rises at Paramount Pictures.• •
• • What about Mae West? You might say that Mae West is The Paramount Star. • •
• • For certainly, Mae West's name on a marquee means more to Paramount at this time than any of its other notables.
• • But aren't Mae West's pictures sexy and inimical to the morals of the community? "Absolutely not," almost shouted Mr. Alec Moss.
• • He added, "Mae West kids the very daylights out of sex. She has her audience laughing at it. She holds it up to ridicule. And, as everyone knows, the best weapon against any person or thing is laughter." . . .
• • "Anyway the screen players' private lives are their own business, to my way of looking at it. Whatever they are in private life has nothing to do with the characters they portray on the screen and vice versa," Alec Moss explained.
• • "Take Mae West, for instance," Alec Moss added. "She is an ardent Catholic [sic], going to Mass regularly. Is there any scandal about her private life? On the silver screen Mae West is not portraying Mae West but merely a character ―  ― a character that, in itself, is essentially wholesome."
• • Source: The Pittsburgh Press; published on Monday, 4 June 1934.
• • On Friday, 5 October 1928 in Cornell Daily Sun • •
• • "Mae West Show Closed by Police; 57 Indicted" • •

• • New York, October 4 — The 56 members of the cast of "Pleasure Man" and Mae West its author, were indicted today by the Grand Jury ... under the penal code relating to indecent theatrical productions and will be arraigned in general sessions tomorrow.
• • The accused were taken to the West Side court after the indictments had been handed down but the hearing was adjourned at the request of District Attorney Banton.
• • Source: Article in Cornell Daily Sun, Issue 11, on Friday, 5 October 1928.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West and her sister, Beverly,have opened a Chinese chow mein factory in Los Angeles.  Of course, Beverly will actually operate the factory, but Mae's money is invested. Mae has purchased ten pure white delivery cars, and sends fine Chinese dinners on order to private homes.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Women like a man with a past — — but they prefer a man with a present.”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Macleans Magazine discussed diamonds and Mae West.
• • Can You Tell Which of Her Gems Are Real? • •
• • Mae West Had Words for It • •
• • Margo Fischer wrote: Everyone knows that a diamond is the hardest known substance and the men who are trying to reproduce them agree with “Diamond Lil” Mae West’s quip on the subject.
• • Margo Fischer wrote: Said Mae, “Diamonds are the hardest substance in the world. The hardest to get and the hardest to keep.” ...
• • Source: Macleans Magazine; published on Tuesday, 1 November 1949
• • 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 4,575th 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 • • Mae West in court in 1928 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest